Legal desegregation rulings, not Allport, drove modern prejudice research

Evidence

That is, although Allport’s analysis appears to have anticipated many of these themes, without the normative changes that followed in the wake of the 1954 Supreme Court Ruling on school desegregation and Civil Rights legislation of the early 1960s, these themes may not have emerged as central to the study of prejudice and its control. In other words, the issues that directly led to many of the more recent developments grew out of questions concerning the extent to which changes in personal attitudes kept pace with legal and normative changes. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2116 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Gordon W. Allport died in 1967 at the age of 70. We did not know him personally. We are not his students nor are we students of his students. However, his impact on us, through The Nature of Prejudice, has been profound. We are not alone. Thomas Pettigrew, who was one of Allport’s students, described The Nature of Prejudice as “his most explicit attempt to influence public opinion” (Pettigrew, 1999, p. 415). And the volume did attract significant public attention at the time. In the Foreword to the 25th anniversary edition of The Nature of Prejudice, Pettigrew (1979) recounted, “Gordon Allport’s book was both a harbinger and a reflection of the thinking that went into the Supreme Court decision [Brown v. Board of Education, 1954]. The Nature of Prejudice is a remarkable mixture of careful scholarship and humane values” (pp. xii–xiv). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 154 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Legal and normative changes drove the science of prejudice control; Post-civil-rights attitude-behavior gaps birthed modern prejudice theories — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2089; The Nature of Prejudice influenced the 1954 Brown v. Board ruling — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 154 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Civil rights legislation, not just scholars, drove prejudice research agendas #corroborates (0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2116
• The Nature of Prejudice influenced the 1954 Brown v. Board ruling #complicates (0.78) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 154