Observational studies underestimate prejudice because attitudes surface only when situations trigger them

Evidence

Attitudes are not generally expressed unless triggered by the situation, so the number of spontaneous expressions does not reveal the prevalence or intensity of prejudice in children. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1991

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the general attitude-behavior problem familiar from social psychology (e.g. LaPiere’s famous study), relevant to any research design relying on spontaneous expression.