Perceived rather than actual conflict drives intergroup prejudice

Evidence

Many years ago, Gordon Allport (1954) noted that distinguishing the effects of prejudice from those of group conflict on intergroup relations would be a very difficult task. He suggested that, “Realistic conflict is like a note on an organ. It sets all prejudices that are attuned to it into simultaneous vibration. The listener can scarcely distinguish the pure note from the surrounding jangle” (p. 233). Thus, it is with some trepidation that this chapter takes up the task of trying to clarify the distinctive social-psychological significance of group conflict and prejudice in the racial attitudes of white and, to a lesser degree, black Americans. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3317

Categorization

• CANDY: Allport’s organ-and-jangle metaphor is a memorable, tweetable image for confounding variables.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3317
• XREF: connects to: Segregation sustains conflict by institutionalizing mutual ignorance and suspicion — Miles Hewstone and Ed Cairns and Alberto Voci and Juergen Hamberger and Ulrike Niens, Intergroup Contact, Forgiveness, and…, 104; Perceived competence in envied outgroups fuels resentment-driven prejudice rather than reducing it. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 302; Perceived outgroup threats damage intergroup relations even without hostility — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 38 (+3 more)