Prejudice’s effect on targets is situation-dependent rather than personality-altering

Evidence

In his view, prejudice inevitably, inescapably, and irrevocably alters the personality of its victims. This perspective predicts considerable cross-situational consistency in behavior. In contrast, most contemporary scholars adopt a more social-psychological, or situational, perspective. These scholars propose that stigma exposes its bearers to situational threats, i.e., situations where one’s membership in a particular stigmatized group could influence how one is treated and judged (see Steele, Spencer, & Aronson, 2002). No internalization of stigmatizing stereotypes is assumed to be necessary for prejudice to influence the person’s experience and behavior. Thus, quite different responses may be observed within the same individual as the context changes (Steele et al., 2002). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 937