Prejudice does not require inaccurate or exaggerated stereotypes.

Evidence

We argue that the potential for prejudice exists when social perceivers hold a stereotype about a social group that is inconsistent with the attributes that are believed to be required for success in certain classes of social roles. We reject Allport’s (1954/1979) prescription that a stereotype must generally be an “exaggerated belief associated with a category” (p. 191). Regardless of the accuracy of the consensual beliefs held about a social group, prejudice consists of a lowering of the evaluation of members of the stereotyped group as occupants or potential occupants of an incongruent role, compared with the evaluation of members of groups for whom the role is congruent. This evaluative decline can occur regardless of whether or not the targeted individual fits the stereotype. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 190

Categorization

• XREF: Contradicts Allport’s classic definition of stereotype-as-exaggeration that this book is fundamentally revising; connects to the broader literature on stereotype accuracy debates.
• SEED: Essay angle: ‘the accurate stereotype is the dangerous one’ — how prejudice survives when beliefs are empirically correct.