Prejudice magnifies real group differences, not imagined ones

Evidence

Given the arguments of Allport and others, and our own analysis of the relevant issues, the following conclusions can be drawn. First, group differences obviously exist (Campbell, 1967). Second, although the prejudiced perceiver often begins with some true core difference, this is then exaggerated such that between-group differences are accentuated and withingroup differences are minimized (Tajfel, 1969; Tajfel & Wilkes, 1963). Third, because the valence of attributed characteristics is somewhat malleable, the social perceiver can slant the evaluative quality of group differences by his or her choice of descriptors. Fourth, it is the prejudiced sentiments of the social perceiver that motivates these exaggerated group differences, not the other way around. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 892

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distills the book’s core model of how perceived group differences relate to prejudice into four explicit steps.
• XREF: connects to: Ethnic frictions and status rivalries shape prejudice more than ideology does — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 2016