Prejudice motivates exaggerated group differences, not the reverse.

Evidence

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. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 892

Categorization

• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 892
• XREF: connects to: Everyday racial insignificance arises from practiced indifference, not denial of difference. — Sivamohan Valluvan, Conviviality and Multiculture: A…, 38; Ethnic frictions and status rivalries shape prejudice more than ideology does — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 2016