Prejudice reduction can work by changing sentiments without erasing group differences

Evidence

The significance of this formulation lies in the suggestion that in our attempt to control racial prejudice through changing the percepts involved, we are not necessarily forced to adopt a program that will eliminate all racial differences. Although it is true that if such an end were achieved, racial prejudice would also necessarily disappear, nevertheless racial prejudice can be eliminated through a process far short of such an “expunging solution” of the problem. Racial prejudice can be eliminated through the differential elimination or control of cues without erasing all the perceptible difference among races. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 837 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

This line of reasoning has profound consequences for models of prejudice reduction. Specifically, it suggests that eliminating perceived group differences, and the boundaries that separate social groups, may not in fact be necessary or even desirable. Rather, the focus of intervention efforts might best be placed on changing group sentiments, encouraging group members to develop a sense of acceptance and tolerance for one another even while acknowledging group differences on both positive and negative dimensions (Park & Judd, in press; Wolsko, Park, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2000). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 898 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In that chapter, we hypothesized that the effectiveness of intergroup contact for reducing prejudice and in-group bias would depend on whether the conditions of contact promoted personbased or category-based information processing. If category membership remains a salient feature of the contact situation, contact merely reinforces in-group–out-group differentiation and associated ethnocentric biases. However, if the interaction context encourages personalized attention to individual group members, then a process of decategorization should result that eliminates category-based favoritism and prejudices. Further, we contended that personalized contact experiences would generalize beyond the contact setting because through personalization experiences, categories lose their diagnostic significance as a way of organizing cognitive representations of the situation. Repeated experiences in which category boundaries are made less salient eventually reduce the social meaningfulness of the category distinction itself. As categories become less socially meaningful, category-based processing and associated category-based biases are reduced in general. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2494 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Correcting misperceptions reduces partisan animosity across at least 26 countries. — Rachel Hartman et al., Interventions to Reduce Partisan…, 39; Emotion reduction that enables reconciliation must follow actual structural change, not precede it. — Johanna Ray Vollhardt and Michelle Sinayobye Twali, Emotion-Based Reconciliation Requires…, 32; Prejudice reduction may not require eliminating perceived group differences — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 898 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Prejudice reduction may not require eliminating perceived group differences #corroborates (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 898
• Racial prejudice can be reduced without erasing racial differences #corroborates (0.95) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 837
• Personalized intergroup contact reduces prejudice by making category boundaries less meaningful. #complicates (0.78) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2494
• Generalizing reduced prejudice requires liking first, then making race salient #complicates (0.72) — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Intergroup Contact Theory, 104