Repression of prejudice is protective but leaves people vulnerable to later prejudiced responses

Evidence

An important component of repression as a strategy for handling conflict is that in deploying it, people fail to recognize their prejudices. According to Allport, repression is a protective rather than truly effective resolution of the conflict and leaves people vulnerable to responding with prejudice and, hence, inner conflict. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2092

Allport noted that one way to obviate the need for conscious attention to or distress over inner conflict was to repress evidence of it. This strategy reflects a denial of prejudice within the self. For example Allport noted that “no one wants to be at odds with his own conscience” (Allport 1954/ 1979, p. 334). An important component of repression as a strategy for handling conflict is that in deploying it, people fail to recognize their prejudices. According to Allport, repression is a protective rather than truly effective resolution of the conflict and leaves people vulnerable to responding with prejudice and, hence, inner conflict. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2092

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines repression as a prejudice-management strategy distinct from genuine resolution of inner conflict.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2092; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2092