Social norms shift prejudice only from groups people belong to or aspire to

Evidence

Follow-up work showed that people do not follow the social norms of just any group. Instead, it has to be a group that is meaningful to them; that is, of which they are (or aspire to be) a member, suggesting that these effects are based on conformity, rather than motivated simply by a desire to be accurate (Stangor et al., 2001b). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1916

Recent research suggests that changing the perception of social norms (to create consensus) can result in immediate and long-lasting changes in prejudice. Stangor, Sechrist, and Jost (2001a, 2001b) had White/European American students first indicate their beliefs about positive and negative stereotypes of African Americans, and then estimate the beliefs of fellow students at their university. One week later, they provided participants with (false) information indicating that, according to research, they had either underor over-estimated the prejudice of their peers. Because of a (bogus) “computer error,” the students were told their initial data had been lost and were asked to report their racial beliefs again. As expected, participants attitudes moved substantially in the direction of the bogus social consensus information – becoming either more positive or more negative toward African Americans depending on what the local consensus was said to be. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1915

Follow-up work showed that people do not follow the social norms of just any group. Instead, it has to be a group that is meaningful to them; that is, of which they are (or aspire to be) a member, suggesting that these effects are based on conformity, rather than motivated simply by a desire to be accurate (Stangor et al., 2001b). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1916

Categorization

• XREF: Builds on Milgrom’s law-merchant work: reputation and conformity both require membership in a group whose opinion matters.
• DEFINE: Clarifies consensus-based prejudice change as distinct from attitude persuasion via argument or information.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1916; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1915; , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 1916