Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T15:10:19.236Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prejudicial behavior: More closely linked to homophilic peer preferences than to trait bigotry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2012

Jacob M. Vigil  and
Kamilla Venner
Jacob M. Vigil
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161. vigilJ@unm.eduhttp://www.unm.edu/~psych/faculty/sm_vigil.htmlkamilla@unm.eduhttp://www.unm.edu/~psych/faculty/sm_venner.html
Kamilla Venner
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161. vigilJ@unm.eduhttp://www.unm.edu/~psych/faculty/sm_vigil.htmlkamilla@unm.eduhttp://www.unm.edu/~psych/faculty/sm_venner.html
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We disagree with Dixon et al. by maintaining that prejudice is primarily rooted in aversive reactions toward out-group members. However, these reactions are not indicative of negative attributes, such as trait bigotry, but rather normative homophily for peers with similar perceived attributes. Cognitive biases such as stereotype threat perpetuate perceptions of inequipotential and subsequent discrimination, irrespective of individuals' personality characteristics.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 35 , Issue 6 , December 2012 , pp. 448 - 449
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, L. R., Mellor, J. M., & Milyo, J. (2008) Inequality and public good provision: An experimental analysis. The Journal of Social Economics 37:1010–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burgess, D. J. Warren, J Phelan, S., Davidio, J. & van Ryn, M. (2010) Stereotype threat and health disparities: What medical educators and future physicians need to know. Journal of General Internal Medicine 25(Suppl 2):169–77.Google Scholar
Cohen, G. L., Garcia, J., Apfel, N., & Master, A. (2006) Reducing the racial achievement gap: A social-psychological intervention. Science 313:1307–10.Google Scholar
Johns, M., Schmader, T. & Martens, A. (2005) Knowing is half the battle: Teaching stereotype threat as a means of improving women's math performance. Psychological Science 16:175–79.Google Scholar
Johnson, T., Dawes, C. T., Fowler, J. H., McElreath, R. & Smirnov, O. (2009) The role of egalitarian motives in altruistic punishment. Economics Letters 102:192–94.Google Scholar
Lecci, L. & Johnson, J. D. (2008) Black anti-White attitudes: The influence of racial identity and the Big Five. Personality and Individual Differences 44:182–92.Google Scholar
Martens, A., Johns, M., Greenberg, J. & Schimel, J. (2006) Combating stereotype threat: The effect of self-affirmation on women's intellectual performance. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology 42:236–43.Google Scholar
McPherson, M., Smith-Lovin, L. & Cook, J. M. (2001) Birds of a feather: Homophily in social networks. Annual Review of Sociology 27:415–44.Google Scholar
Steele, C. M. & Aronson, J. (1995) Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 69:797–811.Google Scholar
Vigil, J. M. (2007) Asymmetries in the social styles and friendship preferences of men and women. Human Nature 18:143–61.Google Scholar
Vigil, J. M. (2009) A socio-relational framework of sex differences in the expression of emotion. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32:375–428.Google Scholar