Lay perceptions of modern prejudice toward "White" and "Asian" people: it matters who said it, whom it's about, and who's judging

Abstract

We propose that part of the problem in combatting prejudice lies in people's dynamic understandings of what prejudice is. To examine this, we asked participants to rate the degree to which they perceived specific group-relevant attitudes as prejudice. In Study 1, White participants perceived the attitudes as more prejudiced when the attitudes were targeted at Asian people than at White people and when expressed by an Anglo-European speaker than by an Asian speaker. Study 2 was a direct replication but expanded the sample to include Asian participants. The Study 1 results were partially replicated in Study 2, although the target main effect was stronger among White than Asian participants. Together, the data suggest a normative legitimacy process in which injunctive norms dictate appropriate and inappropriate speakers and targets of specific group-relevant attitudes. The data also confirm the original proposition of dynamic understandings of prejudice. Prejudice is understood by people not only by what is said but also by who is saying it and whom it is about. To the degree that these latter two variables are dynamic, then prejudice judgements themselves will remain so. We conclude by considering the implications of our data for both psychological theory and applications in prejudice-reduction efforts.