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Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Vol. 8, No. 4, 391-410 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1368430205056467
© 2005 SAGE Publications

Prejudice and Intergroup Attributions: The Role of Personalization and Performance Feedback

Nurcan Ensari

Alliant International University, nensari{at}alliant.edu

Norman Miller

University of Southern California, nmiller{at}usc.edu

We manipulated personalization and group performance feedback to examine their effects on intergroup attributions and prejudice. Following high or low levels of personalized contact with a typical out-group member, participants learned either that the out-group had generally succeeded or that the in-group had failed at the participant’s task. Under high personalization and out-group success, participants exhibited less attributional bias in explaining the success of new out-group job applicants and less prejudice toward them than those under low personalization. By contrast, when one’s in-group had failed, we found similar favorability toward in-group and out-group job applicants. Importantly, when ability attributions and friendliness were separately combined with subjective personalization, both combinations mediated the effects of manipulated personalization in reducing prejudice toward new out-group persons.

Key Words: attribution • feedback • personalization • prejudice

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