Race‐Based Social Judgment by Minority Perceivers1

The present study investigated processes of social judgment from the perspective of a minority group. Black participants evaluated either Black or White law‐school applicants who possessed either strong or weak credentials. Consistent with predictions of the shifting‐standards model (Biernat, Manis,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied social psychology 2000-02, Vol.30 (2), p.221-240
Main Authors: BILLINGS, LAURA S., VESCIO, THERESA K., BIERNAT, MONICA
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The present study investigated processes of social judgment from the perspective of a minority group. Black participants evaluated either Black or White law‐school applicants who possessed either strong or weak credentials. Consistent with predictions of the shifting‐standards model (Biernat, Manis, & Nelson, 1991), a significant pattern of out‐group polarization emerged when judgments were made on subjective, but not objective response scales. Importantly, results revealed that out‐group polarization on subjective response scales was moderated by participants' stereotypes. In line with shifting‐standards predictions, only participants who viewed Blacks relatively favorably, compared to Whites, on the dimension of school performance showed a significant pattern of out‐group polarization. The shifting‐standards model is discussed in relation to other judgment models.
ISSN:0021-9029
1559-1816
DOI:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02313.x