Liking Is Not the Opposite of Disliking: The Functional Separability of Positive and Negative Attitudes Toward Minority Groups

Two studies tested the hypotheses that positive and negative attitudes toward minority groups are not interchangeable in predicting positive versus negative behaviors toward those groups. In Study 1, positive attitudes about Latinos were a better predictor of a positive behavior toward Latinos than...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology 2011-04, Vol.17 (2), p.134-143
Main Authors: Pittinsky, Todd L, Rosenthal, Seth A, Montoya, R. Matthew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect
African Americans - psychology
Attitude
Attitudes
Behavior
Female
Hispanic Americans - psychology
Human
Humans
Likability
Male
Middle Aged
Minority Groups
Minority Groups - psychology
Prejudice
Racism
Stereotyping
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Summary:Two studies tested the hypotheses that positive and negative attitudes toward minority groups are not interchangeable in predicting positive versus negative behaviors toward those groups. In Study 1, positive attitudes about Latinos were a better predictor of a positive behavior toward Latinos than were negative attitudes or stereotyped positive attitudes. In Study 2, positive attitudes about African Americans were a better predictor of positive behavioral intentions toward that group than were negative attitudes, whereas negative attitudes were better predictors of negative behavioral intentions than were positive attitudes. Taken together, the studies support the perspective that positive and negative attitudes toward minority groups are theoretically and functionally distinct constructs. We conclude that it is important to measure both positive and negative attitudes to understand and predict behaviors toward minority groups.
ISSN:1099-9809
1939-0106
DOI:10.1037/a0023806