MUST STEREOTYPING BE EXTREME TO BE HARMFUL - THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENDEGREE OF STEREOTYPING AND PREJUDICE

Despite the fact that most Whites give liberal responses to survey que stions about racial stereotypes, many social scientists believe that m ost Whites are willing to stereotype African Americans. Many also assu me such stereotypes are harmful because they are applied to most membe rs of the outgroup. With a sample of White college students, this arti cle shows that: (a) Whites who give liberal responses to survey questi ons are quite willing to stereotype; (b) these stereotypes are applied to only a small subset of a minority; and (c) even seemingly modest s tereotyping is associated with prejudiced attitudes.