MODERN RACISM AS A PREDICTOR OF THE LINGUISTIC INTERGROUP BIAS

Despite the fact that Maass, Salvi, Arcuri, and Semin's linguistic int ergroup bias (LIB) seems to be an indicator of prejudice, research has failed to consider whether this phenomenon differs according to peopl e's dispositional level of prejudice. The present study hypothesized t hat European Americans higher in prejudice against African Americans w ould demonstrate linguistic abstraction of stereotypical behaviors to a greater degree than European Americans who are lower in prejudice. A s predicted, high-prejudiced participants described African Americans' stereotypical behaviors in a more abstract fashion, whereas low-preju diced participants described African Americans' stereotypical behavior s in a more concrete fashion. Because overall negativity of the descri ptions wets not influenced by level of prejudice, the LIE appears to b e a more subtle measure of prejudice level than degree of negativity.