The personal/group discrimination discrepancy: Extending Allport's analysis of targets

This article extends Allport's (1954) analysis of targets of discrimination by examining why minority group members perceive more discrimination direc ted at their group than at themselves. Two studies were conducted to explai n this personal/group discrimination discrepancy by focusing on the role of stenotypes, which allow people to process information faster. Women (Study 1) card African Americans (Study 2) made ratings of personal and group dis crimination while a computer recorded the time it took them to respond. Bot h took less time to make ratings of group discrimination than personal disc rimination. Moreover, the less time it took for them to respond to question s about group discrimination, the larger the discrepancy was between their ratings of personal and group discrimination. These results suggest that th e personal/group discrimination discrepancy emerges when minority group mem bers are using a stereotype in which discrimination encountered by their gr oup is believed to be high.