Who is prejudiced, and toward whom? The big five traits and generalized prejudice

This research summary can be incorporated into a lecture or shared with students as a reading to demonstrate how psychological science explores the diversity of human experience. This resource can also be used to encourage students to identify the major components of a research study (i.e., the hypothesis or study question, sample, method, and findings). Students can be asked to identify potential limitations of the study and encouraged to discuss the implications for our understanding of human behavior. Keywords highlight how concepts within and across pillars are incorporated into a single research study.

This study by Jarret Crawford (The College of New Jersey) and Mark Brandt (Tilburg University) examined two questions: (1) Are people with particular personality traits prejudiced against most different types of groups (generalized prejudice), and (2) are people with particular personality traits prejudiced against certain types of groups? To test these questions, they used a meta-analysis, a type of research method that combines the results of multiple different scientific studies. This study combined the results of four different studies (including more than 7,500 people). Their findings revealed that the trait of agreeableness was inversely related to general feelings of prejudice, with people higher in agreeableness showing less prejudice against people in different groups. Their findings also revealed that the trait of openness was slightly inversely related to general feelings of prejudice, with people higher in openness showing somewhat less prejudice against people in different groups. This research tells us that people who are low in the trait of agreeableness seem to see other people more negatively, which includes showing higher levels of prejudice against people in different types of groups.

Crawford, J. T., & Brandt, M. J. (2019). Who is prejudiced, and toward whom? The big five traits and generalized prejudice. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(10), 1455–1467. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219832335opens in new window

Race, Personality, Prejudice

The development of resources to broaden diversity and representation in the teaching of high school psychology resources is an APA Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools initiative supported by funding from the American Psychological Foundation David and Carol Myers Fund. This resource was developed by Eric Castro, Shawn C.T. Jones, PhD, Allyn Olsen, and Catherine Sanderson, PhD.