Citation

Wagner U, Christ O, Pettigrew TF. J. Soc. Iss. 2008; 64(2): 403-416.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.00568.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship of ethnic prejudice and discriminatory behavioral intentions in Germany. We utilize two representative surveys conducted in 2002 and 2004 (N= 2,722 and 1,383, respectively) as well as a longitudinal study with three annual measurement points (2002–2004; N= 825). Results show that prejudice is substantially correlated with the respondents' reports of their own discriminatory intentions (R= .33 to .49). Controlling for additional psychological variables, the cross-lagged, longitudinal analyses support the causal hypothesis that prejudice leads to discriminatory intentions. Additional influences on discriminatory intentions—intergroup threat and intergroup contact—are substantially mediated by ethnic prejudice. Thus, a practical implication of these results is that the reduction of intergroup threat and increment of intergroup contact may well lead to both reduced intergroup prejudice and to less discriminatory behavior.