Subtle and blatant prejudice in western Europe

TLDR

Blatant prejudice is the traditional, hot, direct form, while subtle prejudice is a modern, cool, indirect form. The study develops, measures, and tests two types of intergroup prejudice—blatant and subtle. Using data from seven independent national samples in western Europe, the authors constructed 10‑item scales in four languages to assess each prejudice type. The scales show consistent properties, structure, and correlates across samples, validating the blatant‑subtle distinction and revealing distinct effects on attitudes toward immigrants.

Abstract

Abstract This paper develops, measures, and tests two types of intergroup prejudice—blatant and subtle. Blatant prejudice is the traditional, often studied form; it is hot, close and direct. Subtle prejudice is the modern form; it is cool, distant and indirect. Using data from seven independent national samples from western Europe, we constructed 10‐item scales in four languages to measure each of these varieties of prejudice. We report the properties, structure and correlates of both scales across the seven samples, and make initial checks on their validity. The cross‐nationally consistent results support the value of the blatant‐subtle distinction as two varieties of prejudice. While they share many correlates, their distinctive differences suggest better specification of these correlates of prejudice. And the blatant‐subtle distinction also aids in more precise specification of the effects of prejudice on attitudes toward immigrants. The paper closes with a normative interpretation of Subtle Prejudice.