Black sheep and expectancy violation: Integrating two models of social judgment

Monica Biernat, Theresa K. Vescio, Laura S. Billings

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

91 Scopus citations

Abstract

A study of race-based ingroup and outgroup judgment demonstrates the links between two models of social judgment - the 'black sheep' effect (Marques, Yzerbyt & Leyens, 1988) and expectancy-violation theory (Jussim, Coleman & Lerch, 1987). White participants had a live interaction with a Black or White partner who contributed to a team success or failure at a game. Partner judgments, perceived expectancy violation, and mood changes indicated a pattern of ingroup polarization, though the race differential was reliable only when targets performed poorly. Consistent with other research, this pattern was most striking among Whites who were highly identified with their racial group. We suggest that racial identification activates favorable within-group judgment standards which, when violated, produce mood decrements and negative evaluations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)523-542
Number of pages20
JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
Volume29
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 1999

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Black sheep and expectancy violation: Integrating two models of social judgment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this