Race-based social judgment by minority perceivers

The present study investigated processes of social judgment from the perspective of a minority group. Black participants evaluated either Black or White law-school applicants who possessed either strong or weak credentials. Consistent with predictions of the shifting-standards model (Biernat, Manis, & Nelson, 1991), a significant pattern of out-group polarization emerged when judgments were made on subjective, but not objective response scales. Importantly, results revealed that out-group polarization on subjective response scales was moderated by participants' stereotypes. In line with shifting-standards predictions, only participants who viewed Blacks relatively favorably, compared to Whites, on the dimension of school performance showed a significant pattern of out-group polarization. The shifting-standards model is discussed in relation to other judgment models.