Prejudiced responses and affect

Recent research has demonstrated that individuals experience negative affect (e.g. discomfort) when they are more prejudiced than what their personal standards allow. This affective response has been attributed to the discrepancy between persona] standards and prejudiced responses, with discrepancy operationalized as the sum of difference scores between a measure of personal standards and a measure of proneness to be prejudiced. The use of an algebraic difference index to operationalize discrepancy, however, is appropriate if and only if the assumptions that underlie an algebraic difference index are met. The present study shows that these assumptions are not met. The implications of these findings for research on prejudiced responses and affect are discussed. Recommendations regarding the use of alternative approaches for studying prejudice‐related discrepancies are also offered.