Are people more prejudiced toward groups that are perceived as coherent? A meta-analysis of the relationship between out-group entitativity and prejudice

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between out-group entitativity and prejudice. A quantitative analysis of 85 effect sizes from 33 independent samples showed a significant positive relationship between entitativity and prejudice (Fisher’s z = .414, 95% CI [.272, .557], p < .0001). Three possible moderators of the relationship between entitativity and prejudice were tested: conceptualization of the entitativity (essence-based entitativity scale, agency-based entitativity scale, common entitativity scale), the target of the prejudice, the measures of prejudice (attitudes, emotions, behavior towards out-group).Results demonstrated that out-group entitativity correlated with prejudice only when entitativity was conceptualized as an essence-based or common-based scale, and prejudice was measured as the attitude to the outgroup. The target of prejudice does not moderate the relationship between entitativity and prejudice.