Who is Prejudiced, and Towards Whom? The Big Five Traits and Generalized Prejudice
Meta-analyses show that low levels of Openness and Agreeableness correlate with generalized prejudice. However, previous studies narrowly assessed prejudice toward low status, disadvantaged groups. Using a broad operationalization of generalized prejudice towards a heterogeneous array of targets, we sought to answer two questions: a) Are some types of people prejudiced against most types of groups, and b) Are some types of people prejudiced against certain types of groups? Across four samples (N = 7,543), Openness was very weakly related to broad generalized prejudice, r = -.03, 95%CI [-.07, -.001], whereas low Agreeableness was reliably associated with broad generalized prejudice (r = -.23, 95%CI [-.31, -.16]). When target characteristics moderated relationships between Big Five traits and prejudice, they implied that perceiver-target dissimilarity on personality traits explain prejudice. Importantly, the relationship between Agreeableness and prejudice remained robust across target groups, suggesting it is the personality trait orienting people toward (dis)liking of others.