Individualvsintergroup explanations of prejudice among Afrikaners

Summary It has been argued that both personality or authoritarianism and conformity to social convention are significant predictor variables of prejudice in South Africa. Following a review of research, this hypothesis was tested among a general population sample (N = 106) of white South Africans. Results indicated that, for this sample, both authoritarianism of personality and conformity were not important in predicting prejudice. Rather, these results may lend support to the intergroup approach to ethnic conflict. In line with Tajfel, it is suggested that individuals seldom interact with each other as individuals, but rather in terms of their group identification.