ABSTRACT
I n a now classic study, Word, Zanna, and Cooper (1974) demonstrated the subtle but compelling effects of prejudice in the interpersonal interaction sequence. Naïve White interviewers displayed less immediacy, took less time, and made more errors in speech when interviewing a Black interviewee than when interviewing a White interviewee. Then, in a second study, confederate interviewers were trained to exhibit immediate or nonimmediate interview styles for use in interviewing White subject-applicants. Applicant interview performances were judged to be poorer when responding to a nonimmediate interview style than when responding to an immediate interview style. In this example the (unmeasured but assumed) negative stereotypes of Blacks guided the interpersonal behavior of Whites, which, in turn, produced a self-fulfi lling prophecy in Black interaction partners.
