ABSTRACT
The latter half of the 20th century has witnessed legislative changes that have made discrimination based on race illegal (e.g., the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on segregation, the Civil Rights Laws of the 1960s). The impact of such legislative changes has led many to question whether shifts in personal attitudes have kept pace with legal changes. This type of question is particularly interesting in light of the fact that nearly two-thirds of the current American population lived during a time when it was not just customary, but legal to discriminate against Blacks (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1986). Has racial prejudice been reduced in the United States? What evi-dence should be taken as an indication that prejudice has declined?
