Prototypicality and Ingroup Perceptions: The Role of Identity Denial

Abstract

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group within the United States, and the present work studies the existence of intragroup biases within this community due to violations of prototypicality and the existence of colorism. The present work also explores identity denial as a possible mediator of the relationship between target prototypicality and negative social consequences. Especially, when presented with lighter-skin or darker-skin targets, Hispanic/Latinx individuals are more likely to see them as less likable, and less warm when compared to a prototypical target. There was no evidence to support that identity denial mediated this relationship. Additionally, this research extends previous literature on the content of stereotypes faced by individuals of differing skin colors and finds conflicting results using an intragroup sample. Unexpected results suggest prototypicality may trump phenotypic variations within this unique population.