Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children
Published on: March 1, 2019
The effects of perspective-taking on prejudice: the moderating role of self-evaluation
1Department of Management and Organizations, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. agalinsky@kellogg.northwestern.edu
Abstract:
Perspective-taking, by means of creating an overlap between self and other cognitive representations, has been found to effectively decrease stereotyping and ingroup favoritism. In the present investigation, the authors examined the potential moderating role of self-esteem on the effects of perspective-taking on prejudice. In two experiments, it was found that perspective-takers, but not control participants, with temporarily or chronically high self-esteem evaluated an outgroup more positively than perspective-takers with low self-esteem. This finding suggests an irony of perspective-taking: it builds off egocentric biases to improve outgroup evaluations. The discussion focuses on how debiasing intergroup thought is often best accomplished by working through the very processes that produced the bias in the first place.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Stereotype Threat and Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison
Actor-Observer Effect
Self-Serving Bias
Motivational Bias

