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Media Representations of Race, Prototypicality, and Policy Reasoning: An Application of Self-Categorization Theory

The present study tests the policy reasoning model presented by Tan, Fujioka, and Tan (2000), which identifies media use as the exogenous variable in a causal chain predicting race-based policy reasoning among Whites (including stereotypes as an endogenous variable). Whereas Tan et al. posit that positive–negative evaluations of minority TV portrayals predict real-world stereotypic responses, ultimately influencing policy decisions, it is proposed here that prototypicality is a better predictor of evaluative responses in this context. Consistent with these predictions, path analytic tests of both models reveal that the prototypicality-based model offers a better fit with the data.