Diverse friendships are known to reduce prejudice, but people don't often think about attitudes and values as a dimension of difference that is beneficial. We define thought diversity as dissimilarity of views on moral or political issues. We ask: Are thought diverse friendships associated with more positive attitudes toward political outgroups? And, are political disagreements "good" or "bad" for relationships?

Several prominent theories of prejudice suggest that stereotypes are causes of prejudice. Our works shows that stereotypes can also be consequences of already existing prejudice. We argue that prejudice is a negative evaluation of a group -- undifferentiated negative affect. Stereotypes, perceived threats, and even emotional labels may be actively construed by the perceiver in order to justify the experience of prejudice, rather than forming the source of the prejudice itself.

By and large, people are friends with others who are similar to them. Similarity provides comfort, validation, and a stable sense of self. But one's ability to find similar friends is constrained by the number and variety of choices in the social environment. We are studying how cultural beliefs about relationships and people's sense of relational mobility -- the relative ease of finding new relationships and ending old ones, influence the role of similarity in determining friendship choices.