This also explains why black voters seem to have little trouble distinguishing Obama's views from Wright's views -- people rarely have trouble seeing that people from their own groups can have a wide range of views.
Mental associations work in positive and negative directions: Experiments show, for example, that men and women seen in the company of beautiful partners are perceived as being more attractive than when they are seen in plainer company.
But there is some evidence our minds are especially attuned to negative associations: At Arizona State University, for example, social psychologist Steven Neuberg once found that heterosexual men seen in the company of gay men had some of the stigma attached to homosexuality rub off on them. The same holds for other prejudices -- social approbation seems to be directed not only at the victims of prejudice but also at those seen in their company.
Neuberg believes that these biases arise because we often see similar people in one another's company. If you see two men in suits talking to each other and you know one of them is a lawyer, it is plausible to think the second person is a lawyer, too. Prejudice follows similar mental heuristics, or shortcuts.
