Examined how provocation by a single out-group member exacerbates perceptions of out- group dissimilarity. Male college students provoked by an outgroup member not only perceived him as dissimilar from their own group, but also perceived other members of the provocateur's group as dissimilar. An irrelevant outgroup, however, was not seen as dissimilar. Drawing negative inferences about provocateur was correlated with perceiving other members of the provocateur's group as dissimilar. Negative thoughts about the provocateur may have exacerbated beliefs that other members of the provocateur's group had negative qualities and were therefore dissimilar to the participant.

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