COOK'S STUDY, WHICH MANIPULATED THE CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERRACIAL CONTACT SITUATIONS AS TO OPTIMALLY FACILITATE THE REDUCTION OF PREJUDICE, INDICATED THAT SITUATIONAL VARIABLES ALONE WERE NOT SUFFICIENT FOR ATTITUDE CHANGE. RATHER, PERSONALITY FACTORS ALSO INFLUENCE ATTITUDE OUTCOMES. THE PRISON SETTING PRESENTS AN IDEAL FIELD SETTING TO EXAMINE SITUATIONAL VARIBLES IN THAT IT IS INVOLUNTARILY ENTERED, STATUS IS EQUAL, ASSIGNMENT TO LIVING AREAS IS RACIALLY INTEGRATED BUT OTHERWISE RANDOM, AND THE DEGREE OF INTEGRATION AND INTERRACIAL CONTACT IS DETERMINED TO A LARGE EXTENT BY LIVING QUARTERS (EIGHT-MAN CELLS, TWO-MAN CELLS, AND DORMITORIES). TO ASSESS ATTITUDINAL NORMS IN THE VARIOUS PRISON LIVING AREAS, THE BLACK EQUALITY SCALE WAS ADMINISTERED TO APPROXIMATELY ONE-THIRD OF THE TOTAL PRISON POPULATION OF 1,800. INMATES ADMITTED TO THE PRISON OVER A 1-MONTH PERIOD WERE ADMINISTERED A VARIETY OF PERSONALITY AND ATTITUDINAL QUESTIONNAIRES AT TIME OF ADMISSION. INTERRACIAL ATTITUDES OF THESE SUBJECTS WERE MEASURED AGAIN 3 WEEKS LATER. OF THE 160 MEN ADMITTED, 83 WERE ABLE TO COMPLETE BOTH TEST SESSIONS. THE DATA INDICATE THAT THE ATTITUDINAL NORMS FOR THE DORMITORY ACCOMODATIONS, WHICH PROBABLY ALSO REQUIRED THE GREATEST DEGREE OF COOPERATIVE CONTACT AMONG INMATES, WERE MOST POSITIVE TOWARD EQUALITY IN RACIAL INTERACTION. OF INMATES IN THE DORMS, 70 PERCENT SHOWED DECREASES IN RACIAL PREJUDICE OVER THE STUDY PERIOD. THE TWO-MAN CELLS HAD LESS POSITIVE ATTITUDINAL NORMS. ALTHOUGH CELL BLOCKS WERE INTEGRATED, CELLS WERE SEGREGATED. OF THESE INMATES, 60 PERCENT DECREASED IN RACIAL PREJUDICE. THE EIGHT-MAN CELLS HAD THE LOWEST MEAN RACIAL EQUALITY NORM AND THE LOWEST DECREASE IN RACIAL PREJUDICE (26 PERCENT). THE MEN IN THIS AREA REPORTED MUCH INTERRACIAL CONFLICT. THUS SITUATIONAL NORMS WERE REFLECTED IN THE LEVEL AND DIRECTION OF CHANGE IN PREJUDICE. MACHIAVELLIANISM, REFLECTIVE OF ATTITUDES TOWARD PEOPLE IN GENERAL, WAS AN IMPORTANT PREDICTOR OF ATTITUDE CHANGE, WITH BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES WITH POSITIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD PEOPLE SHOWING INCREASES. DIMENSIONALITY (COGNITIVE SIMPLICITY) WAS THE STRONGEST PREDICTOR OF ATTITUDE CHANGE WITH LOW DIMENSIONALS BEING MOST LIKELY TO CONFORM TO LIVING AREA NORMS AND TO SHOW THE GREATEST CHANGE. IN GENERAL LOW SELF-ESTEEM WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH DIMENSIONALITY AND ALSO WITH GREATER CONFORMITY AND ATTITUDE CHANGE. RESULTS ARE DISCUSSED AS THEY RELATE TO COOK'S STUDY. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)