Abstract
This research draws from three distinct lines of research on the link between emotions and intergroup bias as springboard to integrative, new hypotheses. Past research suggests that emotions extrinsic to the outgroup (or “incidental”), and intrinsic to the outgroup (or “integral”), produce valence-congruent effects on intergroup bias when relevant or “applicable” to the outgroup (e.g., incidental/integral anger and ethnic outgroups). These emotions produce valence incongruent effects when irrelevant or “non-applicable” to the outgroup (e.g., incidental/integral sadness and happiness, and ethnic outgroups). Internally valid and ecologically sound tests of these contrasting effects are missing; hence we examined them experimentally in meaningful settings of interethnic contact. To this end, we hybridized established research paradigms in mood and intergroup contact research; this approach enabled us to use same materials and induction methods to instigate incidental and integral emotions in a single research design. In Experiment 1, White Australian students (N = 93) in in vivo real face-to-face contact with an ethnic tutor in their classroom displayed less interethnic bias when incidentally sad (vs. happy) or integrally happy (vs. sad). In Experiment 2, White American males' (N = 492) anti-Arab bias displayed divergent effects under incidental vs. integral (non-applicable) sadness/happiness and similar effects under incidental vs. integral (applicable) anger. The role of perceptions of agency in the emotion-inducing situation is also explored, tested, and explained drawing from mainstream emotion theory. As expected, integral and incidental applicable emotions caused valence congruent effects, at the opposite sides of the subjective agency spectrum, by encouraging the generalization of dislike from the outgroup contact partner to the outgroup as a whole. On the other hand, incidental-non-applicable emotions caused valence-incongruent effects on bias, under high agency conditions, by encouraging (non-partner-centered) heuristic processing. Because of the improved methodology, these effects can be regarded as genuine and not the byproduct of methodological artifacts. This theory-driven and empirically sound analysis of the interplay between emotion source, emotion applicability and subjective agency in intergroup contact can increase the precision of emotion-based bias reduction strategies by deepening understanding of the emotion conditions that lead to intergroup bias attenuation vs. exacerbation.
Highlights
Intergroup contact theory’s expansive literature on the reduction of outgroup prejudice via intergroup interactions (e.g., Allport, 1954; Pettigrew and Tropp, 2013) includes extensive analyses of intergroup anxiety (Paolini et al, 2016), some data on intergroup empathy (Pettigrew and Tropp, 2008 for a synthesis), and preliminary investigations of discrete emotions (e.g., Seger et al, 2016; Visintin et al, 2017)
The ANOVAs detected no effect of emotion source either on its own, or in combination with the emotion factor on the two self-reported emotion indices, demonstrating that emotion source had no bearing on these self-reported emotions (Rydell et al, 2008)
Experiment 2 tested for moderation by emotion applicability with negative integral emotions but returned inconclusive results: Integral/applicable-anger, but not integral/non-applicable-sadness, exacerbated bias relative to baseline control; we found no significant difference in bias between integral-angry and integral-sad participants
Summary
Intergroup contact theory’s expansive literature on the reduction of outgroup prejudice via intergroup interactions (e.g., Allport, 1954; Pettigrew and Tropp, 2013) includes extensive analyses of intergroup anxiety (Paolini et al, 2016), some data on intergroup empathy (Pettigrew and Tropp, 2008 for a synthesis), and preliminary investigations of discrete emotions (e.g., Seger et al, 2016; Visintin et al, 2017). White Australian students in face-to-face, in vivo contact with an unfamiliar Pakistani classroom tutor were induced to feel either happy or sad (emotion factor) due to a source that was incidental or integral to the outgroup partner (source factor), prior to completing a measure of interethnic bias and several potential mediators1 This tests Prediction 1 on the effects of non-applicable emotions because happiness, positive feelings and emotions, while normative across most settings (Diener and Diener, 1996) and common in interethnic interactions (Graf et al, 2014), are not experienced as stereotypically belonging to ethnic outgroups (Fiske, 2002; Mackie et al, 2009), including Pakistanis in Australia (Augoustinos et al, 1994). By returning a marked dissociation in bias as a function of emotion source for emotions that are non-applicable to the outgroup, this experiment would reinforce a view that an appreciation of emotion source is important in intergroup contact settings
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
