Abstract
We conducted a field study to test whether the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, reducing intergroup bias: The common ingroup identity model. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press) could be a useful tool to improve intergroup relations in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Participants were majority (Italian) and minority (immigrant) elementary school children (N=517) living in the area struck by powerful earthquakes in May 2012. Results revealed that, among majority children, the perceived external threat represented by the earthquake was associated with greater perceptions of belonging to a common ingroup including both ingroup and outgroup. In turn, heightened one-group perceptions were associated with greater willingness to meet and help outgroup victims, both directly and indirectly via more positive outgroup attitudes. Among immigrant children, perceived disaster threat was not associated with any of the dependent variables; one-group perceptions were positively associated with outgroup attitudes, helping and contact intentions towards outgroup victims. Thus, one-group perceptions after a natural disaster may promote more positive and supporting relations between the majority and the minority group. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
Highlights
We conducted a field study to test whether the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000) could be a useful tool to improve intergroup relations in the aftermath of a natural disaster
Is it possible that feeling threatened by the earthquake helps children belonging to different ethnic groups to feel as a single group, and to go beyond traditional rivalries and improve interethnic relations? Our aim was to test for the first time the common ingroup identity model (CIIM; Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, 2012), a popular prejudice-reduction approach, as a mechanism to improve intergroup relations following an earthquake
Majority and minority responses to the threat of a natural disaster In the previous paragraph we reviewed studies examining majority group members, showing that an external threat directed at both ingroup and outgroup reduces prejudice towards minority groups (Dovidio et al, 2004, Study 2) and that, once activated, a one-group perception stemming from an external threat improves attitudes towards minority members (Banfield & Dovidio, 2013, Study 1)
Summary
We conducted a field study to test whether the common ingroup identity model (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000) could be a useful tool to improve intergroup relations in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Among elementary school children aged 6-10 years exposed to the earthquake that struck Emilia Romagna in 2012, Cadamuro and Versari (2012) found evidence of high levels of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a dangerous health disorder that can severely impair children’s psychological functioning (Furr, Corner, Edmunds, & Kendall, 2010). In such a context, social support from peers was found to be a key factor in helping children to recover from the consequences of the earthquake (Cadamuro, Versari, Vezzali, Giovannini, & Trifiletti, in press). After presenting evidence for the CIIM (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000, 2012), we will discuss the rationale underlying the hypothesis that responses to the threat caused by natural disasters may improve intergroup relations via stronger one-group perceptions
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