Intergroup Anxiety Scale

Abstract

Intergroup anxiety occurs when people anticipate or engage in intergroup interactions. Intergroup anxiety is more specific than social anxiety because it is activated during intergroup contexts and elicited by specific outgroups or by outgroups in general. Research on intergroup anxiety works to understand why intergroup interactions are typically more complex and difficult than interactions with ingroup members. The Intergroup Anxiety Scale, developed by Walter Stephan and Cookie Stephan, is a 10-item instrument and is the most commonly used and adapted measure of generalized intergroup anxiety. Intergroup anxiety has trait-based components such that it may be an enduring, cross-situational feature of an individual’s feelings about an outgroup or it may vary based on the situation and specific intergroup encounter. State-like qualities of intergroup anxiety are assessed in response to what is occurring during actual intergroup interactions. Cognitions, negative affect, and emotions about the outgroup need to be altered and contact with outgroup members increased if intergroup anxiety is to be reduced.