The effect of the normative context on intergroup discrimination: implications for the scientific value of exact and conceptual replications

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that discriminatory behaviors against religious or ethnic minorities are largely governed by culturally specific intergroup norms that are tied to a given social context. In Study 1 (N = 733), we compared participants from five countries and identified “new secularism” as the culture-specific norm predominant in the target country, France. In Study 2 (N = 296) and Study 3 (N = 135) conducted in France between November 2014 and January 2016, we assessed the effects of several distinct normative contexts on discriminatory behavior under high or low time pressure, and examined for the first time, the effect of a deadly terrorist attack on anti-Muslim discrimination. As predicted based on Study 1, the experimentally induced new secularism (“nouvelle laïcité” in French) normative context had a major effect on discrimination on its own, and in interaction with the terrorist attack, whereas no effect was found for the three normative contexts (assimilation, multiculturalism, and colorblindness) that have been the focus of research in social psychology over the last 40 years. These results support the claim that intergroup behaviors are highly sensitive to variations in the social context and that culture-specific intergroup norm play a causal role in the emergence of discrimination. The implications of the findings for the scientific value of exact versus conceptual replications in social psychology are discussed.