Threaten and affirm: The role of ingroup moral exemplars for promoting prosocial intergroup behavior through affirming moral identity

Abstract

Information about ingroup moral violations against outgroups evoke defensiveness resulting in low support for reparations to be provided to members of these groups. Yet it remains unknown if reminders of ingroup harmdoings could also enhance moral engagement rather than disengagement. In this paper, we report experimental evidence from three studies ( ns = 625) set in the context of historical atrocities committed against indigenous people in Sweden demonstrating that high importance of individuals’ moral identity led to increased prosocial behaviors benefiting the outgroup (reparations and outgroup monetary donation). The positive effects of moral identity on reparations and outgroup donation were independent and remained significant after controlling for group-based guilt, which is a known predictor of willingness to provide reparations. Furthermore, our research identified a pathway of affirming individuals’ moral identity through stories of ingroup moral exemplars. Participants who learned about morally admirable behaviors performed by their ingroup fellows were more likely to endorse and engage in prosocial behaviors benefiting the outgroup. These effects were driven by an increased importance of participants’ moral identity. Establishing ways of affirming threatened moral identity and, in that way, facilitating more prosocial and moral actions is important for contexts with a history of human right violations.