When intergroup helping helps intergroup relations: The moderating role of trust in the outgroup

Abstract

Help offered by a member of a high status group to a member of a low status group is often resented because it may be perceived as motivated by a desire to reinforce status relations between the groups. The present research explored how trust in a high status group by members of a low status group can ameliorate these negative consequences. Study 1 examined how the trust of Israeli-Jews among Israeli-Arabs relates to their reactions to an offer of help from an Israeli-Jew. Additional studies investigated the reactions of low-status group members to help from a member of the high status group in a minimal group context (Study 2) and a real group setting (Study 3) while manipulating trust in the outgroup. The findings of the three experiments indicate that greater trust in the high status group elicited distinctively more positive intergroup responses to an offer of help from the high status group. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.