Intergroup Emotions Research Articles

Modern avenues for intergroup contact: Using E-contact and intergroup emotions to reduce stereotyping and social distancing against people with schizophrenia

Intergroup contact is the leading strategy for reducing the stigma associated with mental illness. For the first time, the current study examines the effectiveness of a contemporary intergroup contact strategy, called electronic or E-contact, to reduce stigma against people diagnosed with schizophrenia. It also examines the mediating role of three target-relevant intergroup emotions, namely fear, anger, and pity. In total, 133 participants engaged in E-contact with a person diagnosed with schizophrenia (intergroup E-contact), E-contact with a person without a mental illness (intragroup E-contact), or no contact. Compared to the intragroup E-contact and no-contact conditions, intergroup E-contact reduced fear, anger, and stereotyping toward people with schizophrenia. Additionally, fear and anger, but not pity, were found to be significant affective mediators of the E-contact effect. The findings demonstrate the value of computer-mediated intergroup contact for stigma reduction, and emphasize the importance of intergroup emotions in this domain.

Feeling for and as a group member: Understanding LGBT victimization via group-based empathy and intergroup emotions.

In two experimental studies (N=120; N=102), we apply intergroup emotions theory (IET) to examine the effects of hate crime on other community members. With participants from an oft-targeted group - Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans people, we are the first to show empirically that hate crimes elicit more pronounced emotional and behavioural responses in other members of the victims' community than comparable non-hate crimes. The findings also reveal the psychological processes behind these effects. Consistent with IET, hate crimes were seen to pose more of a group-based threat and so led to heightened emotional reactions (anger and anxiety) and, subsequently, to behavioural intentions (avoidance and pro-action). Importantly, we also show that hate crime victims, due to increased perceptions of similarity, received more empathy than non-hate crime victims. Such empathy, although neglected in previous research, was shown to be a potential mediator in understanding the indirect effects of hate crime. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to psychological theory and their potential to support the argument for the utility and appropriateness of hate crime legislation.

Can identification as Muslim increase support for reconciliation? The case of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey

Ethnic and national identities, as ingroup and superordinate identities, are key predictors for reconciliation, yet less research considers religious identity a superordinate identity.Focusing on the reconciliation of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, this study aims to test a mediation model in which the relations between ethnic (i.e., Kurdish) and religious identifications (i.e., Muslim) and reconciliation outcomes were mediated by positive intergroup emotions. Moreover, to understand the diffusion of the conflict in a transnational context, this model is tested both in Turkey and Belgium among Muslim Kurdish minorities (N = 141). Kurdish minorities’ levels of support for reconciliation and the ways they construe reconciliation were analyzed as two outcomes. For the latter, descriptions of reconciliation were first content-coded into seven themes. A latent class analysis of these themes led to two main construals: those endorsing a rights-based versus dialogue-based understanding of reconciliation; which was then used as a binary outcome. Results supported a similar mediation model in Turkey and Belgium. Accordingly, stronger religious identification as Muslim was associated with positive intergroup emotions and in turn more support for reconciliation, whereas stronger ethnic identification as Kurdish had the opposite effect. However, having Muslim identity as a superordinate identity was double-edged for the Kurdish minorities: while high Muslim identifiers were more supportive of reconciliation in general; they were also less likely to endorse a rights-based understanding of reconciliation (versus a dialogue-based reconciliation).

The effect of stereotype content on intergroup uncertainty and interactions

ABSTRACTDrawing on intergroup threat theory and the stereotype content model, we examine intergroup relations in an organizational context. We surveyed 108 Asian immigrants working at a large international organization located in the United Kingdom. We found that perceptions of warmth and competence interact to predict minority group members’ willingness to interact with an outgroup majority. Extending previous research, we demonstrate that warmth and competence differentially affect intergroup uncertainty, which mediates the relationship between stereotype content and willingness to interact with the outgroup. Three novel aspects of this research contribute to the existing literature: (1) the focus on stereotype content eliciting intergroup emotions; (2) examining the thoughts and feelings of a minority group (Asian immigrants) toward the majority group (British citizens); (3) the organizational context of the sample presents a real-world situation.

Intergroup Emotions, Perceived Threats and Hostility against Foreigners: Comparing Brazil, Portugal, and Spain

Abstract This study analyzed whether hostility towards foreigners perceived as competitors in the labor market would be related to the perception of threat (symbolic and economic) and negative intergroup emotions. 270 people between 18 and 63 years participated. In Brazil (N = 89), mostly men (59%) and average age 32.5 years; In Portugal (N = 87), mostly men (56.3%) and average age 39.9 years; in Spain (N = 94), mostly women (53.2%) and average age of 32.8 years. The results (t-test, analysis of variance and multiple regressions) indicated that in Spain negative emotions are associated with less hostility towards immigrants; In Brazil, positive emotions are associated with hostile attitudes. In Portugal, the relationship between positive emotions and hostility is positive, but not significant. The symbolic threat was the best predictor of hostility only in the Brazilian sample. Positive emotions predispose to a greater kindness towards foreigners in the three countries. The main conclusion of the study is that the economic crisis does not seem to be associated with the perception of competitiveness of foreigners in the local labor market and hostility towards this social group.

Toward Modeling Emotional Crowds

This paper presents an Emotion Network structure for modeling crowd emotions to simulate socially emotional crowds. The emotion model focuses on entire crowds, builds individual emotion spaces as network nodes, embodies psychological linkages with relationship arcs, and clusters emotionally homogeneous crowds into EmotionTrees. According to the maximum value of the emotion component and the psychological distance, crowds are initialized as different trees. With relational distributions of crowd changes, agents move between different subgroups. Then, we construct emotion-oriented commands with subgroup constraints according to intergroup emotion theory. For execution, motion variables are calculated from emotion commands (i.e., emotion source-oriented orientation, and velocity and emotion strength-based motion clip selection). Experiments on bystanders, football fans, violent protestors, and guided marching behaviors demonstrate that the Emotion Network can improve crowd behavior modeling with particular attention to the impacts of group constraints and emotional characteristics, which can reflect environment stimuli and changes. The model can be integrated into physical crowd simulators as a high-level emotion manager, providing intelligent emotional support in improving the realism of human-like crowds.

Intergroup Reconciliation between Flemings and Walloons: The Predictive Value of Cognitive Style, Authoritarian Ideology, and Intergroup Emotions.

Testifying to the gap in fundamental research on positive intergroup outcomes, we investigated reconciliation attitudes in a non-violent intergroup context (i.e., the linguistic conflict in Belgium). By incorporating both important predictors of negative outgroup attitudes (i.e., individual differences in rigid cognitive styles and authoritarian ideologies), and important predictors of reconciliation (i.e., intergroup emotions), we aimed to contribute to a more comprehensive theoretical framework for the analysis of intergroup relations. We recruited one Flemish (N = 310) and one Walloon (N = 365) undergraduate students sample to test the proposed model. Structural equation analyses with maximum likelihood estimation were conducted using the Lavaan package. In both samples, similar patterns were found. More in particular, the need for cognitive closure appeared to be the basic predictor of right-wing attitudes (i.e., right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation) and essentialist thinking, which were then associated with less outgroup empathy and trust, and more outgroup anger. Furthermore, outgroup trust and empathy were positively related to reconciliation. Interestingly, some differences between the Flemish and Walloon sample were found, such as the direct effects of need for closure and social dominance orientation in the first sample, and the non-significant effects of essentialism in the latter sample. Considering the ongoing public and political debate about the linguistic conflict in Belgium, these findings shed a new light on how individual differences relate to specific outgroup emotions, and how these are associated with important intergroup outcomes in the face of intergroup conflict.

Collective Victimhood and Ingroup Identity Jointly Shape Intergroup Relations, Even in a Non-violent Conflict: The Case of the Belgians.

Collective victimhood is the belief that one’s own group has been intentionally and undeservingly harmed by another group (Bar-Tal, Chernyak-Hai, Schori, & Gundar, 2009). While previous research has established the link between collective victimhood and negative intergroup behaviors, the underlying mechanism is virtually unexplored. In the current study, we test the idea that intergroup emotions play an important role, particularly for those group members who are highly identified. Whereas previous research has primarily studied collective victimhood in violent contexts, the current study focuses on its role in the intergroup relations in Belgium, known as a non-violent conflict between French and Dutch speakers.The associations between collective victimhood, intergroup emotions, and action tendencies were studied in an online survey. The sample consisted of both French-speaking and Dutch-speaking Belgians (Ntotal = 1774). Structural equation modeling showed that collective victimhood was negatively related to intergroup affiliative emotions (i.e., sympathy) and positively to intergroup distancing emotions (i.e., anger). In addition, these relationships were stronger for participants who strongly identified with their ingroup. Furthermore, intergroup affiliative emotions positively predicted fostering contact with outgroup members, and negatively predicted the tendencies to exclude and take revenge on the outgroup; intergroup distancing emotions positively predicted outgroup exclusion and revenge, and negatively predicted fostering contact with them. The established associations were no different between the linguistic groups. Our results confirm that collective victimhood, and the emotions associated, can help to understand intergroup conflict in non-violent contexts, in addition to violent ones.

Prejudice in the wake of terrorism: The role of temporal distance, ideology, and intergroup emotions

The shootings at the Canadian Parliament on October 22, 2014 received international coverage and fueled concerns about terrorism and growing Islamoprejudice. In the wake of this event, our two studies (n=215, n=492) investigated objective temporal distance, right-wing ideology, and intergroup emotions as predictors of prejudice, outgroup trust, and the restriction of civil liberties. Objective temporal distance from the shootings was also examined as a moderator of the relations between ideology and intergroup emotions with intergroup attitudes. Results showed that greater endorsement of right-wing ideologies, higher intergroup anxiety, or higher intergroup disgust were associated with greater prejudice and lower outgroup trust. Of particular note, participants who completed the survey further from (vs. closer to) the event reported more positive intergroup attitudes and were less likely to endorse restricting civil liberties. Objective temporal distance also moderated some of the associations between intergroup emotions with intergroup attitudes. Implications are discussed.

Cultivating Intergroup Emotions: An Intergroup Threat Theory Approach

The current study tests whether media consumption is associated with negative intergroup emotions toward Blacks, Latinos, and Asians and whether media use indirectly influences intergroup emotions via threat perceptions. We do so using a two-study survey design. Results from Study 1 indicated that media consumption is associated with anger toward Latinos and Asians but not anger toward Blacks. We also found that media use was associated with anxiety toward Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. Results from Study 2 indicated that media use indirectly influences anger and anxiety toward Blacks and Latinos through perceptions of threat. Media consumption did not indirectly influence anger and anxiety toward Asians, though perceptions of threat did directly influence intergroup emotions toward this group. The discussion highlights the important, but negative, role of media in intergroup processes.

On the Outside Looking In: Distress and Sympathy for Ethnic Victims of Violence by Out-Group Members

Abstract It is well documented that individuals respond with negative emotions to racial and ethnic out-groups. Yet, it is unknown whether the responses are a measure of simple emotional reactivity or if they are also influenced by emotion regulation. Given the importance of emotions in out-group evaluation (see Intergroup Emotion Theory; Smith and Mackie, 2008), we investigated emotional reactivity and regulation in response to out-group victimization. Forty-one undergraduates completed the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and viewed three sets of images: lynching of African-Americans, torture of Abu Ghraib prison detainees, and iaps images depicting graphic violence. Participants rated 13 emotions before and after viewing the images. A factor analysis identified four emotional response categories: Distress, Sympathy, Arousal and Avoidance. Analyses at both the individual emotion level and factor level indicated that negative emotions (e.g., anger, disgust, and guilt) were greater in response to violence against ethnic groups relative to violence depicted in the iaps images. Emotional suppression predicted blunted distress and arousal to ethnic victimization. These findings highlight that emotional responses to out-group victimization are complex and tempered by emotional suppression. Individuals’ emotion regulation may provide further insight into responses to ethnic and racial out-groups.

Context matters: Explicit and implicit reminders of ingroup privilege increase collective guilt among foreigners in a developing country

AbstractWe test three ways context matters in the study of intergroup inequality: where participants are approached, who interacts with participants, and how researchers ask participants questions. Regarding how, we replicate a finding that framing intergroup inequality as outgroup disadvantage rather than ingroup privilege reduces collective guilt in a novel context. Regarding where, we go beyond the laboratory to test foreigners in Nepal—a country where inequality is highly salient. Regarding who, we had participants approached by an ingroup (foreign) experimenter or an outgroup (Nepalese) experimenter. We found an outgroup disadvantage framing reduced collective guilt relative to ingroup privilege framing, but only when delivered by an ingroup member. This highlights the importance of taking where, who, and how into account to fully understand the contextual nature of intergroup emotion.

Diversity-related psychological contract breach and employee work behavior: insights from intergroup emotions theory

A diversity-related psychological contract (DPC) represents minority employees’ beliefs about the diversity-related promises their organization makes in return for their contributions. Based on social exchange theory, our study addresses the consequences of a DPC breach on the work behavior of ethnic minority employees, operationalized here as organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). For further insights, we apply intergroup emotions theory to develop and test a moderated mediation model. Our model presumes that DPC breaches may increase the intergroup anxiety of ethnic minority employees by activating intergroup appraisal processes. This, in turn, results in their avoidant behavior towards the organization in terms of reduced OCB. Moreover, we hypothesize that this intergroup anxiety-mediated relationship between DPC breach and OCB is stronger for ethnic minority employees who are more acculturated to the host culture. Data from 361 Turkish employees working as ethnic minorities for majority-dominated and majority-owned organizations in Belgium support this model.

(Bad) Feelings about Meeting Them? Episodic and Chronic Intergroup Emotions Associated with Positive and Negative Intergroup Contact As Predictors of Intergroup Behavior.

Based on two cross-sectional probability samples (Study 1: N = 1,382, Study 2: N = 1,587), we studied the interplay between positive and negative intergroup contact, different types of intergroup emotions (i.e., episodic intergroup emotions encountered during contact and more general chronic intergroup emotions), and outgroup behavior in the context of intergroup relations between non-immigrant Germans and foreigners living in Germany. In Study 1, we showed that positive and negative contact are related to specific episodic intergroup emotions (i.e., anger, fear and happiness). Results of Study 2 indicate an indirect effect of episodic intergroup emotions encountered during contact experiences on specific behavioral tendencies directed at outgroup members via more chronic situation-independent intergroup emotions. As expected, anger predicted approaching (discriminatory) behavioral tendencies (i.e., aggression) while fear predicted avoidance. The results extend the existing literature on intergroup contact and emotions by addressing positive and negative contact simultaneously and differentiating between situation-specific episodic and chronic intergroup emotions in predicting discriminatory behavioral tendencies.

When Talking Differences Makes Us Closer: Communicative Dynamics of Group Salience in Intergroup Contact

Group salience, although a key variable in generalizing contact effects toward the target out-group, often negatively affects the quality of intergroup contact. Countering this pessimistic view, we investigated whether or not communicatively-induced group salience could yield positive contact effects by inducing prosocial intergroup emotions and by increasing relational closeness with the out-group interactant in the context of cross-group friendships. A survey conducted with MTurk participants (N = 331) revealed that communicating group-related topics within intergroup friendships increased prosocial intergroup emotions, which was further predictive of relational closeness and intergroup prejudice. However, relational closeness showed no evidence of mediating the effect of prosocial emotions on intergroup prejudice. The results contribute to intergroup scholarship in expanding the discussion of the influence of communicative dimensions of salience on intergroup relations.

When outgroup negativity trumps ingroup positivity: Fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees place greater value on rival losses than own-team gains

Much research suggests that ingroup positivity is more central than outgroup negativity. We argue that this conclusion is incomplete as a description of the totality of intergroup emotions. In 4 studies, we use a novel measure of willingness to pay for intergroup gains and losses to examine the intergroup emotions of fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. Results indicate that pleasure from a powerful rival’s losses can outstrip that from gains of one’s own group (Studies 1–2), and these patterns extend into domains not immediately relevant to the competition (Studies 3–4). A reversal in the competitive position of the two teams in the 2012–2013 season allowed us to examine whether fluctuations in competitive status moderated this pattern (Studies 3–4). Indeed, fans of the rival teams frequently valued outgroup losses more than ingroup gains, and this effect was particularly strong when one’s own team was behind in the rivalry.

Intergroup emotions and gateway groups: Introducing multiple social identities into the study of emotions in conflict

AbstractAfter 2 decades of extensive empirical studies on affective intergroup processes, it is now clear that emotional processes play a critical role in the dynamics of intergroup conflict. However, it seems that much of the research in this domain views intergroup relations in a dichotomous manner of pure in‐groups and out‐groups despite the developments in the realm of social identity that suggest otherwise. We here suggest that the incorporation of more complex social identity models into the study of affective social science can not only help to better understand intergroup conflict dynamics but can also offer new possible venues for conflict resolution. Specifically, we claim that the presence of groups with multiple identities, which include both the in‐group's and the out‐group's identity (e.g., biracial groups that encompass both a White and a Black social identity) can impact intergroup emotional processes between the different groups comprising those multiple identities (e.g., between Whites and Blacks). Accordingly, we review recent developments in the literatures of emotion in intergroup conflict and multiple social identity and offer a conceptual integration of the two. Thus, we attempt to enrich the theory in both fields, better explain intergroup conflict, and possibly pave the way for the development of novel conflict resolution methods.

We are sorry, they don't care: Misinterpretation of facial embarrassment displays in Arab-White intergroup contexts.

Embarrassment displays show others that one is aware of one's own misbehavior and willing to make up for it. The facial actions of embarrassment, however, are partly similar to those of disinterest, which has an opposite function, signaling that one is not concerned about one's self in relation to others. In the context of negative intergroup relations, embarrassment displays of outgroup members may therefore be misinterpreted as disinterest. In the present research, the authors predicted that Whites would perceive Arab expressions of embarrassment more as disinterest, but embarrassment displays of Whites more as embarrassment. Aggregated Study 1 (N = 1,154) confirms this hypothesis showing that White participants perceived more intense embarrassment in Whites than in Arabs and more intense disinterest in Arabs than in Whites. Studies 2 (n = 193) and 3 (n = 260) include methodological improvements and either largely or fully replicated our findings. Based on this evidence in an Arab-White context, the authors conclude that the affiliative function of embarrassment perception is dependent on the nature of the group context. Finally, they discuss the generalizability of this intergroup emotion bias in which emotional expressions may be perceived as the opposite of what they are intended to display. (PsycINFO Database Record

How positive and negative contact relate to attitudes towards Roma: Comparing majority and high‐status minority perspectives

AbstractIntergroup contact scholars have recently called for analyzing the effects of negative intergroup contact. In response to this call, we examined the correlates of positive and negative contact with one of the most stigmatized ethnic minorities, that is, Roma. We conducted a study in Bulgaria considering the point of view of the ethnic Bulgarian majority (n = 516) and of Bulgarian Turks (n = 274), an ethnic minority with higher status compared to Roma. Regression analyses showed that positive contact was associated with reduced prejudice and more support for pro‐Roma policies, while negative contact revealed the opposite pattern. These associations did not differ between ethnic Bulgarians and Bulgarian Turks. Moreover, positive and negative intergroup emotions mediated the relationships between positive and negative contact on the one hand and prejudice and policy support on the other. Our study highlights the importance of emotional processes involved in positive and negative intergroup contact experiences and encourages future research to analyze how absolute versus relative status differences shape the effects of positive and negative contact in complex hierarchical societies.

Social identity: The role of self in group processes and intergroup relations

Applications and conceptual developments made in social identity research since the mid-1990s are summarized under eight general headings: types of self and identity, prototype-based differentiation, influence through leadership, social identity motivations, intergroup emotions, intergroup conflict and social harmony, collective behavior and social protest, and resolving social dilemmas. Cautious prognoses for future directions are then suggested—health, e-behavior, population relocation and immigration, culture, language and intergroup communication, societal extremism and populism, social development, and inclusive and diverse social identities.