Majority Outgroup Research Articles

When experiencing discrimination predicts greater outgroup affiliation: The role of intergroup mobility in moderating rejection-(Dis)identification patterns

Research has documented how groups cope with perceived discrimination by enhancing their identification with their minority ingroup and reducing their identification with the majority outgroup. However, these patterns have not been consistent across contexts nor examined in relation to discrimination encountered online. Through a survey of PRC Chinese immigrants in Singapore, we examine how online perceived discrimination relates to attitudes toward the Singaporean host society via both ingroup and outgroup identification. We also test the role of intergroup mobility, the perceived level of opportunity ingroup members have to form relationships with dominant outgroup members, as a moderator of these relations. Results show that PRC Chinese immigrants who perceived more discrimination online identified more strongly with both their PRC Chinese ingroup and the Singaporean host society outgroup. In turn, greater PRC Chinese and Singaporean identification related to more positive attitudes toward Singaporeans. Moreover, intergroup mobility moderated these associations, such that the PRC Chinese who perceived greater mobility were more likely to strengthen their identification with Singaporeans as their online perceived discrimination increased. We argue that intergroup mobility beliefs may play a key role in shaping defensive responses to perceived discrimination.

Need Fulfillment During Intergroup Contact: Three Experience Sampling Studies.

One challenge of modern intergroup contact research has been the question of when and why an interaction is perceived as positive and improves intergroup relations. We propose to consider the perceived fulfillment of the situationally most relevant need. We conducted three intensive longitudinal studies with recent migrants to capture their interactions with the majority out-group (Nmeasurements = 10,297; Nparticipants = 207). The situational need fulfillment mechanism is consistently a strong predictor of perceived interaction quality and positive out-group attitudes following intergroup interactions. The model is specific to out-group contact, robust to various need types, and works at least as well as Allport's contact conditions. As one of the first studies to test intergroup contact theory using intensive longitudinal data, we offer insight into the mechanisms of positive intergroup contact during real-life interactions and find situational motivations to be a key building block for understanding and addressing positive intergroup interactions.Public significance statement: In this article, we provide evidence that the fulfillment of situational needs during real-life intergroup contacts meaningfully predicts perceived interaction quality and positive outgroup attitudes. Methodologically, this offers a testament to the emerging practice of capturing real-life interactions using intensive longitudinal data. Theoretically, our results give weight to motivational fulfillment as a flexible and effective mechanism for understanding positive intergroup contact.

Do Members of Disadvantaged Groups Explain Group Status With Group Stereotypes?

Recent research on group attitudes in members of disadvantaged groups has provided evidence that group evaluations closely align with societal stigma, reflecting outgroup favoritism in members of those groups that are most strongly stigmatized. While outgroup favoritism is clearly evident among some groups, there is still debate about the psychological mechanisms underlying outgroup favoritism. The current research focuses on a less intensively examined aspect of outgroup favoritism, namely the use of status-legitimizing group stereotypes. We present data from members of four disadvantaged groups (i.e., persons who self-categorize as gay or lesbian, n = 205; Black or African American, n = 209; overweight n = 200, or are aged 60–75 years n = 205), who reported the perceived status of their ingroup and a comparison majority outgroup and provided explanations for their status perceptions. Contrary to assumptions from System Justification Theory, participants rarely explained perceived group status differences with group stereotypes, whereas they frequently explained ingroup disadvantage with perceived stigmatization and/or systemic reasons. Further exploratory analyses indicated that participants’ status explanations were related to measures of intergroup attitudes, ideological beliefs, stigma consciousness, and experienced discrimination. Our results highlight the need to develop a better understanding whether, under what circumstances, and with which consequences members of disadvantaged groups use group stereotypes as attributions of ingroup status and status differences.

Islamic Banking Products: Home Country Bias and Majority Out-Group Consumption

This study provides an overview of the incentives for Muslims and non-Muslims to adopt Islamic Banking (IB) products in non-Muslim developing country. Data is collected from a sample of 1,128 Mauritians. Religion is found to have a significant influence on the intention to adopt IB products. Our results support the prediction of the theory of reasoned action as an individual is more likely to adopt IB product if he/she understands the relevant concepts and terminologies. The adoption of IB products for Muslim customers is significantly associated with bank selection criteria. Further, we provide evidence of a home country bias related to a set of financial products, as well as tactics successful in overcoming the costs of the liability of foreignness in incentivizing cultural “out-groups” to adopt IB products. Our study contributes to the literature on the motivation of individuals to adopt IB products, which is highly relevant for Islamic banks worldwide that seek to offer similar products and attract new customers. We provide implications for bank marketing managers facing the challenge of increasing adoption of new financial services and products in markets where customers may not be aware of the associated benefits due to cultural, religious, or ethnic barriers.

Other-Groups Bias Effects: Recognizing Majority and Minority Outgroup Faces

A large literature has provided evidence that intergroup biases are common in facial recognition. In investigations of faces of different races, research has repeatedly demonstrated an Own Race Bias in which people are more accurate in recognizing racial ingroup compared to outgroup members. The primary goal of this research was to investigate whether participants from typically underrepresented populations in social psychological research (i.e., Blacks, South Asians, and East Asians) show biases in recognition accuracy when presented with ingroup faces and minority and majority outgroup faces. Not surprisingly, across three experiments, participants demonstrated superior recognition for faces of members of their own compared to other races. Although minority participants also demonstrated greater recognition accuracy for majority compared to minority outgroup faces, these effects were much smaller and typically nonsignificant. The implications of these findings for our understanding of basic processes in face perception, and intergroup relations, are discussed.

Online hatred of women in the Incels.me forum

AbstractThis paper presents a study of the (now suspended) online discussion forum Incels.me and its users,involuntary celibatesorincels, a virtual community of isolated men without a sexual life, who see women as the cause of their problems and often use the forum for misogynistic hate speech and other forms of incitement. Involuntary celibates have attracted media attention and concern, after a killing spree in April 2018 in Toronto, Canada. The aim of this study is to shed light on the group dynamics of the incel community, by applying mixed-methods quantitative and qualitative approaches to analyze how the users of the forum create in-group identity and how they construct major out-groups, particularly women. We investigate the vernacular used by incels, apply automatic profiling techniques to determine who they are, discuss the hate speech posted in the forum, and propose a Deep Learning system that is able to detect instances of misogyny, homophobia, and racism, with approximately 95% accuracy.

Typologies of discrimination: Latinx youth's experiences in an emerging immigrant community.

Few studies examine how racial-ethnic peer discrimination experiences of Latinx youth vary across the race-ethnicity of the perpetrator. In a sample of 170 Latinx early adolescents (Mage = 12.86 years, range = 10.33-15.23; 51% female), we identified 4 latent profiles of youth: (a) relatively low likelihood of experiencing discrimination regardless of peers' racial-ethnic group (38%; low discrimination); (b) relatively high probability of experiencing discrimination from the majority outgroup peers (33%; outgroup); (c) relatively high likelihood of experiencing discrimination from ingroup peers (14%; ingroup); (d) the highest probability of discrimination experiences across the in- and outgroup (15%; high discrimination group). Overall, Latinx youth classified in a typology characterized by a higher likelihood of experiencing discrimination from both ingroup and outgroup peers also reported the worst internalizing and externalizing symptoms relative to those in the low discrimination typology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Home Country Bias and Majority Outgroup Consumption: Evidence From the Introduction of Islamic Banking in Mauritius

In this paper, we investigate the home country bias and liability of foreignness regarding financial services products to address the question: “What factors would induce a Hindu or Christian utilize newly introduced Islamic Banking products when conventional banking products are already available?” Specifically, we examine the impact of the introduction of a religion-based banking system, Islamic banking, into a culturally heterogeneous country. Specifically, this paper examines branding efforts of banks surrounding the adoption of Islamic Banking (IB) services, where Muslims are a minority out-group and there are substantial diverse populations of many faiths. We contribute to three distinct bodies of literature: first, we assess whether the concept of “liability of foreignness” applies to financial services products within a country related to religious orientation. Second, we examine the role of financial services marketing in overcoming any liabilities of “foreignness” (related to cultural or psychic distance) related to investment in newly introduced financial products. Third, we add to the literature related to the adoption of Islamic Banking system products and services. We argue that a liability of foreignness existed for IB products upon introduction in Mauritius. Yet, this cultural bias can be overcome through effective financial services marketing, as uunderstanding and awareness of IB concepts is the most important predictor of adoption of IB products for both Muslims and non-Muslims. Our findings yield information for wealth managers seeking to overcome the liability of foreignness and home country bias, where the bias is towards one’s prevailing faith.

Effects of diversity versus segregation on automatic approach and avoidance behavior towards own and other ethnic groups

AbstractWe present the results of a study in which we measured automatic intergroup behavior and evaluations in ethnic majority and minority group members. We focus our attention on the level of segregation and diversity of immediate life contexts as indicators of outgroup exposure. Specifically, Dutch ethnic minority and majority students enrolled at ethnically segregated and diverse schools completed a measure of automatic approach and avoidance behavior and reported explicit intergroup attitudes. The research is framed into prevailing theories in the field: Social Identity Theory and System Justification Theory. Results of our study suggest that segregation of minority group members' immediate life context may be an important moderator of evaluations as well as approach and avoidance behavior toward ingroup and outgroup. In particular, minority members in segregated schools showed an approach bias towards their ingroup, whereas minority members in diverse schools showed an approach bias towards the majority outgroup.

Different size, different language? Linguistic ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation by majority and minority groups

This study examines the impact of relative group size on linguistic ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation. Members of minority, majority, and equal-size groups freely described outcome allocations made by either ingroup or outgroup members. The abstraction and valence of the terms used were analyzed. Majority members expressed ingroup favoritism by describing the majority ingroup with positive terms at a higher level of abstraction than negative terms. They also provided more favorable descriptions of ingroup members than minority members did. Minority members expressed ingroup favoritism, but also outgroup derogation, by referring to the majority outgroup with negative terms at a higher level of abstraction than positive terms. These findings highlight the distinct consequences of minority and majority memberships on these two facets of intergroup discrimination.

Friendships and outgroup attitudes among ethnic minority youth: The mediating role of ethnic and host society identification

This study investigates among ethnic minority adolescents how friendships with ethnic minority and majority group peers are related to their attitudes towards the majority outgroup.Friendships with majority group peers are proposed to be indirectly related to outgroup attitudes through host society identification. Friendships with ethnic ingroup peers are proposed to be indirectly related to outgroup attitudes through ethnic ingroup identification.Hypotheses were tested longitudinally among ethnic minority adolescents (n=244) who recently entered middle schools in the Netherlands. Lagged structural equation models showed that friendships with majority group peers were related to stronger identification with the host society which was in turn related to improved attitudes toward the majority outgroup. Ingroup friendships and ingroup identification was not related to outgroup attitudes. Additional analyses indicated that the relation between host society identification and majority group friendships was bidirectional.

Opposing Paths to Ideology: Group-Based Relative Deprivation Predicts Conservatism Through Warmth Toward Ingroup and Outgroup Members

Group-based relative deprivation (GRD) is a critical predictor of support for social change. Because resistance to change and acceptance of inequality are core features of a conservative ideology, we predicted that GRD would negatively correlate with conservatism. Moreover, given the central role affect plays in bridging the association between experiences with inequality and group-based responses, we expected that this hypothesized relationship would be mediated by intergroup emotions. We tested these hypotheses in a large national sample of Māori (N = 685)—the indigenous peoples of New Zealand. As predicted, GRD was indirectly associated with conservatism through participants’ warmth toward the majority outgroup (i.e., New Zealand Europeans) and the minority ingroup (i.e., Māori): whereas GRD was negatively correlated with warmth toward outgroup members, GRD was positively correlated with warmth toward the ingroup. In turn, warmth toward the (a) outgroup and (b) ingroup was positively and negatively associated with conservatism, respectively. Similar results were obtained when replacing conservatism with participants’ (a) satisfaction with the government and (b) support for New Zealand’s main center-right political party. Our findings demonstrate the complex relationship between GRD and political beliefs, while also highlighting the crucial role of emotions in connecting GRD with group-based attitudes.

When in Rome… Identification and acculturation strategies among minority members moderate the dehumanisation of the majority outgroup

AbstractThe study of humanness as a dimension of social judgment has received extensive attention over the past decade. Although the common reported finding is that people attribute more human characteristics to their ingroup than to the outgroup, similar tendencies are expected to be tempered for minority groups when judging the host society. In Study 1, carried out with Gypsy minority members, we tested the hypothesis that those group members who adopt an assimilative strategy identifying more with the host compared with the heritage culture will display the lowest levels of dehumanisation. In Studies 2 and 3, conducted with immigrants in Italy and in Portugal, respectively, the hypothesis was extended from an identification conceptualisation to an acculturation one. Despite significant variability in intergroup settings and measures, results confirmed our hypothesis that immigrants who choose to assimilate with the host culture dehumanise the outgroup less compared with those who adopt any of the other acculturation strategies. Implications for the ethnocentric nature of dehumanisation biases and for intergroup relations in general are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The more, the merrier? Numerical strength versus subgroup distinctiveness in minority groups

Evidence attests to the efforts made by minority groups to defend and promote ‘distinctive’ attributes that potentially define the ingroup. However, these attributes are often only available to a prototypical minority within the minority category. In two studies we tested the hypothesis that, under certain conditions, large projected increases in the numerical strength of a ‘distinctive’ attribute (emotional intelligence in Study 1; ingroup language in Study 2) within a minority category can paradoxically evoke less-than-positive reactions from those who already have the attribute. Findings confirmed that while a large projected increase in the numerical strength of a ‘distinctive’ attribute was viewed positively when the comparative context focused on the inter-category relation with a majority outgroup, this increase was viewed less positively, and as undermining their own identity, in a narrower intra-category context. Implications for identity management strategies in minority groups are discussed.

A stress-coping model of mental illness stigma: II. Emotional stress responses, coping behavior and outcome

Stigma can be a major stressor for people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, leading to emotional stress reactions and cognitive coping responses. Stigma is appraised as a stressor if perceived stigma-related harm exceeds an individual's perceived coping resources. It is unclear, however, how people with mental illness react to stigma stress and how that affects outcomes such as self-esteem, hopelessness and social performance. The cognitive appraisal of stigma stress as well as emotional stress reactions (social anxiety, shame) and cognitive coping responses were assessed by self-report among 85 people with schizophrenia, schizoaffective or affective disorders. In addition to self-directed outcomes (self-esteem, hopelessness), social interaction with majority outgroup members was assessed by a standardized role-play test and a seating distance measure. High stigma stress was associated with increased social anxiety and shame, but not with cognitive coping responses. Social anxiety and shame predicted lower self-esteem and more hopelessness, but not social performance or seating distance. Hopelessness was associated with the coping mechanisms of devaluing work/education and of blaming discrimination for failures. The coping mechanism of ingroup comparisons predicted poorer social performance and increased seating distance. The cognitive appraisal of stigma-related stress, emotional stress reactions and coping responses may add to our understanding of how stigma affects people with mental illness. Trade-offs between different stress reactions can explain why stress reactions predicted largely negative outcomes. Emotional stress reactions and dysfunctional coping could be useful targets for interventions aiming to reduce the negative impact of stigma on people with mental illness.

In-group and out-group attitudes of ethnic majority and minority children

Research indicates that ethnic majority group children show a consistent preference for their ethnic in-group, whereas the ethnic preferences of minority groups are less conclusive. The present study assessed the ethnic attitudes of 5–12-year-old children from an ethnic majority group (59 Anglo-Australian) and a minority group (60 Pacific Islander). Participants rated members of Anglo-Australian, Pacific Islander, and Aboriginal (indigenous Australian) groups. Results revealed that the majority group participants rated the in-group more positively than the two out-groups, with the indigenous out-group being rated less positively. In contrast, the ethnic minority participants rated the in-group and the ethnic majority out-group equally positively, while the Aboriginal out-group was also rated least positively. A preference for in-group neighbours was also displayed by both the ethnic majority and ethnic minority participants, with the Aboriginal out-group again being least preferred as neighbours. The results also revealed that these effects varied with age for the ethnic majority, but not the ethnic minority group participants. The results are discussed in relation to findings on children's ethnic attitudes and intercultural relations.

Horizontal Hostility: Multiple Minority Groups and Differentiation from the Mainstream

Three studies examined minority group members' attitudes toward other, similar minority groups. We predicted that minority group members would differentiate between multiple outgroups with asymmetric horizontal hostility(White & Langer, 1999), a pattern of expressing relatively unfavorable attitudes toward an outgroup that is similar to and more mainstream than the minority ingroup. We replicated White and Langer's pattern of horizontal hostility among members of minority political parties in Greece (Study 1). When the mainstream majority was made a salient part of the intergroup context, vegetarians' attitudes toward vegans became more positive, and vegans' attitudes toward vegetarians more negative (Study 2). In Study 3, mainstream salience made Dartmouth College students' relative evaluations of a similar, more mainstream college more negative, whereas priming a superordinate minority identity made them more positive. Results suggest that asymmetric horizontal hostility results from the motivation to differentiate one's minority ingroup from a similar, more mainstream group in comparative contexts anchored by the mainstream majority outgroup.

How Variations in Social Structure Affect Different Types of Intergroup Bias and Different Dimensions of Social Identity in a Multi-Intergroup Setting

An experimental paradigm was used to examine how manipulations of group status (higher, equal, or lower) and group size (smaller, equal, or larger) affect positive allocation bias, negative allocation bias, and evaluative bias expressed by minority-ingroup members toward majority- and minority-outgroup members. As predicted, in most cases, group status was positively related to bias against a higher status majority outgroup, but negatively related to bias against a lower status minority outgroup. Group size was inversely related to expressions of bias in two of the three studies. Four dimensions of social identity (ingroup attraction, self-ingroup interdependency, intergroup differentiation, and perceptions of the intergroup context) were measured and found to be differentially affected by the manipulations. Status was positively related to most of the dimensions of social identity, but the predicted inverse relationship between group size and social identity received mixed support. Of the four dimensions, self-ingroup interdependency and unfavorable perceptions of the intergroup context were most consistently related to intergroup bias. The implications of these findings for theories of intergroup relations and future research efforts are discussed.

How context‐independent is the outgroup homogeneity effect? A response to Bartsch and Judd

AbstractBartsch and Judd (1993) argue that outgroup homogeneity effects occur independently of any tendency for members of minority groups to see their ingroup as more homogeneous than the majority outgroup. This argument is based on evidence of an underlying outgroup homogeneity effect in a study which purports to unconfound the roles of judged group size and ingroup–outgroup judgement by presenting subjects first with a small or large ingroup (or outgroup) and then a small comparison outgroup (or ingroup). However, from the perspective of self‐categorization theory (SCT), such a procedure actually introduces a confound as SCT predicts that when an ingroup is judged first it should be perceived as relatively heterogeneous due to the intragroup nature of this judgemental context. Close examination of Bartsch and Judd's data bears this point out: the tendency to see the ingroup as less homogeneous than the outgroup when the ingroup was judged first was extinguished when the ingroup was judged second even when the judged groups were of equal size. Consistent with SCT, this re‐analysis suggests that manifestations of outgroup homogeneity are not independent of contextual factors which determine the relative appropriateness of category‐based perception of ingroup and outgroup.