Negative Intergroup Attitudes Research Articles

Organisational practices and social inclusion: Inclusionary place‐making in the library

AbstractSocial psychology has long been concerned with social exclusion. Much of this interest has focused on people's negative intergroup attitudes and how these may be changed through individual‐level interventions. In this paper we explore a different level of intervention – one that targets the routine organisational practices that communicate who is welcome and able to draw on the organisation's services. Specifically, we investigate how a public‐facing organisation—a library service—engaged in a process of self‐reflection on its routine social practices with the aim of making people experiencing various forms of exclusion (e.g., job seekers, benefit claimants, ethnic minorities) more welcome. Our data arise from interviews (N = 19) with staff concerning their attempts to transform the practices that constitute the library as a distinctive public place. Throughout, we explore how they reflected on their everyday organisational practices, how these may unintentionally exclude, and how they could be modified to facilitate social inclusion. Moreover, we pay particular attention to our participants' understanding of the challenges involved in changing organisational culture and creating a social space in which diversity is accepted.

Stuck on Intergroup Attitudes: The Need to Shift Gears to Change Intergroup Behaviors

Decades of research on how to improve intergroup relations have primarily examined ways to change prejudiced attitudes. However, this focus on negative intergroup attitudes has yielded few effective solutions. Because intergroup relations are shaped by behavior during intergroup interactions, it is necessary to identify constructs that have a strong causal impact on intergroup behavior change. In this article, I will discuss evidence showing that intergroup attitude change is neither a sufficient nor necessary cause for intergroup behavior change. Empirical research suggests that intergroup attitudes are difficult to change and have a limited effect on intergroup behavior. I also distinguish between constructs that primarily affect intergroup attitude change (e.g., counterstereotypical exemplars, evaluative conditioning) and constructs that primarily affect intergroup behavior change (e.g., social norms, self-efficacy). Further, suggestions for future research will also be provided to advance understanding of the various psychological constructs that influence intergroup behavior change, which will help us develop effective methods of improving intergroup relations.

Explaining immigrants’ social distance towards natives: A multilevel mediation approach across immigrant groups in Germany

What factors underlie immigrants' social distance towards natives? Previous studies found that immigrants who perceive themselves as rejected by natives express more negative intergroup attitudes towards natives. Another line of research found that contingent on their origin country, immigrants face different degrees of social distance from natives. In this study, we employ an intergroup threat approach to integrate these separate research strands. The theoretical model we develop predicts that immigrants from groups that receive greater social distance from natives will perceive more personal discrimination, which, as a mediating mechanism, will be associated with greater social distance towards natives. Empirically, we draw on a cross-sectional probability sample of 1789 immigrants from 38 origin countries living in Germany (i.e., a comparative origin design). The results of multilevel mediation analyses prove consistent with our theoretical expectations, which points to the benefits of examining social distance among immigrants and natives in conjunction.

Young generations attitudes towards aging population

Older adults, those above 65-years-old, are an exponentially growing population in China, raising concerns around the well-being of this social group. In particular, there are intergenerational conflicts between young teens and older adults, characterized by increased prejudice, stereotypes, and ageism. Drawn upon social contact theory, this study explores these negative intergroup attitudes towards the elders as a function of intention to interact with elders in China but also investigated a possible means to promote positive intergroup relationships (i.e., reading heterogeneous stories about elders on social media). A total of 84 Chinses teenagers aged 11-14 years old were recruited. Findings suggested that children with a lower frequency of contact with elders tend to show higher perceived threats and reported more agism. Moreover, the proposed stories about elders did not necessarily alter these teens attitudes towards elders. Theoretical and practical cautions were discussed based on these findings.

Moral values, social ideologies and threat-based cognition: Implications for intergroup relations.

Moral foundations theory (MFT) has provided an account of the moral values that underscore different cultural and political ideologies, and these moral values of harm, fairness, loyalty, authority, and purity can help to explain differences in political and cultural ideologies; however, the extent to which moral foundations relate to strong social ideologies, intergroup processes and threat perceptions is still underdeveloped. To explore this relationship, we conducted two studies. In Study 1 (N = 157), we considered how the moral foundations predicted strong social ideologies such as authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) as well as attitudes toward immigrants. Here, we demonstrated that more endorsement of individualizing moral foundations (average of harm and fairness) was related to less negative intergroup attitudes, which was mediated by SDO, and that more endorsement of binding moral foundations (the average of loyalty, authority, and purity) was related to more negative attitudes, which was mediated by RWA. Crucially, further analyses also suggested the importance of threat perceptions as an underlying explanatory variable. Study 2 (N = 388) replicated these findings and extended them by measuring attitudes toward a different group reflecting an ethnic minority in the United States, and by testing the ordering of variables while also replicating and confirming the threat effects. These studies have important implications for using MFT to understand strong ideologies, intergroup relations, and threat perceptions.

Endorsing negative intergroup attitudes to justify failure to confront prejudice

While most people believe they would speak up against prejudice, many fail to do so. We identify a harmful consequence of such inaction through examining its impact on bystanders’ own prejudice. Across four studies in two countries ( N = 1,003) using a behavioral paradigm and experimental pretest–posttest design, participants witnessed prejudice and discrimination against an outgroup minority (Jewish/Roma in Hungary, Muslim/Latinx in US). Drawing on self-justification theories, we predicted and found across Studies 1–3 that those who had an opportunity but did not confront, endorsed more negative intergroup attitudes following the incident both compared to their own prior attitudes and to control groups—that is, those who witnessed the same prejudice but had no opportunity to confront and those who did not to confront different (nonintergroup) prejudice. In Study 4, the proposed effect occurred only among those who initially valued confronting. We suggest that failure to speak up amplifies prejudice in society.

Self-compassion and negative outgroup attitudes: The mediating role of compassion for others

ABSTRACT Self-compassion, rooted in common humanity, self-kindness, and mindfulness, is an adaptive self-concept that assuages defensiveness to self-image threats. We hypothesized that self-compassion would buffer the need to express negative intergroup attitudes and that this relation would be explained by compassion for others. In a preregistered study, participants (N = 163) with stronger self-compassion rooted in common humanity, but not self-kindness or mindfulness, expressed less negative attitudes toward outgroups than those with lower self-compassion rooted in common humanity. Moreover, this relation persisted even after controlling for self-esteem, a construct related to but distinct from self-compassion. Finally, compassion for others mediated the relation between self-compassion and intergroup attitudes. These findings support the positive and unique role of individual-level self-compassion in intergroup relations.

The Influence of Culture and Intercultural Contact on Neo-Racism and Ethnocentrism

Ethnicity-based discrimination remains a persistent concern across the globe. A recent yet disparate literature focused on the role of cultural dimensions and intercultural contact in forming negative intergroup attitudes; however, these variables have yet to be included in a single study, so their unique effects cannot be estimated. Furthermore, although it is well documented that intercultural contact may reduce out-group discrimination, its influence on in-group favouritism remains relatively unexplored. The present study examines whether social dominance orientation (power distance), uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, and intercultural contact can predict neo-racism and ethnocentrism. Results from an online survey on Slovenian sample (N = 164) demonstrated that social dominance orientation was the best predictor of neo-racism and ethnocentrism, followed by intercultural contact. Findings indicate the importance of cultural context in shaping and modifying negative attitudes and increasing social tolerance. The implications for culturally-informed practices for preventing/reducing discrimination are outlined.

Differentiating between direct and indirect hate crime: Results from Poland

Inspired by individual-level research on direct and indirect as well as reactive and proactive aggression, this article proposes to differentiate direct and indirect types of hate crime. We use the largest hate crime database in Poland (N = 3,153 incidents) to analyze: (1) temporal trends in the relative prevalence of two types of hate crime; (2) the involvement of hate group-affiliated and non-hate group-affiliated perpetrators; and (3) the targeting of victims that are perceived to pose more of a symbolic (vs. more of a realistic threat) to the majority group. Results indicate that direct hate crime was more likely than indirect hate crime to be perpetrated by members and affiliates of hate groups, was more likely to target outgroups seen as posing symbolic rather than realistic threat to the majority group, and was also positively related to societal levels of negative intergroup attitudes and negatively related to unemployment. The findings also show that the two types of hate crime are differently predicted by factors indicative of the social and political climate of the country (e.g., unemployment, political preferences, xenophobia). Although the results were only obtained in one cultural context and will benefit from further validation, they provide very promising initial evidence for the predictive utility of distinguishing direct and indirect hate-crime.

Fear or Loathing: Affect, Political Economy, and Prejudice

AbstractEthnonationalist politics have been on the rise in the United States since the 2008 financial crisis, culminating with the rise of Donald Trump. We examine why two seemingly unconnected things—economic crises and prejudice—so often arise simultaneously. Combining theories of economics and emotions, we connect economic crises and prejudice through the role of emotional response to crises, namely anger and anxiety. We use two survey experiments in the United States to test various theories of how emotions might connect economic threat to negative intergroup attitudes. We find that economic concerns increase both anger and anxiety among individuals, but that these emotions have distinct effects on prejudice. Angry individuals show increased prejudice, but only towards groups one is ideologically predisposed to be prejudiced towards. In contrast, anxiety exhibits few consistent effects on prejudice.

The good ol’ days: White identity, racial nostalgia, and the perpetuation of racial extremism

A prevailing theme in White nationalist rhetoric is nostalgia for a time when Whites dominated American culture and had unchallenged status. The present research examines a form of collective nostalgia called racial nostalgia and its association with negative intergroup attitudes and extreme ideologies (White nationalism). In Studies 1 and 2, racial nostalgia was associated with higher racial identity, anti-immigrant attitudes, and White nationalism. Study 2 revealed that racial nostalgia was related to extreme ideologies, in part, through perceptions that immigrants and racial minorities posed realistic/symbolic threats. Study 3 manipulated nostalgia using a writing prompt (“America’s racial past” vs. “games of America’s past”) and an identity prime (prime vs. no prime). Racial nostalgia was higher in the racial prompt versus the games prompt condition, regardless of identity prime. Furthermore, there were significant indirect effects of the nostalgia manipulation on support for anti-immigrant policies and endorsement of White nationalism through increased racial nostalgia and its association with perceived threats. These findings show that racial nostalgia can be a maladaptive form of collective nostalgia linked to a sense of loss and threat, and can make people sympathetic to extreme racial ideologies.

Humble and Kind: Cultural Humility as a Buffer of the Association between Social Dominance Orientation and Prejudice

With the rise of prejudice and discrimination against ethnic and immigrant minorities, strategies to reduce prejudice and discrimination, and to counteract the impact of intolerant, anti-egalitarian ideologies, are needed. Here we focused on cultural humility, i.e., the ability to have a humble and other-oriented approach to others’ cultural backgrounds, resulting from self-examination and critical thinking about structural privileges and inequalities. In this research we proposed that cultural humility might attenuate the effects of intolerant, anti-egalitarian ideologies such as social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) on negative intergroup attitudes and perceptions. In a correlational study conducted in Italy, we found that cultural humility moderated the associations between SDO and prejudice toward immigrants, as well as between SDO and perceptions of threat posed by immigrants. Specifically, the associations of SDO with prejudice and threat were lower among respondents with high cultural humility compared to respondents with low cultural humility. Conversely, cultural humility did not moderate the effects of RWA on prejudice and threat. Findings are discussed considering the motivations underlying prejudice of high-SDO and high-RWA individuals, and proposing cultural humility training to foster positive intergroup relations.

Concept of and approaches toward a developmental prevention of radicalization: Promising strategies to keep young people away from political, religious, and other forms of extremism

Abstract Radicalization and violent extremism in young people are growing problems in almost every society around the globe. This article starts by briefly summarizing the result of several comprehensive reviews on the prevention of radicalization and violent extremism. Based on a new social-developmental model of radicalization, it then introduces the concept of developmental prevention and presents a review of prevention principles, approaches, and programs derived from a developmental perspective within four different fields of proximal radicalization processes. These include (1) identity problems; (2) prejudice and negative intergroup attitudes; (3) extremist narratives, beliefs, and ideologies; and (4) antisocial development. Overall, several approaches and programs reveal promising effect sizes for a developmentally founded prevention of radicalization. However, more sound evaluations are needed to further promote this field.

Negative Evaluations of National Ethics and Its Impact on Islamic Radicalism

This research set out to examine the role of negative evaluations of national ethics in escalating Islamic radicalism. To this end, we conducted three studies among samples of Muslims in Indonesia. In Study 1b involving 610 participants, we tested in an explorative way the latent structure or the number of dimensions of negative evaluations of national ethics reflecting the perceived immorality, illegitimacy, and inefficiency of national ethics based on participants’ religious beliefs. We confirmed the number of dimensions of the negative evaluations of national ethics in Study 2 ( N = 214), which also showed as expected how they augmented feelings of in-group superiority and tendencies to justify violence. These radical beliefs ultimately evoked intentions to carry out unlawful collective actions and offensive Jihad, negative intergroup attitudes such as out-group blame and negative group-based emotions such as anger. We also observed in Study 2 how the acknowledgment or awareness that Islam and the nation are of equal importance to the Indonesian context, which we referred to as dual identity centrality, explained fewer negative evaluations of national ethics. In Study 3, we recruited 583 participants through an online experiment devised as an intervention that proved significant for the enhancement of dual identity centrality. Designed as an extension of Study 2 in which radical beliefs were complemented with radical thoughts such as dogmatic intolerance, Study 3 also demonstrated that each of those radical tendencies significantly contributed to negative group-based attitudes and emotions, as well as motivations to engage in violent actions. What can be derived from these empirical findings is that dual identity centrality holds potential for reducing the negative evaluations of national ethics, which in turn may overcome Islamic radicalism along with its detrimental intergroup consequences.

Predicting Regional Variations in Nationalism With Online Expression of Disgust in China.

Disgust is one of the basic emotions and is part of the behavioral immune system, which evolutionarily protects humans from toxic substances as well as from contamination threats by outgroup members. Previous works reveal that disgust not only activates humans’ defense against potential individual and collective threats, but also leads to severe moral judgments, negative intergroup attitudes, and even conservative political orientations. As is already known, nationalism is an ideology that features both negative feelings toward outgroups and beliefs about native superiority or privileges. Evidence from previous studies suggests that disgust is related to nationalism’s several components but lacks direct research on nationalism and disgust. The current study examines the relationship between disgust and nationalism in China at both individual and regional levels. In study 1, participants temporally induced disgust (vs. control) increasing the adoption of nationalism. In Study 2, we analyzed covariation in disgust expression in the Chinese micro-blog Weibo and the nationalism index as part of an online large-scale political survey http://zuobiao.me/ at the province level across Mainland China. The results show that online expression of disgust positively predicts nationalistic orientation at the regional level. Finally, we discuss how the findings shed light on research concerning online emotion expression and potential future directions.

Welcome to Be Like Us: Expectations of Outgroup Assimilation Shape Dominant Group Resistance to Diversity.

We propose a theoretical framework for when and why members of dominant groups experience threat and express intolerant attitudes in response to social change. Scholarship on symbolic threat suggests that the detection of intergroup differences in values and norms is sufficient to elicit negative intergroup attitudes. Building on this theory, we argue that the experience of threat is actually shaped by prospective beliefs about difference (i.e., expectations of whether outgroups will assimilate to ingroup norms over time or not). Across two studies and two accompanying pilots, we show how outgroup assimilation expectation shapes dominant groups' experiences of threat, specifically as it relates to their ability to define the norms of their superordinate category (prototypicality threat). We observe that members of dominant groups are surprisingly tolerant of both social change and intergroup difference in the present, so long as they expect outgroup assimilation in the future.

Perspective taking in conflict settings: Can perspective taking smooth tensions between Trump and Clinton supporters in the aftermath of 2016 U.S. presidential election?

AbstractCan perspective taking improve intergroup attitudes in conflict contexts? How does a context of conflict shape people's responses to perspective‐taking tasks and their ultimate effectiveness? The present study addressed these questions by examining the effect of perspective taking (compared with a perspective giving and a control condition) on intergroup attitudes between Trump and Clinton supporters (N = 537) one month after the 2016 presidential election. Perspective taking had positive effects on some intergroup attitudes: It increased warmth toward the outgroup (thermometer ratings), outgroup tolerance, perceived similarities between groups, and marginally increased positive outgroup evaluation. This study also sheds light on the mechanisms that might reduce the effectiveness of perspective taking in conflict settings by assessing the content and the effects of the induced perspectives in response to perspective‐taking task. About half of the induced perspective‐taking narratives involved negative views of the other, which were associated with worse intergroup outcomes. In addition, higher perceived intensity of the conflict between Trump and Clinton supporters and more negative emotions about the election outcome predicted more induced negative perspectives as a response to the perspective‐taking task. In turn, negative perspectives were associated with more negative intergroup attitudes. To sum up, while perspective taking had an overall positive impact on intergroup attitudes in this conflict setting, its impact seems to be contingent upon the content of induced perspective‐taking narratives.

Revisiting studies of multicultural school events from the perspective of strategic essentialism

The article discusses schools’ use of multicultural school events as a practice designed to enhance inclusion and to prevent prejudice and negative intergroup attitudes in school. While prior research has largely criticized such events for promoting cultural stereotypes and essentialist cultural identities, in this article we discuss a more nuanced way of perceiving such practices. Based on our previous empirical work, we apply the idea of strategic essentialism (Spivak, 1996) and discuss how multicultural school events may also represent an opportunity for minority parents to achieve certain objectives by temporarily adopting the image provided by the majority and using it in a strategic manner to act and pursue chosen political advantages. However, we also critically discuss possible limitations and pitfalls of the idea of strategic essentialism as the concept may in fact essentialize the minority group contrary to the intention of the multicultural school event. The contribution of the article is a theoretically informed discussion of how these events may ascribe agency to the participating families, reducing the way critics perceive them solely as victims of a majority-dominated and non-inclusive practice.

Seeing the human in everyone: Multicultural experiences predict more positive intergroup attitudes and humanitarian helping through identification with all humanity

Prior research suggests two components of multicultural experiences—contact with cultural members and experiences with cultural elements—predict less prejudice via stronger identification with all humanity (IWAH). However, only one factor of IWAH (bond) was tested, and only United States samples were used. The present research examined both factors of IWAH (bond with, and concern for, all humanity) and used a nationally representative sample from Poland (N = 974), a more ethnically homogeneous and collectivist culture. We explored the association between multicultural experiences and negative intergroup attitudes (measured via fear of refugees, Islamophobia, and ethnocentrism) and humanitarian helping, and also tested the mediating role of both factors of IWAH on these attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Results largely replicate and extend prior findings, revealing contact with cultural members directly predicted stronger bond with and concern for all humanity, and less negative intergroup attitudes toward “others” (but not humanitarian helping). In contrast, experiences with cultural elements directly predicted stronger concern for all humanity (but not bond) and greater humanitarian helping (but not intergroup attitudes). Bond with all humanity mediated the association between contact with cultural members and less negative intergroup attitudes, while concern for all humanity mediated the association between both components of multicultural experiences and greater humanitarian helping. Findings support the benefits of multicultural experiences and their association with stronger IWAH and more positive intergroup outcomes beyond the United States, and also indicate unique roles for the IWAH bond and concern factors. Cultural differences, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Social and cultural factors of intergroup tension diminution

The article presents data on the status of dependent and value orientations of people on their attitude towards social groups that differ from the majority of the population. Based on the analysis of the data of the 6th wave (2010–2014) of the World Values Survey, which shows that social levels occupying intermediate positions in the system of social statuses and value orientations are more tolerant than the layers occupying the extreme positions as representatives of social minorities. Intergroup relations are influenced by many factors, and intergroup relations themselves are often controversial. Therefore, in one situation, they can smooth out the prejudices that exist between groups, and in others, on the contrary — incite. The article focuses on identifying groups that have a high degree of tolerance. The study uses various indicators of intergroup tension. The results of a comparative cross-country analysis of an integrated database (1981–2014) of the World Values Survey are presented. It was found that an increase in the proportion of the lower middle class and people with a mixed post-materialistic orientation in the course of secondary modernization helps ensure a low incidence of negative intergroup attitudes. When interpreting the obtained results, the article uses the theory and method of measuring values developed by Ronald Inglehart, as well as the typology of countries proposed by Nikolai Lapin. All calculations were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0, Statistica 6.0, and statistical analysis methods, for example cluster analysis.