Showing papers in "British Journal of Social Psychology in 2001"

Efficacy of the Theory of Planned Behaviour: a meta-analytic review.

Abstract: The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has received considerable attention in the literature. The present study is a quantitative integration and review of that research. From a database of 185 independent studies published up to the end of 1997, the TPB accounted for 27% and 39% of the variance in behaviour and intention, respectively. The perceived behavioural control (PBC) construct accounted for significant amounts of variance in intention and behaviour, independent of theory of reasoned action variables. When behaviour measures were self-reports, the TPB accounted for 11% more of the variance in behaviour than when behaviour measures were objective or observed (R2s = .31 and .21, respectively). Attitude, subjective norm and PBC account for significantly more of the variance in individuals' desires than intentions or self-predictions, but intentions and self-predictions were better predictors of behaviour. The subjective norm construct is generally found to be a weak predictor of intentions. This is partly attributable to a combination of poor measurement and the need for expansion of the normative component. The discussion focuses on ways in which current TPB research can be taken forward in the light of the present review.

The role of desires and anticipated emotions in goal-directed behaviours: broadening and deepening the theory of planned behaviour

Abstract: Building on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we develop a new model of purposive behaviour which suggests that desires are the proximal causes of intentions, and the traditional antecedents in the TPB work through desires. In addition, perceived consequences of goal achievement and goal failure are modelled as anticipated emotions, which also function as determinants of desires. The new model is tested in two studies: an investigation of bodyweight regulation by 108 Italians at the University of Rome and an investigation of effort expended in studying by 122 students at the University of Rome. Frequency and recency of past behaviour are controlled for in tests of hypotheses. The findings show that desires fully mediated the effects of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and anticipated emotions on intentions. Significantly greater amounts of variance are explained in intentions and behaviour by the new model in comparison to the TPB and variants of the TPB that include either anticipated emotions and/or past behaviour.

Nationalism and patriotism: National identification and out‐group rejection

Abstract: It is argued that the differentiation between nationalism and patriotism proposed in the literature can be seen as analogous to judgments based on different types of comparisons: intergroup comparisons with other nations are associated with intergroup behaviour that corresponds to nationalism, whereas temporal or standard comparisons are linked with behaviour that corresponds to patriotism. Four studies (N = 103, 107, 96 and 105) conducted in Germany and Britain examined the hypothesis that national identification and in-group evaluation only show a reliable relationship with out-group rejection under an intergroup comparison orientation. Participants were primed with either an intergroup comparison, a temporal comparison or no explicit comparison orientation. A subsequent questionnaire assessed in-group (own country) identification, in-group evaluation (i.e. national pride) and rejection of national out-groups. Across all four studies, both in-group identification and in-group evaluation show a stronger correlation with out-group derogation if participants were primed with an intergroup comparison orientation compared to temporal and control conditions. Results are discussed with regard to nationalism and patriotism as well as Hinkle and Brown's (1990) model on relational vs. autonomous orientations.

Integrating social value orientation and the consideration of future consequences within the extended norm activation model of proenvironmental behaviour.

Abstract: This study integrates social value orientation (Messick & McClintock, 1968) and the consideration of future consequences (CFC; Strathman, Gleicher, Boninger, & Edwards, 1994) within the extended norm activation model of proenvironmental behaviour (Stern, Dietz, & Kalof, 1993). A survey of college students (N=161) revealed some preliminary support for the proposed model, using past and intended involvement in proenvironmental political behaviour as the primary outcome variables. Relative to proselfs, prosocials expressed stronger proenvironmental intentions and a stronger belief in the social consequences of environmental conditions. Relative to low CFCs, high CFCs expressed stronger proenvironmental intentions, greater involvement in proenvironmental behaviour, and a stronger belief in the personal, social and biospheric consequences of environmental conditions. Perceived consequences mediated the relationship between CFC and proenvironmental intentions and behaviour, and high CFCs evidence a stronger positive relationship between perceived social consequences and proenvironmental intentions.

"Hooligans' abroad? Inter-group dynamics, social identity and participation in collective "disorder' at the 1998 World Cup Finals.

Abstract: During the 1998 Football World Cup Finals in France, English supporters were, once again, involved in major incidents of collective 'disorder'. Explanations for these incidents concentrated on the conflictual norms held by 'hooligans'. In contrast, Scottish supporters attending the tournament displayed norms of non-violence, explained by the popular press in terms of the absence of 'hooligans'. This study challenges this tendency to explain the presence or absence of 'disorder' in the context of football solely in terms of the presence or absence of 'hooligan' fans. Using data obtained from an ethnographic study of both Scottish and English supporters attending the tournament (N = 121), we examine the processes through which ordinarily 'peaceful' supporters would or would not become involved in collective conflict. In line with the Elaborated Social Identity Model (ESIM) of crowd behaviour, the analysis highlights the role of the intergroup context. Where out-group activity was understood as illegitimate in in-group terms, in-group members redefined their identity such that violent action toward out-group members came to be understood as legitimate. By contrast, where there was no out-group hostility, in-group members defined themselves through an explicit contrast with the 'hooligan' supporters of rival teams. This analysis represents an advance on previous studies of crowd behaviour by demonstrating how the ESIM can account for not only the presence, but also the absence, of collective 'disorder'.

Identifiability and self‐presentation: Computer‐mediated communication and intergroup interaction

Abstract: This research investigated the intergroup properties of hostile 'flaming' behaviour in computer-mediated communication and how flaming language is affected by Internet identifiability, or identifiability by name and e-mail address/geographical location as is common to Internet communication. According to the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE; e.g. Reicher, Spears, & Postmes, 1995) there may be strategic reasons for identifiable groups members to act in a more group-normative manner in the presence of an audience, to gain acceptance from the in-group, to avoid punishment from the out-group, or to assert their identity to the out-group. For these reasons, it was predicted that communicators would produce more stereotype-consistent (group-normative) descriptions of out-group members' behaviours when their descriptions were identifiable to an audience. In one archival and three experimental studies, it was found that identifiability to an in-group audience was associated with higher levels of stereotype-consistent language when communicators described anonymous out-group targets. These results extend SIDE and suggest the importance of an in-group audience for the expression of stereotypical views.

Predicting gender from electronic discourse.

Abstract: There is substantial evidence of gender differences in face-to-face communication, and we suspect that similar differences are present in electronic communication. We designed three studies to examine gender-preferential language style in electronic discourse. In Expt 1, participants sent electronic messages to a designated ‘netpal’. A discriminant analysis showed that it was possible to successfully classify the participants by gender with 91.4% accuracy. In Expts 2 and 3, we wanted to determine whether readers of e-mails could accurately identify author gender. We gave participants a selection of messages from Expt 1 and asked them to predict the author's gender. It was found that for 14 of the 16 messages used, the gender of author was correctly predicted. In the third experiment, six messages about gender-neutral topics were composed. Using a subset of the variables identified in Expt 1, female and male versions of each message were created. When participants were asked to rate whether a female or a male wrote these messages, their ratings differed as a function of the message version. These findings establish that people use gender-preferential language in informal electronic discourse. Furthermore, readers of these messages can use these gender-linked language differences to identify the author's gender.

Social identification and gender-related ideology in women and men.

Abstract: The nature of women's and men's gender-derived social identification was examined with a focus on the relationships between aspects of identity and gender-related ideology. Measures of social identification, sex-role ideology, and the perception of women's collective disadvantage were completed by 171 women and 91 men who categorized themselves as either traditional, non-traditional or feminist. Factor analysis provided support for a multidimensional conception of gender-derived social identification, with viable subscales reflecting in-group ties, cognitive centrality, and in-group affect. For self-identified non-traditional and feminist women, the cognitive centrality of gender was greater, and more consistently related to gender-related ideology, than for traditional women. Traditional men reported stronger in-group ties and more positive gender-linked affect than did non-traditional men, but men's levels of identification were generally weakly related to gender-related ideology. The utility of considering both multiple dimensions and ideological correlates of group identification is discussed with reference to social identity theory.

The strategic confirmation of meta-stereotypes: how group members attempt to tailor an out-group's representation of themselves.

Abstract: This article is concerned with the influence of the group membership of an audience on the description of the in-group. Negative meta-sterotypes (stereotype of the in-group believed to be held by members of a relevant out-group) have aversive consequences on the self (Vorauer, Main, & O'Connell, 1998). Group members may therefore try to modify the meta-sterotype to their advantage by confirming positive traits and disconfirming negative ones. Such a strategy is not relevant when one addresses in-group members because one does not expect them to adhere to the content of the meta-stereotype. The study varied the salience of the meta-stereotype orthogonally to the group membership of the audience (out-group vs. in-group). Participants (N = 75) were asked to pick traits that applied to their group. As predicted, participants selected more positive traits belonging to the meta-stereotype and fewer negative ones when addressing out-group members than in-group members, but this occurred only when the meta-stereotype was salient. Both low and high identifiers displayed this tendency. These results suggest that stereotypes can be used as political weapons.

Writing about rape: use of the passive voice and other distancing text features as an expression of perceived responsibility of the victim.

Abstract: The hypothesis that the passive voice is used to put the actor in the background and the acted-upon person in the focus of discourse is tested in the realm of sexual violence. German university students (N = 67) watched a silent video segment depicting a rape whose circumstances, depending on condition, could or could not be easily interpreted in terms of rape myths. Then they wrote down what they had seen, judged the responsibility of assailant and victim, and completed a rape-myth acceptance scale. Participants used the passive voice more frequently to describe the rape itself vs. other actions they had watched. When circumstances of the rape were easily interpretable in terms of rape myths, use of the passive voice correlated positively with rape-myth acceptance and perceived responsibility of the victim, and negatively with perceived responsibility of the assailant. The language of headlines that participants generated for their reports also reflected judgments of assailant and victim responsibility. Implications for the non-reactive assessment of responsibility attributions and directions for future research are discussed.

'Abnormalization' of ethnic minorities in conversation.

Abstract: Social psychologists studying intergroup relations have shown a renewed interest in social norms. In doing so, norms are treated typically as a non-problematic given and independent of the actual practices people are involved in. This study examines the discursive construction and representation of abnormality by analysing discussions held by some ethnically Dutch inhabitants of old inner-city quarters in Rotterdam. It is shown how these people in focus-group type talk construct the behaviour of ethnic minority residents as ‘abnormal’ in a recognizable number of ways. They set the ethnic minority residents in contrast with ‘obviously normal’ practices; they use extreme case formulations in describing their behaviour; and they draw upon ‘unarguable’ human values in explaining their judgments. Further, specific versions of reality were constructed in providing a justificatory account of their assessment, and undermining cultural interpretations were managed by criticizing ethnic minority culture, questioning particular behaviour as an instance of culture, and arguing for the need for adaptation.

A social categorization approach to distributive justice: social identity as the link between relevance of inputs and need for justice.

Abstract: What are relevant inputs or criteria for judging entitlements in a given situation? As will be argued, an answer to this central problem of distributive justice must consider the perceiver's self-definition and structuring of the social context, in terms of social categorizations. The construal of the primary category of potential recipients is particularly important as its prototypical dimensions are likely criteria for entitlement judgments. Its representation depends on the perceiver's salient identity. Two studies yielded support for this perspective. In Study 1, students regarded their psychology department's distinctive quality as more important for psychologists than an out-group's quality. When highly identified, they perceived a psychologist who outperformed another on the in-group quality to have a higher entitlement to a job. In Study 2, German participants regarded the European Union's (EU) denial of EU membership to Turkey as more just the more prototypically European they thought Germany was, in contrast to Turkey; and, in turn, they did so the more strongly they identified as Germans. The findings suggest that relevance of inputs and, thus, the justice motive are based on identity concerns.

A 100 years of certitude? Social psychology, the experimental method and the management of scientific uncertainty

Abstract: For at least 100 years the experimental method has been used to add scientific rigour to the process of conducting social psychological research. More specifically, experiments have been used to reduce methodological uncertainty surrounding the causal relationships between variables. In this way the method has proved particularly useful in demonstrating the impact of social contextual variables over-and-above individual differences. However, problems with the method have arisen because over time experimentalists have tended (1) to define uncertainty too narrowly, (2) to emphasize uncertainty reduction, but (3) to neglect the equally important process of uncertainty creation. This has contributed to the normalization of social psychology as a science but also made the discipline more conservative and circumscribed. It is argued that experimentalists need to address broader metatheoretical and political uncertainties in order to rediscover the experiment's potency as a tool of revolutionary and progressive science.

A facet approach to extending the normative component of the theory of reasoned action.

Abstract: Using facet theory, this study addresses the weak explanatory power of normative influence in theories of reasoned action or planned behaviour. A broad normative construct is hypothesized as being characterized by two facets - social unit and behavioural modality - each of which is examined in relation to recreational drug use. A questionnaire was developed from the facets and administered to undergraduate students. Data (N = 181) were analysed using Smallest Space Analysis (SSA). The results suggest that the facets provide an adequate description of the normative construct and that personal and social normative beliefs, behavioural norms and behavioural intentions can be distinguished empirically. The results also lend partial support to Ajzen's (1988; Ajzen & Fishbein, 1977) principle of compatibility. Implications for how social influence is operationalized and conceptualized are also discussed.

Broadcasting the royal role: constructing culturally situated identities in the Princess Diana Panorama interview.

Abstract: We examine critically the two traditions of work that have informed discursive approaches to identity: social constructionism and conversation analysis. Within both strands, identity is theorized as a flexible phenomenon that is situated in conversations. But although constructionists locate identity within the social, such work remains at a theoretical and rather abstract level and often fails to interrogate the discursive practices through which identity is constituted. Conversely, this attention to the occasioning of identity in everyday talk is precisely the focus of the second, conversation analytic strand of work. Whereas constructionists attend to the wider cultural positioning of identities, conversation analysts resist commenting upon the social significance of what is constructed in interaction. Conversation analysis is therefore limited by its restricted notion of culture in the study of the situated social self. Despite the apparent conflict between these approaches, we suggest that a synthesis of the two provides a comprehensive framework for analysing identity. Drawing upon the BBC Panorama interview between Martin Bashir and Princess Diana, we explore how culturally situated identities are located in this conversational context. We conclude that analysts must not only attend to the micro-level organization of identities but also engage in a wider understanding of the cultural framework within which they are located.

An existentialist view on mortality salience effects: Personal hardiness, death-thought accessibility, and cultural worldview defence

Abstract: Two studies examined the possible moderating role of hardiness on reactions to mortality salience inductions. A sample of 240 Israeli undergraduate students completed a hardiness scale, were exposed to a mortality salience or control induction, and then either rated the severity and punishment of 10 social transgressions (Study 1, N = 120) or performed a word-stem completion task, which tapped the accessibility of death-related thoughts (Study 2, N = 120). Results indicated that a mortality salience induction led to more severe judgments of social transgressions as well as to more severe punishments than a control induction only among participants scoring low in the hardiness scale. However, a mortality salience induction led to a higher cognitive accessibility of death-related thoughts than a control condition regardless of participants' hardiness scores. The discussion emphasizes the importance of considering inner resources when examining reactions to mortality reminders.

'This very difficult debate about Wik': stake, voice and the management of category memberships in race politics.

Abstract: The issue of ‘race’ has assumed an extraordinarily salient position in Australian politics since the election of the conservative Howard government in 1996. Central to debate in the Australian polity has been the nature of the relationship between indigenous, or Aboriginal, Australians and the rest of the population, in particular over the issue of the land rights of indigenous people. Land rights, or ‘native title’, assumed a pre-eminent position in national political life in 1996/97 with the handing down by the High Court of the so-called ‘Wik judgment’. The discursive management of the ensuing debate by Australia's political leaders is illuminative of key sites of interest in the analysis of political rhetoric and the construction of ‘racially sensitive’ issues. Taking the texts of ‘addresses to the nation’ on Wik by the leaders of the two major political parties as analytic materials, we examine two features of the talk. First, examine how the speakers manage their stake in the position they advance, with an extension of previous work on reported speech into the area of set-piece political rhetoric. Second, in contrast to approaches which treat social categories as routine, mundane and unproblematic objects, we demonstrate the local construction of category memberships and their predicates as strategic moves in political talk. Specifically, we demonstrate how the categories of ‘Aborigines’ and ‘farmers’, groups central to the dispute, are strategically constructed to normatively bind certain entitlements to activity to category membership. Furthermore, inasmuch as such categories do not, in use, reflect readily perceived ‘objective’ group entities in the ‘real’ world, so too ‘standard’ discursive devices and rhetorical structures are themselves shown to be contingently shaped and strategically deployed for contrasting local, ideological and rhetorical ends.

Effects of aggressive behaviour and group size on collective escape in an emergency: A test between a social identity model and deindividuation theory

Abstract: This study models escape behaviour in emergency situations and compares the ability of deindividuation and social identity-based explanations in particular to account for responses. According to deindividuation theory, the larger the group, the higher the degree of anonymity and the stronger antisocial responses such as competitiveness will be. Moreover, the competition for escape should be more severe, and the escape rate lowered, in a large group, regardless of whether participants have an aggressive option. A social identity model predicts that when group members have an option of aggressive behaviour, the salience of the aggressive norm in a larger group will be stronger than that in a smaller group. In contrast, when participants only have concessive option, the salience of the non-aggressive norm in a large group is expected to be stronger than that in a small group. The results of Study 1 supported the social identity model. Study 2 tested how participants responded to their norm. The social identity model suggests a more conscious and socially regulated process whereas deindividuation theory implies an unconscious or unregulated process. The results showed that what directly affects norm formation is the density of stimulus, that is, the amount of aggression received from others and of others' escape activity divided by group size. The results suggest the conscious process of the norm formation and support the social identity model.

Multiple identities in Northern Ireland: hierarchical ordering in the representation of group membership.

Abstract: A study was conducted to explore whether participants in Northern Ireland attend to, and process information about, different group members as a function of a single dimension of category membership (religion) or as a function of additional and/or alternative bases for group membership. Utilizing a bogus 'newspaper story' paradigm, we explored whether participants would differentially recall target attributes as a function of two dimensions of category membership. Findings from this recall measure suggested that information concerning ingroup and outgroup members was processed as an interactive function of both religion and gender intergroup dimensions. Religion was only used to guide processing of more specific information if the story character was also an outgroup member on the gender dimension. These findings suggest a complex pattern of intergroup representation in the processing of group-relevant information in the Northern Irish context.

Two forms of intergroup discrimination with positive and negative outcomes: explaining the positive-negative asymmetry effect.

Abstract: The minimal group paradigm is widely used for the study of intergroup discrimination. Reliably, group members show in-group favouritism in the allocation of positive outcomes but not in the allocation of negative outcomes. Less frequently investigated has been the withdrawal of positive and negative outcomes in the minimal paradigm. In this minimal group experiment the method of discrimination (allocation vs. withdrawal) and valence of outcomes (positive vs. negative) were combined in a 2 x 2 design (N = 57). Participants showed significant in-group favouritism only in the allocate (+) condition, less in withdrawal (-), and none at all in the remaining two cells (where parity predominated). Measures of subgroup and superordinate category identification paralleled these findings, and their inclusion as covariates in the analyses of favouritism and parity measures eliminated the previously significant interactions, thus implicating recategorization as the process mediating positive-negative asymmetry effects in intergroup discrimination.

Perceived superiority of one's own relationship and perceived prevalence of happy and unhappy relationships

Abstract: In a study among 141 Dutch undergraduate students, the participants perceived their relationship on average as better than the relationships of most others, and assumed that a majority was happy and that only a minority was unhappy with their relationship. The higher the relationship satisfaction, the more one considered one's relationship as superior, the higher one estimated the percentage of individuals happy with their relationship, and the lower one estimated the percentage of individuals unhappy with their relationship. Overall, these three perceptions were independently related to relationship satisfaction. However, men's satisfaction was particularly related to the perception that one's own relationship was superior as well as to the assumption that few others were unhappy with their relationship, whereas women's satisfaction was particularly related to the assumption that most others were happy with their relationship.

The perception of group variability in a non-minority and a minority context: when adaptation leads to out-group differentiation.

Abstract: Minority and non-minority participants (Portuguese living in Germany vs living in Portugal) completed open-ended measures of in-group and out-group perception Participants' generated attributes were analysed to assess perceived group variability, complexity of group knowledge, language abstractness, first- or second-hand experience and participants' elaboration Non-minority members perceived more out-group than in-group homogeneity (the ‘outgroup homogeneity effect’), whereas minority members perceived more in-group than out-group homogeneity This reversed pattern was owing to an increase in out-group differentiation by minority members and not to differences in in-group perception Moreover, compared to majority members, minority members showed a greater elaboration and based their in-group and out-group knowledge more on personal beliefs derived from first-hand experience These results are in accord with findings in migration research showing that in order to adapt, migrants develop a differentiated perception of the host culture Conditions that lead group members to differentiate the out-group are discussed

Counterfactuals and motivation: mood as input to affective enjoyment and preparation.

Abstract: Two studies demonstrated that moods, in interaction with motivational goals, can influence counterfactual thinking (mental simulations of 'what might have been'). This was shown for performances on laboratory tasks (Study 1) and for real-life course exams (Study 2). In Study 1, with enjoyment goals, participants in good moods generated the greatest number of downward (worse than actuality) counterfactuals; with performance goals, participants in bad moods generated the greatest number of upward (better than actuality) counterfactuals. Downward counterfactuals in good moods with enjoyment goals was reflected in concern with affective motives, positive moods and low preparation. Upward counterfactuals in bad moods with performance goals was reflected in concern with preparative motives, negative moods and high preparation. In Study 2, affective and preparative goals were manipulated directly, mirroring Study 1. After success, participants with affective goals generated the greatest number of downward counterfactuals, which was reflected in high enjoyment, positive moods and low preparation. After failure, participants with preparative goals generated the greatest number of upward counterfactuals, which was reflected in concern with performance, negative moods and high preparation. Discussion centres on implications for counterfactuals, self-motives and mood-as-input research.

The effects of reasons given for ineligibility on perceived gender discrimination and feelings of injustice.

Abstract: We examine whether the reason given for a negative outcome influences the likelihood of making gender discrimination attributions. Men and women were given one of four reasons for their ineligibility to attend an event: an explicit gender reason, a reason based on an attribute correlated with gender, that same gender-related reason with explanatory information attached, or they were given no reason. Providing participants with a reason based on a gender-related attribute deflected them from making attributions to gender discrimination, indicating that discrimination attributions can easily be averted. Adding explanatory information to the gender-related reason decreased feelings of injustice, illegitimacy and anger while increasing acceptance of the outcome.

Meaning-seeking in the illusory correlation paradigm: The active role of participants in the categorization process.

Abstract: The present research examines the role of categorical perception (McGarty, Haslam, Turner, & Oakes, 1993) in the illusory correlation paradigm. This approach assumes that the search for meaningful differences between two stimulus groups can lead to the illusory correlation effect. This explanation is investigated in Study 1 by presenting participants with constrained stimulus information and examining whether accentuating evaluative differences between stimuli could provide a basis for illusory correlation. Results of this study (N = 64) revealed illusory correlation effects that were related to evaluative reinterpretations of the stimuli. Study 2 (N = 19) focused on the causal relation between illusory correlation and accentuation effects, using the thinking-aloud technique. Detailed analyses of each participants' behaviour indicated that illusory correlation can arise from actively seeking intergroup differences and that reinterpretations of stimuli and the perception of illusory correlation were mutually reinforcing. Implications of these results for stereotyping processes are discussed.

Cultural variation in hemifacial asymmetry of emotion expressions.

Abstract: Photographs of hemifacial composites (left-left, right-right and normal presentation, right-left) of three cultures (Japanese, Oriental Indian and North American) displaying six emotions (happy, sad, fear, anger, surprise, disgust) and a neutral state were administered successively (one by one) as well as simultaneously (three hemifacial photographs of an expression at a time) to observers for judgment on a 5-point scale in terms of distinctiveness of expression. Observers' judgments were treated with a culture of expressor × sex of expressor × facial presentation × emotion category mixed factorial ANOVA. Cultures did not vary for their distinctiveness of facial expressions, suggesting universality in this respect. Culture-specificity was, however, observed with respect to hemifacial asymmetry and valence of emotion expressions: (1) Japanese showed a right hemifacial bias for positive and left hemifacial bias for negative emotions; Indians and North Americans showed left hemifacial bias for all emotions, and (2) negative emotion expressions were least distinctly identifiable in Japanese faces followed by Indian and North American faces.

No benefit of the doubt: Intergroup bias in understanding causal explanation

Abstract: Conversational conventions predict that receivers weigh later information more heavily than earlier information because they presume that communicators add later information only when it is particularly relevant and important. Drawing on Pettigrew's observation of the ultimate attribution error, the present research predicted that intergroup bias could override this conversational convention when individuals received multiple explanations (one beneficial, one condemning) for acts committed by out-group members vs. in-group members. Specifically, subsequently presented mitigating explanations for negative acts should not temper impressions of out-group members, and subsequently presented crediting explanations for positive acts should not enhance impressions of out-group members. Results supported this pattern, and the discussion considers these findings in light of communication rules, and in-group/out-group definition.