Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 

About: Group Processes & Intergroup Relations is an academic journal published by SAGE Publishing. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Ingroups and outgroups & Social identity theory. It has an ISSN identifier of 1368-4302. Over the lifetime, 1231 publications have been published receiving 47337 citations. The journal is also known as: GPIR & Group processes and intergroup relations.

Gender Differences in Emotion Regulation: An fMRI Study of Cognitive Reappraisal:

Abstract: Despite strong popular conceptions of gender differences in emotionality and striking gender differences in the prevalence of disorders thought to involve emotion dysregulation, the literature on the neural bases of emotion regulation is nearly silent regarding gender differences (Gross, 2007; Ochsner & Gross, in press). The purpose of the present study was to address this gap in the literature. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we asked male and female participants to use a cognitive emotion regulation strategy (reappraisal) to down-regulate their emotional responses to negatively valenced pictures. Behaviorally, men and women evidenced comparable decreases in negative emotion experience. Neurally, however, gender differences emerged. Compared with women, men showed (a) lesser increases in prefrontal regions that are associated with reappraisal, (b) greater decreases in the amygdala, which is associated with emotional responding, and (c) lesser engagement of ventral striatal regions, which are associated with reward processing. We consider two non-competing explanations for these differences. First, men may expend less effort when using cognitive regulation, perhaps due to greater use of automatic emotion regulation. Second, women may use positive emotions in the service of reappraising negative emotions to a greater degree. We then consider the implications of gender differences in emotion regulation for understanding gender differences in emotional processing in general, and gender differences in affective disorders.

Perspective-Taking and Self-Other Overlap: Fostering Social Bonds and Facilitating Social Coordination

Abstract: The present article offers a conceptual model for how the cognitive processes associated with perspective-taking facilitate social coordination and foster social bonds. We suggest that the benefits of perspective-taking accrue through an increased self‐other overlap in cognitive representations and discuss the implications of this perspective-taking induced self‐other overlap for stereotyping and prejudice. Whereas perspective-taking decreases stereotyping of others (through application of the self to the other), it increases stereotypicality of one’s own behavior (through inclusion of the other in the self). To promote social bonds, perspectivetakers utilize information, including stereotypes, to coordinate their behavior with others. The discussion focuses on the implications, both positive and negative, of this self‐other overlap for social relationships and discusses how conceptualizing perspective-taking, as geared toward supporting specific social bonds, provides a framework for understanding why the effects of perspective-taking are typically target-specific and do not activate a general helping mind-set. Through its attempts to secure social bonds, perspective-taking can be an engine of social harmony, but can also reveal a dark side, one full of ironic consequences.

Intergroup Contact: The Past, Present, and the Future

Abstract: The Contact Hypothesis has long been considered one of psychology’s most effective strategies for improving intergroup relations. In this article, we review the history of the development of the Contact Hypothesis, and then we examine recent developments in this area. Specifically, we consider the conditions that are required for successful contact to occur (e.g. cooperation), investigate basic psychological processes that may mediate the consequent reductions in bias (e.g. decreased intergroup anxiety, increased common group representations), and explore factors that can facilitate the generalization of the benefits of intergroup contact in terms of more positive attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole (e.g. increased group salience). We conclude by outlining the contents of the contributions to this Special Issue on Intergroup Contact, highlighting common themes, and identifying findings that suggest directions for future research.

Evolved Disease-Avoidance Mechanisms and Contemporary Xenophobic Attitudes

Abstract: From evolutionary psychological reasoning, we derived the hypothesis that chronic and contextually aroused feelings of vulnerability to disease motivate negative reactions to foreign peoples. The hypothesis was tested and supported across four correlational studies: chronic disease worries predicted implicit cognitions associating foreign outgroups with danger, and also predicted less positive attitudes toward foreign (but not familiar) immigrant groups. The hypothesis also received support in two experiments in which the salience of contagious disease was manipulated: participants under high disease-salience conditions expressed less positive attitudes toward foreign (but not familiar) immigrants and were more likely to endorse policies that would favor the immigration of familiar rather than foreign peoples. These results reveal a previously under-explored influence on xenophobic attitudes, and suggest interesting linkages between evolved disease-avoidance mechanisms and contemporary social cognition.

Intergroup Contact and Prejudice Toward Immigrants in Italy: The Mediational Role of Anxiety and the Moderational Role of Group Salience:

Abstract: Two studies investigated intergroup contact with immigrants in Italy. In Study 1 (N = 310 students) contact had direct positive effects on perceived out-group variability and out-group attitude, an...