Showing papers in "Group Processes & Intergroup Relations in 2011"
TL;DR: The benefits of direct, personal contact with members of another group are well established empirically as mentioned in this paper, and this special issue complements that body of work by demonstrating the effects of various for...
Abstract: The benefits of direct, personal contact with members of another group are well established empirically. This Special Issue complements that body of work by demonstrating the effects of various for...
292 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the role of vicarious contact (observing in-group members having successful cross-group contact) as a tool to improve intergroup relations, and extended previous research on crossgroup relations.
Abstract: This contribution examines the role of vicarious contact (observing in-group members having successful cross-group contact) as a tool to improve intergroup relations. Expanding previous research on...
203 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine whether and how moral convictions, defined as strong and absolute stances on moralized issues, motivate advantaged group members to challenge social inequality and find that moral convictions motivate them to take action.
Abstract: This article examines whether and how moral convictions, defined as strong and absolute stances on moralized issues, motivate advantaged group members to challenge social inequality. Specifically, ...
192 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study experiment employing a social norms intervention in five diverse public middle schools in the State of New Jersey (Grades 6 to 8) was conducted to assess bullying attitudes and behaviors and perceptions of peers.
Abstract: Bullying attitudes and behaviors and perceptions of peers were assessed in a case study experiment employing a social norms intervention in five diverse public middle schools in the State of New Jersey (Grades 6 to 8). Data were collected using an anonymous online survey (baseline n = 2,589; postintervention n = 3,024). In the baseline survey, students substantially misperceived peer norms regarding bullying perpetration and support for probullying attitudes. As predicted by social norms theory, they thought bullying perpetration, victimization, and probullying attitudes were far more frequent than was the case. Also as predicted, variation in perceptions of the peer norm for bullying was significantly associated with personal bullying perpetration and attitudes. Using print media posters as the primary communication strategy, an intervention displaying accurate norms from survey results was conducted at each of the five school sites. A pre-/postintervention comparison of results revealed significant reductions overall in perceptions of peer bullying and probullying attitudes while personal bullying of others and victimization were also reduced and support for reporting bullying to adults at school and in one's family increased. The extent of reductions across school sites was associated with the prevalence and extent of recall of seeing poster messages reporting actual peer norms drawn from the initial survey data. Rates of change in bullying measures were highest (from around 17% to 35%) for the school with the highest message recall by students after a one-and-a-half-year intervention. Results suggest that a social norms intervention may be a promising strategy to help reduce bullying in secondary school populations.
172 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors test whether extended contact can predict positive intergroup expectancies, as well as positive inter-group attitudes, among majority and minority group members among both groups.
Abstract: The present research tests whether extended contact can predict positive intergroup expectancies, as well as positive intergroup attitudes, among majority and minority group members. Our results re...
153 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined whether direct contact moderates the extended contact effect amongst children, and whether the effect of extended contact was mediated by either in-group or out-group norms about cross-ethnic friendships.
Abstract: This research examines quasi-experimentally for the first time whether direct contact moderates the extended contact effect amongst children, and whether the extended contact effect is mediated by either in-group or out-group norms about cross-ethnic friendships. We tested two forms of extended contact (Dual identity and Common in-group identity) among ethnic majority children aged 6–11 years (white–English, n = 153) with differing levels of high quality (i.e., cross-ethnic friendships) or low quality (i.e., acquaintances) direct contact with the Indian–English out-group. As expected, the extended contact effect was demonstrated only amongst children who reported less high quality direct contact. Furthermore, we found the effect of extended contact was mediated by out-group norms. We also found evidence of moderated mediation, with the indirect effect of extended contact through in-group norms being significantly stronger amongst older children. The implications for extended contact theory and the future development of prejudice-reduction interventions amongst children are discussed.
138 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess whether different kinds of social norms make a distinct contribution and are differently associated to a place-related behavior, such as household waste recycling, and find that different norms make different contributions and are different associated with different behaviors.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess whether different kinds of social norms make a distinct contribution and are differently associated to a place-related behavior, such as household waste recyclin...
135 citations
TL;DR: This article showed that the experience or possession of power increases dehumanization, the process of denying essential elements of "humanness" in other people and perceiving them as objects or animals.
Abstract: The current paper shows that the experience or possession of power increases dehumanization—the process of denying essential elements of “humanness” in other people and perceiving them as objects or animals. A position of power entails making difficult decisions for other people that may cause pain and suffering. Dehumanization helps to downplay this pain and suffering and thus to justify these decisions. Study 1 shows that powerful people dehumanize an outgroup more. Study 2 replicates that powerful people dehumanize an outgroup more and shows that this is especially likely after making a tough decision that is painful for that outgroup. Study 3 replicates this in a medical context. Together, these studies show that dehumanization—although by itself a very negative phenomenon—can also have functional elements: it helps powerful people to make tough decisions in a more distant, cold, and rational manner.
134 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate whether within-group differences in perceived phenotypic racial stereotypicality can exacerbate implicit racial stereotyping for Blacks among both ingroup and outgroup members.
Abstract: This article investigates whether within-group differences in perceived phenotypic racial stereotypicality can exacerbate implicit racial stereotyping for Blacks among both ingroup and outgroup members. Two studies with non-Black (Study 1) and Black (Study 2) participants confirmed that high stereotypical (HS) Black targets (i.e., those with darker skin, broader noses and fuller lips) elicited stronger implicit bias in split-second “shoot/don’t shoot” situations than low stereotypical (LS) Black targets or White targets. Specifically, a lower shooting criterion was adopted for HS Black targets, indicating a greater willingness to shoot HS Black targets, resulting in more pronounced bias. Results suggest that the perceived phenotypic racial stereotypicality of Black targets can increase the accessibility of stereotypes linking Blacks with danger, which intensifies racial bias. Further, the article provides the first empirical evidence that stereotypicality biases operate at implicit levels among Blacks whe...
117 citations
TL;DR: The authors investigated the moderating influence of direct contact and authoritarianism on the potential of extended contact to reduce prejudice and found that the third-order moderation effect was also significant, revealing that extended contact has the strongest effect among high authoritarians.
Abstract: Using a representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 1238), we investigated the moderating influence of direct contact and authoritarianism on the potential of extended contact to reduce prejudice. As expected, direct contact and authoritarianism moderated the effect of extended contact on prejudice. Moreover, the third-order moderation effect was also significant, revealing that extended contact has the strongest effect among high authoritarians with low levels of direct contact. We identified trust and perceived threat as the mediating processes underlying these moderation effects. The present study thus attests to the theoretical and practical relevance of reducing prejudice via extended contact. The discussion focuses on the role of extended contact in relation to direct contact and authoritarianism as well as on the importance of trust in intergroup contexts.
104 citations
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that an integrated positive imagined contact scenario does result in less intergroup anxiety and more positive attitudes, even toward this challenging group, and the implications for using imagined contact as a prejudice-reducing intervention are discussed.
Abstract: Four studies investigated the effect of imagining intergroup contact on prejudice against people with schizophrenia. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that a neutral imagined contact task can have negative effects, compared to a control condition, even when paired with incidental positive information (Experiment 2). Experiments 3 and 4 demonstrated, however, that an integrated positive imagined contact scenario does result in less intergroup anxiety and more positive attitudes, even toward this challenging group. Analyses of participants’ descriptions of the imagined interactions in and across the first three studies confirm that positive and high quality imagined contact is important for reducing prejudice, but failing to ensure that imagined contact is positive may have deleterious consequences. We emphasize the importance of investigating the quality of the imagined contact experience, and discuss the implications for using imagined contact as a prejudice-reducing intervention.
TL;DR: In this article, four studies were conducted to test whether assimilation ideology affects minority group members' attitudes towards ethnic minorities, finding that assimilation affirms and justifies the identity of minority groups.
Abstract: Four studies were conducted to test whether assimilation ideology affects majority group members’ attitudes towards ethnic minorities. Assimilation affirms and justifies the identity of majority gr...
TL;DR: This article examined the effects of extended contact via different types of ingroup contacts (neighbors, work colleag..., i.e., neighbors, work colleagues, and work colleagues).
Abstract: Using survey data from Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland (N = 428), the authors examined the effects of extended contact via different types of ingroup contacts (neighbors, work colleag...
TL;DR: This paper found that the long-term sentiment of anger towards Palestinians (a broad predisposition that is unrelated to a particular action) would predict subsequent anger responses to provocation and further hypothesized that this effect would be mediated by appraisals of unfairness of the Palestinians' behavior during the war.
Abstract: Anger is one of the most common and destructive emotions in intergroup conflicts, frequently leading to an escalation of intergroup aggression. Prior research has focused on short-term antecedents of intergroup anger, typically using laboratory paradigms. We hypothesized that the long-term sentiment of anger (a broad predisposition that is unrelated to a particular action) would predict subsequent anger responses to provocation. We further hypothesized that this effect would be mediated by appraisals of unfairness of the Palestinians’ behavior during the war––one of the core appraisal themes associated with anger. To test this prediction, we used a unique two-wave nationwide representative panel design (n = 501) conducted in Israel during the last war in Gaza. Results showed that the long-term sentiment of anger towards Palestinians (and not general negative affect), measured 13 months prior to the Gaza War, predicted participants’ anger responses towards the Palestinians during the war. Furthermore, we f...
TL;DR: It has been suggested that the expectation of repeated (versus single) interaction might promote cooperation in social dilemmas as discussed by the authors, and the anticipation of repeated interaction has been shown to increase cooperation.
Abstract: It has been suggested that the expectation of repeated (versus single) interaction might promote cooperation in social dilemmas. One key question is whether the anticipation of repeated interaction...
TL;DR: In public places one encounters many prohibition signs, as well as traces of the norm-violating behavior these signs are trying to reduce, like graffiti or litter as discussed by the authors, which are difficult to remove.
Abstract: In public places one encounters many prohibition signs, as well as traces of the norm-violating behavior these signs are trying to reduce, like graffiti or litter. Based on goal framing theory and ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted a survey study on regulatory focus and innovative performance in an organizational survey study and found that, as expected, regulatory focus affected idea generation and idea promotion, but not idea realization.
Abstract: Much innovative work in organizations takes place in teams. Because organizational demands are complex and resources are limited, teams need to regulate their collective efforts to perform optimally. Based on previous research and a stage-based approach to innovation, it was hypothesized that team-level regulatory focus would predict teams' activities regarding the generation and promotion of innovative ideas, but not actual implementation. Regulatory focus and innovative performance were measured in an organizational survey study. Results showed that, as expected, regulatory focus affected idea generation and idea promotion, but not idea realization.
TL;DR: Evaluation of two types of online social-norms interventions developed for abstaining or light-drinking students provided some support for both interventions but were stronger for social- norms marketing ads, particularly among participants who identified more closely with other students.
Abstract: Social-norms approaches to alcohol prevention are based on consistent findings that most students overestimate the prevalence of drinking among their peers. Most interventions have been developed f...
TL;DR: In this article, the interplay of unspecific threat and causal attributions differentially predicts increases in ethnic prejudice and anti-S.S.C. conflicts, and they also find that societal crises often lead to intergroup conflict.
Abstract: Why do societal crises often lead to intergroup conflict? We propose that the interplay of unspecific threat and causal attributions differentially predicts increases in ethnic prejudice and anti-S...
TL;DR: The authors found that emotional self-stereotyping is one mechanism by which group members can become motivated to respond to possible discrimination, a process supported by group-based anger-driven appraisals about specific discrimination events.
Abstract: What can motivate members of disadvantaged groups to take action on behalf of their group? This research assessed a model in which measured perceptions of (study 1) and manipulated information about (study 2) other women’s anger influenced female participants’ group-based anger, their subsequent appraisals of instances of possible discrimination, and finally their collective action tendencies. Consistent with Intergroup Emotions Theory, the results suggested that emotional self-stereotyping is one mechanism by which group members can become motivated to respond to possible discrimination, a process supported by group-based anger-driven appraisals about specific discrimination events.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose that in intergroup conflict threat content is important in understanding the reactions of those who experience threats the most: the powerless, and they show that powerless groups experience more threat than powerful groups, resulting in the experience of both more anger and fear.
Abstract: We propose that in intergroup conflict threat content is important in understanding the reactions of those who experience threats the most: the powerless. Studies 1 and 2 show that powerless groups experience more threat than powerful groups, resulting in the experience of both more anger and fear. Threat content determines which emotions elicit behavior that adequately deals with the situation. When confronted with a physically threatening outgroup, fear elicits an avoidance reaction in powerless groups (Study 1). When valuable resources are threatened, anger makes powerless group members want to confront the outgroup, at least when they strongly identify with their group (Study 2). Study 3 replicates the finding that threat content determines which emotions are functional in directing behavior.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that humans are hard-wired to be hypervigilant to ostracism cues and argue that it is also highly adaptive to avoid being in a situation that signals a threat to survival.
Abstract: Recent research has shown that ostracism is distressful regardless of mitigating circumstances, providing evidence that humans are hard-wired to be hypervigilant to ostracism cues. Arguing that it is also highly adaptive to avoid being in a situation that signals a threat to survival we reasoned that the immediate distress to ostracism would be mitigated in a game of bomb-toss (Cyberbomb) compared to a game of ball-toss (Cyberball). Results showed that such a symbolic threat to survival is able to reduce the immediate distress caused by ostracism (Study 1 and Study 2), and––when the negative consequences of not surviving are highlighted––still powerful enough to induce aggression to fellow game players (Study 2). Taken together the studies speak to the often assumed but relatively untested relation between exclusion and survival that has been proposed in theories on belonging, exclusion and ostracism.
TL;DR: How ingroup norms, identification and individual attitudes interact when a behaviour (heavy alcohol consumption) is defining of an ingroup identity is considered, indicating resistance to the normative information.
Abstract: We consider how ingroup norms, identification and individual attitudes interact when a behaviour (heavy alcohol consumption) is defining of an ingroup identity. We sampled 115 students at a UK university, measuring ingroup identification and attitudes to heavy drinking before manipulating the ingroup drinking norm (moderate vs. heavy). Heavy drinking intentions and tendencies to socially include/exclude two target students—one of whom drank alcohol regularly and one of whom did not—were measured. As predicted, participants with a positive attitude to heavy drinking and who identified strongly with the ingroup reported stronger intentions to drink heavily when the ingroup had a moderate, rather than a heavy drinking norm, indicating resistance to the normative information. A complementary pattern emerged for the social inclusion/exclusion measures. Implications for theory and interventions that focus on group norms are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report two experiments that compared minimal group induction procedures based on memorization of novel ingroup names, imagination instruction, random assignment, and false feedback from painting preferences, and the memorization procedure produced the largest ingroup favoritism effects on implicit measures of attraction and identification.
Abstract: For 40 years researchers have studied minimal groups using a variety of induction procedures which, surprisingly, have never been formally evaluated. This article reports two experiments that compared minimal group induction procedures based on: (1) memorization of novel ingroup names; (2) an imagination instruction; (3) random assignment; and (4) false feedback from painting preferences. The memorization procedure produced the largest ingroup favoritism effects on implicit measures of attraction and identification, whereas all procedures produced comparable ingroup favoritism effects on explicit measures of attraction and identification and bonus money allocation. The memorization procedure is recommended as a practical and effective minimal group induction procedure, particularly in cases in which implicit assessments are of primary interest.
TL;DR: This paper explored the attributional processes underlaying positive intergroup encounters and found that mentally simulating positive interactions can promote tolerance and more positive attitudes among intergroup participants. But, they did not explore the effect of intergroup interactions on intergroup attitudes.
Abstract: Recent research has demonstrated that mentally simulating positive intergroup encounters can promote tolerance and more positive intergroup attitudes. We explored the attributional processes underl...
TL;DR: This paper found that more ethnic diversity at the classroom level is positively related to adolescents' support for multiculturalism, which supports the intergroup contact theory, and they used a sample of 448 adolescents from junior vocational education.
Abstract: In this study predictors of multiculturalism at the individual and classroom level are tested in a multilevel model. Previous studies attempting to find predictors of multiculturalism focused only on the individual level, possibly risking an attribution error. Multiculturalism is presented in this study as a notion stressing equal opportunities and minimizing discrimination as well as the conviction that the access to other cultures enriches ones own life. Using a sample of 448 adolescents from junior vocational education it was found that more ethnic diversity at the classroom level is positively related to adolescents’ support for multiculturalism. As such, this study supports the intergroup contact theory.
TL;DR: Extended contact theory proposes that knowledge of ingroup-outgroup friendships leads to reductions of intergroup bias by reducing ignorance about the outgroup and intergroup anxiety, and by increasing awareness of positive outgroup exemplars (e.g., observation of friendly behavior towards an ingroup member), and inclusion of other in the self as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Extended contact theory proposes that knowledge of ingroup-outgroup friendships leads to reductions of intergroup bias by reducing ignorance about the outgroup and intergroup anxiety, and by increasing awareness of positive outgroup exemplars (e.g., observation of friendly behavior towards an ingroup member), and inclusion of other in the self. Over a one-year period we examined extended contact among home country friends of international students who had direct contact with British people through their study period in Britain. This provides a stringent test of extended contact theory, both due to the longitudinal design, and the inclusion of both actual and perceived naturally arising extended contact. As predicted by extended contact theory, increases in extended contact over time predicted all variables but intergroup anxiety. There was also some evidence for (weaker) reversed causal influence between prejudice and other variables. Importantly, the quality of contact experienced by the direct contact sample (international students) predicted all dependent measures in the matched extended contact sample in their home countries. Results are discussed in terms of the promise of extended contact theory for intergroup relations.
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that women rated how much Hillary Clinton deserved her success, but not the latter, according to internal and stable causes and would inspire them in difficult situations.
Abstract: If successful role models undo stereotype threat effects by providing reassurance that group members can “take care of themselves,” then the same real-world role model might inspire those who think she deserved success, but fail to inspire those who think she did not. In a pilot study, some women participants listed Hillary Clinton high among women who deserved their success; others listed her high among women who did not deserve their success. The former participants, but not the latter, claimed her success came from internal and stable causes and would inspire them in difficult situations. In the main study, women rated how much Hillary Clinton deserved her success. One month later, they were placed under mathematics stereotype threat, read a factual biography of Hillary Clinton, and took a GRE-Q test. Those who had earlier claimed Clinton deserved her success scored as well as a test-only control group; those who had earlier claimed she did not deserve her success scored as poorly as a threat-only cont...
TL;DR: The authors found that jurors may be biased toward defendants because of their group status or similarities/differences, and that deliberation may minimize bias by forcing jurors to rationalize their decisions.
Abstract: Jurors may be biased toward defendants because of their group status or similarities/differences. Deliberation may minimize bias by forcing jurors to rationalize their decisions. In two experiments...
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of perceived cultural discordance and perceived discrimination in the relationship between ethnic identification and national identification was investigated. But the results showed that perceived discrimination had only a direct negative effect on minority youth's national identification and did not moderate the association between ethnic and national identities.
Abstract: This study focuses on the role of two identity threats, perceived cultural discordance and perceived discrimination in the relationship between ethnic identification and national identification. Data on the identification patterns of Russian-speaking minority youth (N = 132) living in Finland indicated that their ethnic and national identities were negatively associated and appeared as oppositional when there was a perceived discordance between an individual’s wish to maintain the heritage culture and the majority group’s attitude towards immigrants’ maintenance of their ethnic heritage. When cultural discordance was not experienced, ethnic and national identification were independent of each other. In contrast, perceived discrimination had only a direct negative effect on minority youth’s national identification and did not moderate the association between ethnic and national identification. The effects of age and age at arrival to Finland were controlled for in the analysis. The results are discussed in relation to the notion of reciprocity in intergroup relations.