Stigma and Favoritism in Intergroup Relations
The Stigma of Favoritism
One of the key issues in intergroup relations is analyzing factors contributing to rejection and hostility.
Mummendey et al.: Positive-Negative Asymmetry
Factors leading to rejection and hostility.
Brewer: Conditions Favoring Rejection
- Difference in behavior directed at ingroup or outgroup.
- Rules and their enforcement.
- Perceived threat from the outgroup; the media’s role.
- Traditional beliefs supporting group disparity.
- Individual differences in prejudice, authoritarianism, or social dominance.
- Role of emotions.
Effects on Intergroup Relations
- Lippman: The role of stereotypes.
- Allport: Characterizes bias as antipathy towards a group.
- Bodenhausen:
- Incidental Affect: Emotions unrelated to the intergroup context.
- Integral Affect: Emotions aroused by specific social group contexts.
The Impact of Mood or Emotions on Outgroup Evaluations
- Consistency of Affection: Correspondence between valence (positive/negative) and beliefs, feelings, and behaviors.
- Mood Infusion: Integrating new information with emotional state; greater impact with atypical outgroup members.
- Positive affect can lead to superficial stereotyping and increased homogeneity perception.
- Negative affect leads to deeper processing, emphasizing the role of distraction caused by strong emotions, where attention is lost (Wilder: Anxiety can bias information processing).
- Attention is reduced with intense feelings. When attention is directed, information processing is more careful and elaborate, increasing the probability of affect infusion and valence-trial mood (Wilder and Simon: FISHNET Hypothesis).
Integrated Studies on Emotions and Intergroup Relations
Descriptive Studies
Dijker (study): Emotional reactions in Dutch ethnic relations. Four categories: Positive mood, anxiety, irritation, and worry. Positive moods predicted positive attitudes toward Surinamese; negative emotions (irritation, worry) towards Turks and Moroccans. Different forms of contact were associated with different emotions depending on the group.
Navas, Molero, and Square (study): Increased pity towards black African immigrants in the Maghreb. Negative feelings were similar.
Gomez and Huici (study): Highest sympathy and attraction towards black Africans, followed by Maghreb and Gypsies. The pattern was reversed for negative feelings.
The Intergroup Anxiety Model (Stephan and Stephan)
Anxiety in intergroup contact situations has antecedents and consequences. Increased anxiety results from anticipating negative consequences, fearing negative evaluations, or rejection/identification issues when interacting with the outgroup.
Antecedents of Intergroup Anxiety
- Previous intergroup relations (less anxiety with prior contact).
- Cognitions and intergroup previews.
Consequences
- Behavior: Avoidance.
- Standards: Rigid and exaggerated.
- Negative Expectations: Can lead to aggression.
- Cognitive: Biases and simplifications in information processing.
- Motivational Biases: Increased public/private awareness.
- Affective: Anxiety activation transferred to other emotions.
Islam and Hewstone (results): Anxiety is negatively correlated with the quantity and quality of contact and positive intergroup relations. Relationship between anxiety and negative perceptions of outgroup variability.
Prejudice as Social Emotions (Smith)
New concept of prejudice challenges traditional views. The evaluative aspect of prejudiced beliefs is the basis of discriminatory conduct, which only considers negative assessments. Bias is constant across situations.
Appraisal Theory of Emotion
A change in willingness to act due to the evaluation of an event or situation affecting well-being. The appraisal of a situation/fact affecting social identity leads to emotion: threats to the ingroup produce fear, and breaking rules generates anger. Discriminatory behavior results from emotional action tendencies.