Blake M. Riek

Intergroup Threat and Outgroup Attitudes: A Meta-Analytic Review:

This article examines the relationship between intergroup threat and negative outgroup attitudes. We first qualitatively review the intergroup threat literature, describing the shift from competing theories toward more integrated approaches, such as the integrated threat theory (ITT; W. G. Stephan & Stephan, 2000). The types of threats discussed include: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, negative stereotypes, group esteem threat, and distinctiveness threat. We then conducted a quantitative meta-analysis examining the relationships between various intergroup threats and outgroup attitudes. The meta-analysis, involving 95 samples, revealed that 5 different threat types had a positive relationship with negative outgroup attitudes. Additionally, outgroup status moderated some of these relationships. Implications and future directions are considered.

Perspective and Prejudice: Antecedents and Mediating Mechanisms

The present work investigated mechanisms by which Whites’ prejudice toward Blacks can be reduced (Study 1) and explored how creating a common ingroup identity can reduce prejudice by promoting these processes (Study 2). In Study 1, White participants who viewed a videotape depicting examples of racial discrimination and who imagined the victim’s feelings showed greater decreases in prejudice toward Blacks than did those in the objective and no instruction conditions. Among the potential mediating affective and cognitive variables examined, reductions in prejudice were mediated primarily by feelings associated with perceived injustice. In Study 2, an intervention designed to increase perceptions of a common group identity before viewing the videotape, reading that a terrorist threat was directed at all Americans versus directed just at White Americans, also reduced prejudice towardBlacks through increases in feelings of injustice.

How should intergroup contact be structured to reduce bias among majority and minority group children

This experiment examined the effectiveness of one-group and dual-identity recategorization strategies on reducing intergroup bias among 180 European Portuguese and African Portuguese 9- and 10-year-old children. Results revealed that each of these recategorization strategies, relative to one that emphasized separate group identities, was successful in producing positive attitudes toward the outgroup children present during the session, the outgroup as a whole, and the outgroup as a whole three weeks later. Consistent with a functional perspective regarding which representation would most effectively promote their group’s goals, a dual identity was more effective for the European Portuguese majority group, whereas a one-group identity was more effective for the African Portuguese minority group. Additional analyses explored a model of the process of generalization that formally links attitudes toward the outgroup as a whole to the attitudes toward outgroup members present during contact.

Does a common ingroup identity reduce intergroup threat

Intergroup threat is regarded as a cause of negative outgroup attitudes; however, little research has attempted to examine ways of reducing intergroup threat. Two studies examine the effectiveness of a superordinate identity for reducing intergroup threat. It was predicted that when two groups were aware of a shared identity, intergroup threat would be lowered and attitudes would become more positive. In Study 1, perceptions of common identities among Black and White students were related to decreases in intergroup threat and increases in positive outgroup attitudes. In Study 2, when their shared identity as Americans was made salient, Democrats and Republicans experienced less threat and more positive outgroup attitudes compared to when political party identities alone were salient. In both studies, intergroup threat acted as a mediator of the relationship between common identity and outgroup attitudes, suggesting that a common identity increases positive outgroup attitudes by first reducing intergroup threat.

Transgressions, Guilt, and Forgiveness: A Model of Seeking Forgiveness

While there has been increasing interest in the psychology of interpersonal forgiveness, the majority of the research has focused on the forgiveness process from the perspective of the victim. However, since by its very nature, forgiveness involves at least two individuals it is vital to begin to understand forgiveness from the perspective of the transgressor. The current study examines the situational factors that influence when and why offenders will seek forgiveness. Participants recalled an incident where they were the transgressor and responded to a questionnaire that assessed their perceptions and the characteristics of the offense. Then, their intention of seeking forgiveness was measured. It was found that a number of factors, including the severity of the transgression, relational closeness and rumination influenced the likelihood of seeking forgiveness. Furthermore, it was found that a number of these relationships were mediated by feelings of guilt, demonstrating the importance of guilt in motivating the seeking of forgiveness.

Transgressors’ guilt and shame: A longitudinal examination of forgiveness seeking

The current study examines forgiveness from the perspective of the transgressor, an often overlooked aspect of interpersonal forgiveness and a model of forgiveness seeking is proposed. Using a 2-wave longitudinal design, 166 participants completed measures of the characteristics of their transgressions, their feelings of guilt and shame, and their forgiveness-seeking behaviors. Cross-lagged correlational analysis indicated that guilt at time 1 was related to forgiveness seeking at time 2, but the opposite was not true. Path analyses revealed that guilt mediated the impact of transgression and relationship factors (i.e., transgression severity, responsibility, rumination, and relationship commitment) on forgiveness-seeking behavior over time. Shame, however, did not demonstrate any unique relationship with forgiveness-seeking behaviors. These findings suggest that guilt serves as a primary motivator for forgiveness seeking, indicating that it is a particularly important element to consider when working with transgressors. Overall, this study provides a conceptual model of the antecedents of forgiveness-seeking behaviors by transgressors, similar to those available for the antecedents of forgiveness seeking by victims.

Social Identities and Social Context: Social Attitudes and Personal Well-Being

In this chapter, we consider the fundamental importance of social identity both in terms of how people think about others and for personal well-being. The chapter reviews how social categorization and social identity impact peoples responses to others and, drawing on our own work on the Common Ingroup Identity Model, examines how identity processes can be shaped to improve intergroup relations. This model describes how factors that alter the perceptions of the memberships of separate groups to conceive of themselves as members of a single, more inclusive, superordinate group can reduce intergroup bias. The present chapter focuses on four developments in the model: (1) recognizing that multiple social identities can be activated simultaneously (e.g., a dual identity); (2) acknowledging that the meaning of different identities varies for different groups (e.g., racial or ethnic groups); (3) describing how the impact of different social identities can vary as a function of social context and social and personal values; and (4) outlining how these processes can influence not only intergroup attitudes but also personal well-being, interms of both mental and physical health.

Self-forgiveness and forgiveness-seeking in response to rumination: Cardiac and emotional responses of transgressors

Abstract Self-forgiveness and forgiveness-seeking are important and understudied aspects of forgiveness. We examined the cardiac and emotional patterns of healthy young adults (40 women, 40 men) who recalled an unresolved offense they had caused another person. Participants engaged in four imagery conditions: ruminating about the offense, being humbly repentant and engaging in self-forgiveness, seeking forgiveness from the victim and receiving forgiveness, and seeking forgiveness from the victim and being begrudged. Being repentant and begrudged forgiveness by one’s victim was associated with the same level of guilt as when ruminating, but significantly more negative emotion, less control, and less empathy than when ruminating, self-forgiving, and receiving forgiveness from the victim. Compared to ruminating about one’s wrongdoing, self-forgiving alleviated guilt and negative emotion, increased perceived control, decreased heart rate, and increased parasympathetic activation. Imagery of receiving forgiveness from the victim resulted in these same patterns and was equivalent to self-forgiveness across variables.

Reverse Subtyping: The Effects of Prejudice Level on the Subtyping of Counterstereotypic Outgroup Members

Although many anti-bias interventions try to overcome stereotypes by presenting positive and/or counterstereotypic members of the outgroup, people often subtype these members and refuse to see them as typical of the outgroup. Although subtyping has been shown to be a common phenomenon, it is unclear if preexisting attitudes moderate this process. The current study examined whether preexisting prejudice levels would moderate the subtyping process. Specifically, it was found that although high-prejudiced individuals subtyped a positive racial outgroup member, low-prejudiced individuals demonstrated the opposite pattern and subtyped negative outgroup members as being atypical. This suggests that although the subtyping phenomenon may be universal, its expression is moderated by preexisting intergroup attitudes.

Differences and Similarities in Forgiveness Seeking Across Childhood and Adolescence

The current study examines age-related differences and similarities in forgiveness seeking. Students in third, seventh, and 12th grade imagined themselves committing various transgressions and the characteristics of these transgression (e.g., severity of consequences, type of offense) were manipulated. Across the age groups, forgiveness seeking was predicted by guilt, whereas withdrawal was predicted by shame. For all age groups, forgiveness seeking was more likely to occur when the offense was an active one rather than a failure to act. However, age differences were found in how offense severity affected forgiveness seeking. Older students were more likely to seek forgiveness when the offense was high rather than low in severity, but younger students did not show this difference. Age differences were also found in the motivations for seeking forgiveness. Finally, teacher ratings of students’ overall prosocial behavior were positively correlated with forgiveness seeking.