Haters are all the same: Perceptions of group homogeneity following positive vs. negative feedback (original) (raw)

Leaving an attacked group: Authoritative criticism decreases ingroup favoritism

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 2019

Research suggests people try to protect their social self-esteem from threats from the ingroup or the outgroup. However, how members react to a threat to social self-esteem from a third party remains unclear. Three studies were conducted to examine the influence of a threat to social self-esteem from an authoritative third party on ingroup favoritism. We explored the effect of negative (versus positive) evaluation from the testing system on explicit and implicit ingroup favoritism in Study 1 and Study 2 respectively. We compared the effect of negative evaluation posed by the testing system or the competitive outgroup on ingroup favoritism in Study 3. Results suggested that individuals experiencing a threat to social self-esteem from an authoritative third party manifested less ingroup favoritism than those experiencing no threat or outgroup threat. The theoretical implications of this research on social identity theory and the practical implications of reducing intergroup bias are d...

Intergroup bias in group judgment processes: The role of behavioral memories

Journal of Experimental …, 1998

Two experiments examined the role of memory for behavioral episodes in judgments about in-groups and out-groups. Using a minimal group paradigm, participants read either positive or negative trait-relevant behaviors performed by group members. They then were asked to make judgments about the group's trait characteristics. Results demonstrated that, for groups described positively, judgments about the out-group but not the in-group were accomplished by retrieving from memory specific behaviors performed by group members. In contrast, for groups described negatively, judgments about the in-group but not the out-group were accomplished by retrieving specific behaviors performed by group members. These results suggest that basic differences in the way judgments about in-groups and out-groups are made contribute to the establishment and perpetuation of intergroup bias by decreasing the stability of negative in-group and positive out-group impressions and increasing the stability of positive in-group and negative out-group impressions. 1998 Academic Press

I know you are, but what am I? Self-evaluative consequences of judging in-group and out-group members

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002

When judging another person, people often spontaneously compare this person with themselves. Six studies examined the self-evaluative consequences of such spontaneous comparisons with in-group versus out-group members. They demonstrate that spontaneous comparisons with in-group members primarily involved the activation of specific individuating knowledge about the self. In particular, knowledge indicating that the self is similar to the judged target was rendered accessible. As a consequence, subsequent self-evaluations that were based on the implications of accessible self-knowledge were assimilated toward in-group targets. Spontaneous comparisons with out-group members, however, primarily involved the activation of more general category knowledge about the self. Specifically, knowledge about judges' membership in a group that distinguished them from the target was rendered accessible. Consequently, self-evaluations were contrasted away from out-group targets.

The Positive Feedback Bias as a Response to Out-Group Unfriendliness1

Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2004

This study tests whether Whites provide especially positive feedback to minorities who respond to feedback in an unfriendly manner. White female undergraduates (N = 66) gave verbal feedback to either a Black or a White confederate who posed as the author of a poorly written essay. Confederates responded to participants’ feedback in either a friendly or unfriendly manner. As predicted, participants who gave feedback to an unfriendly Black confederate supplied a selectively higher ratio of positive to negative comments and a selectively higher proportion of positive comments. Participants paired with an unfriendly Black confederate also provided the most positive post-interaction ratings, despite minimal impression-management pressures. Collectively, these findings indicate that Whites’ self-image motives underlie the positive feedback bias.

Criticizing groups from the inside and the outside: an identity perspective on the intergroup sensitivity effect

Personality & social psychology bulletin, 2004

Research on group criticism has demonstrated that criticisms are received less defensively when made by an ingroup member than when made by an outsider (the intergroup sensitivity effect). Three experiments tested the extent to which this effect is driven by social identity concerns or by judgments of how experienced the source of the criticism is. In Experiments 1 and 2, Australians who criticized Australia (ingroup critics) were met with less defensiveness than were foreigners who criticized Australia (outgroup critics), regardless of the amount of experience the foreigner had with Australia. Furthermore, the effects of speaker type on evaluations were mediated by perceptions of the extent to which the criticisms were intended to be constructive but not by perceptions of experience. Finally, Experiment 3 indicated that although experience does not help outgroup critics, a lack of experience can hurt ingroup critics. Recommendations are provided as to how people can reduce defensiv...

Endorsing a negative in-group stereotype as a self-protective strategy: Sacrificing the group to save the self

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2008

This work examined if stigmatized targets will embrace negative in-group stereotypes in order to protect their self-esteem from the threat of stereotypic failures. All studies focused on the stereotype that women have lower math ability than men. In Study 1, women who failed a math test showed buffered self-esteem if they were first given the opportunity to endorse this stereotype. Study 2 replicated this effect and showed that women, but not men, increased their endorsement of this stereotype following math failure. Study 3 showed that the tendency to embrace this stereotype in response to failure was most pronounced among women with high trait self-esteem. Together, these findings suggest that there are contexts in which stigmatized individuals can protect their self-esteem in the face of stereotypic failures by embracing the very stereotypes that would have predicted their failure.

Sassenberg, Moskowitz, Jacoby, & Hansen (2006). The carry-over effect of competition: The impact of competition on prejudice towards uninvolved outgroups

Journal of Experimental …, 2007

Following realistic group-conXict theory, negative interdependence between groups (e.g., competition) leads to prejudice towards the opposing outgroup. Based on research on mindset priming, it is hypothesized that competition increases prejudice, regardless of whether the derogated outgroup is involved in the competition or not. In Experiment 1, participants remembered an event involving either competition or cooperation; in Experiments 2 and 3 they participated in a competitive, cooperative, or individual assessment of their knowledge. Subsequent measures indicated that competition results in higher levels of prejudice, even when it is not related to the intergroup context. Additional evidence suggests that this eVect is not driven by the transfer of negative aVect or ego-depletion. Possible underlying cognitive processes are discussed.

Is There an "I" in "Team"? The Role of the Self in Group-Serving Judgments

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005

Why do people make judgments that favor their groups, attributing outcomes to internal factors to a greater extent when their group succeeds than when their group fails? The present research demonstrates that group-serving judgments serve a self-protective function. In Study 1, participants in team sports competitions made more internal team attributions after experiencing victory than defeat; this groupserving bias was eliminated among those who completed an affirmation of personal values. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and found that affirmed people were less likely to use their self-judgments as an anchor for judgments about the group. Study 2 also found that self-affirmation secured feelings of being a worthy group member, and this was associated with the reduction of group-serving judgments. The present research examines the motivational factors that promote, reduce, link, and separate self-serving and group-serving judgments.