Defining identity by who one is not produces out-group hate, not just in-group love

Evidence

Another possible answer comes from research on negational identities-identities defined by what one is not (e.g., not a Republican) rather than what one is (e.g., a Democrat; Zhong, Galinsky, & Unzueta, 2008a; Zhong, Phillips, Leonardelli, & Galinsky, 2008b). It may be the case that white supremacists are prone to negational identification, defining themselves partially in terms of who they are not (not black, Jewish, Asian, etc.). Negational identification leads to a distinct pattern of intergroup bias. In a minimal group study (Zhong et al., 2008b, study 2), participants who were given a negational identity (“you do not belong to the Type M group”) displayed higher levels of out-group derogation but not in-group favoritism than participants given an affirmational identity (“you belong to the Type M group”). Affirmational identity resulted in in-group favoritism but not out-group derogation, whereas negational identity resulted in both in-group favoritism and out-group derogation. This suggests that positive distinctiveness was achieved via somewhat different routes, with the negational identity condition deviating from the typical finding that intergroup bias is primarily a function of in-group favoritism (e. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1112

Categorization

• XREF: Directly complicates the Brewer/Allport line that prejudice is primarily in-group favoritism rather than out-group hate — a mechanistic distinction relevant to the reader’s prejudice-psychology reassessment thread. — connects to: Negational identification can unite people who cannot agree on positive identity — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 19
• QUESTION: Does negational identification help explain specifically Islamophobic and antisemitic actors who define themselves against a hated other rather than by a positive communal ideal?
• DEFINE: Defines ‘negational identities’ as a concept category in prejudice psychology.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1112