Group members’ responses to threats to group image depend on how strongly they identify

Evidence

In general, people are inclined to maintain a positive image of the group to which they belong, because membership in the group relates to their social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). However, national groups will almost invariably have a history in which things are done to other groups, which in light of present beliefs and values can be viewed as morally wrong. Such negative episodes in history can constitute a threat to the moral value of one’s group. How people respond is likely to be determined by their subjective identification with the ingroup, that is the extent to which defining themselves as a member of that group is important and relevant for them (Branscombe et al., 1999; Spears, Doosje, & Ellemers, 1999). Degree of ingroup identification moderates participants’ perceptual responses to a threat to their group (Spears, Doosje, & Ellemers, 1997). Participants who identified weakly with their group tried to distance themselves from the group under conditions of threat, which resulted in perceiving themselves as less prototypical group members. In contrast, higher identifiers continued to be oriented toward the ingroup and perceived themselves more as a prototypical group member. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1052

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Threatened group members either reinterpret history or revise their group’s image — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1054; Emotional identification with a group, not mere membership, drives group-based fear and anger — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2267; Group-level threats and individual-level threats trigger systematically different responses — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 23 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Emotional identification with a group, not mere membership, drives group-based fear and anger #expands (0.85) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2267
• Group-level threats and individual-level threats trigger systematically different responses #complicates (0.72) — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 23