In-group glorification but not attachment predicts justifying harm against out-groups

Evidence

Using this distinction, Roccas et al. (2006) conducted a study among Israelis and found that in-group attachment was negatively related to justificatory processes for Israeli mistreatments of Palestinians and positively to self-reported guilt. In spite of being correlated with attachment, in-group glorification showed the opposite relationship to both of these variables. The more in-group glorification, the more justification of the wrongdoings and the less guilt. The results by Roccas et al. (2006) are important inasmuch as their measure of cognitive exoneration for the wrongdoings can be understood as a moral disengagement strategy. They thus provide some preliminary evidence that in-group wrongdoings are assessed differently by individuals who differ in their level of glorification of the in-group, albeit not by those who differ in their level of attachment to it. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2115

Categorization

• SHARE: Nerdy for a social psychologist or political scientist: glorification, not patriotism, drives exoneration of one’s own group’s wrongdoings.
• SEED: Angle: separating healthy attachment from uncritical glorification could reframe debates about nationalism vs. patriotism in contemporary politics.
• XREF: connects to: Affective group attachment, not mere membership perception, drives non-linear responses to collective guilt — Torsten Masson and Markus Barth, The identification-guilt paradox…, 26; Attachment to the in-group and glorification predict opposite reactions to one’s group’s moral violations. — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt: Modes…, 2; Attachment to the in-group predicts guilt while glorification predicts defensiveness — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt: Modes…, 7 (+24 more)