Members of advantaged groups feel moral conflict when their superiority seems illegitimate.

Evidence

A less well-known contribution of SIT, included in its early formulation but not in the definitive formulation, is the notion that members of “consensually superior groups” may experience a moral conflict if they regard their ingroup’s superiority as illegitimate (Tajfel 1974, p. 79). Tajfel suggested that group members experiencing this moral conflict may choose to leave their ingroup (as renegades) or adopt justifying ideologies that alleviate their moral concerns. — Nurit Shnabel and Johannes Ullrich, Identity Needs in Intergroup Relations, 52

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the asymmetry claim in the existing synthesis: here Tajfel grounds the superior/perpetrator-side moral-conflict branch in SIT itself, the same distinction the reader’s review hinges on. — connects to: Low-warmth, low-competence groups draw moralized disgust for illegitimately consuming resources. — Susan T. Fiske et al., A Model of (Often Mixed) Stereotype…, 259; Advantaged groups avoid guilt by denying inequality or dodging responsibility — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1844; Collective guilt is felt when the self’s group illegitimately harmed another group — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 0 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: Tajfel only gestured at reneging or adopting justifying ideologies as responses; how did later SIT theorists (Branscombe, Ellemers) flesh out which route members actually take?
• ADDENDUM: Supports the ‘On Sacrifice’-adjacent moral-legitimacy theme and more directly the asymmetry argument distinguishing perpetrator need for moral-identity restoration.

Broader Connections

• Collective guilt is felt when the self’s group illegitimately harmed another group #expands (0.88) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 0
• Advantaged groups avoid guilt by denying inequality or dodging responsibility #complicates (0.85) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 1844
• Group membership makes collective moral failures threaten personal self-esteem. #expands (0.80) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2088
• Self-categorization at group level makes members feel ingroup wrongdoings as their own. #expands (0.78) — Michael T. Schmitt, Daniel A. Miller, Nyla R. Branscombe, and Jack W. Brehm, The Difficulty of Making Reparations…, 14
• Glorification predicts defensive denial of the in-group’s moral violations. #complicates (0.75) — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt, 42