Perceiving a group’s wrongdoing as situationally justifiable blocks collective guilt

Evidence

If people do not perceive that ingroup members caused an event, they are not likely to feel guilt. However, merely acknowledging that a member of one’s ingroup has caused a negative event does not guarantee a collective guilt reaction, because feelings of collective guilt should be unlikely if the actions of one’s ingroup are viewed as justified by the demands of the situation. For example, the internment of Japanese-Americans in the United States during World War II was very likely viewed by many if not most Americans as being justified by a need for national security, a need outweighing the desire to protect the civil rights of an immigrant population. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 297

Categorization

• SEED: The collective-guilt-takes-decades formulation — Americans may feel guilt over today’s legal profiling only once perceived threat recedes — is a timely lens on generational moral reckoning.
• XREF: connects to: Advantaged groups avoid guilt by denying inequality or dodging responsibility — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1844; Highly identified group members minimize collective guilt by morally reinterpreting ingroup wrongs — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2278; Highly identified group members resist feeling collective guilt by reinterpreting events — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2278 (+23 more)

Broader Connections

• Highly identified group members minimize collective guilt by morally reinterpreting ingroup wrongs #corroborates (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2278
• Highly identified group members resist feeling collective guilt by reinterpreting events #corroborates (0.90) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2278