Self-categorization at group level makes members feel ingroup wrongdoings as their own.
Evidence
How is it that people can feel guilt on behalf of their ingroup, even when they do not perceive themselves as personally responsible for the ingroup’s harmful actions? According to selfcategorization theory (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987), the self can be experienced at different levels of inclusiveness. When people categorize themselves as individuals, they tend to focus on their unique qualities that differentiate them from other individuals. In contrast, when people self-categorize in terms of a social category, they tend to depersonalize the self and view themselves as more similar to other ingroup members. Accordingly, the ingroup’s successes, failures, and wrongdoings are ‘shared’ by individual group members as representatives of a common category membership. — Michael T. Schmitt, Daniel A. Miller, Nyla R. Branscombe, and Jack W. Brehm, The Difficulty of Making Reparations…, 14
Categorization
- DEFINE: Explains the self-categorization/depersonalization mechanism that grounds collective guilt in the absence of personal responsibility.
- XREF: connects to: Guilt requires self-categorizing as a group member — Torsten Masson and Markus Barth, The identification-guilt paradox…, 20; Salient group membership makes people treat the group’s fate as their own — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2262; Salient group membership extends the psychological self to the ingroup (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Salient group membership extends the psychological self to the ingroup
#expands(0.88) - Guilt requires self-categorizing as a group member
#corroborates(0.85) — Torsten Masson and Markus Barth, The identification-guilt paradox…, 20 - Salient group membership makes people treat the group’s fate as their own
#expands(0.82) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2262 - Salient group membership replaces personal identity with a collective self
#qualifies(0.78)