The most loyal group members are least likely to feel collective guilt

Evidence

Doosje et al. (1998) investigated collective guilt, an emotion that people experience when they regard their ingroup as having morally transgressed in an important way. Notably, the research shows that the most highly identified group members may be the least likely to experience this emotion, because they are motivated to find ways to reinterpret events and evaluate the ingroup’s actions as morally acceptable. This finding indicates that experiencing emotions as a member of a group is not inevitable for an individual; people may seek to reinterpret or reappraise the situation, or even to disidentify with a group, if the resulting group-based emotion is unwelcome. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2278 (#expands, via linked claim)

It is noteworthy that the “ideal group” manipulation affected group-based guilt without any explicit appeal to criticize the group’s current actions. Both critical and conventional attachment participants listed positive attributes of their national group. However, mere contemplation of the ideal (rather than actual) group as the target of attachment raised group-based moral responsibility. — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt, 128 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Strongly identified group members resist collective guilt more than weakly identified ones. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 451; The source of disapproval reverses who feels most collective guilt — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 721; Strongest ingroup identifiers are least likely to feel collective guilt — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1170 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Highly identified group members resist feeling collective guilt by reinterpreting events #expands (0.92) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2278
• Framing attachment around ideals rather than current traits raises group-based guilt. #complicates (0.82) — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt, 128