Collective angst: How threats to the future vitality of the ingroup shape intergroup emotion.

Abstract

When people perceive a threat to the self, they have a tendency to respond with negative emotions. Which specific negative emotion will predominate depends on the nature of the threat and how it is interpreted. Feelings of angst will emerge when a person experiences an intense concern that something negative will befall the self in the future (Barlow, 1988). According to social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), people can define themselves at either the personal level or the social identity level. When an important social identity is salient, the individual comes to think, feel, and act on the basis of his or her membership in that social group-to the extent that he or she has internalized that group membership as an aspect of the self. In line with social identity theory, we argue in this chapter that angst can be experienced not only at the level of the personal self but also as a result of perceived threats to a group to which one belongs. We focus on people's emotional responses when they perceive threats to the future of their ingroup; that is, when people respond to threat with collective angst.Although the study of emotion has traditionally been examined at the level of the personal self, group researchers have begun to illustrate how some important emotions are dependent on a different aspect of the self being salient: the social self (Smith, 1993;Wohl, Branscombe, & Klar, 2006). Whereas other chapters in this volume examine the self at the level of personal identity and explore means of transcending egoistic responses to threat, we explore the social self and the emotional response of collective angst as a response to threat experienced at the group level. We begin by considering the antecedent conditions that elicit collective angst; specifically, we examine the impact of threats to group distinctiveness in the present, as well as reminders of ingroup victimization in the past, for the experience of collective angst. We then turn to the potential social consequences that can stem from the experience of collective angst. We argue that reminders of historical victimization initiate ingroup defensive responses that result in group-level egoistic tendencies. Attention

The effect of intergroup threat and social identity salience on the belief in conspiracy theories over terrorism in indonesia: collective angst as a mediator

“…In this study, we focus on the effect of intergroup threat on another negative emotion termed collective angst, denoting people's emotional responses based on concern over the vitality of these people's group future existence which is perceived in jeopardy (Wohl & Branscombe, 2008Wohl, Giguère, Branscombe, & McVicar 2011;Wohl, Branscombe & Reysen, 2010). Recent research has confirmed that either a realistic threat in terms of group extinction (Halperin, Porat, & Wohl, 2013) or a symbolic threat in terms of group cultural discontinuity (Jetten & Wohl, 2012) trigger collective angst.…”

“…Identity salience refers to the definition of the self on the grounds of group membership shared with other people (Haslam, Oakes, Reynolds, & Turner, 1999). To the extent that individuals have internalized group membership they belong as an important part of the self, identity salience leads them to think, feel, and act in terms of their membership in that group (Wohl & Branscombe, 2008). Moreover, the more salient identity is the more likely it is that this identity will be enacted in a given situation.…”

The Social Psychology of Intractable Conflicts

“…For example, in support of the notion that collective victimhood can serve as a moral justification for harmdoing by ingroup members, perceived collective victimhood of the ingroup among Serbian high school students predicted reduced willingness to acknowledge the violence committed by the ingroup during the war in the 1990s . Wohl and Branscombe (2008) found in several experimental studies that people who were reminded of the suffering of their ingroup in the past (e.g. Canadian Jews reminded of the Holocaust; US citizens reminded of Pearl Harbor) reported less collective guilt for harmdoing committed by their ingroup toward others in a present-day conflict.…”

“…Beyond threats of physical violence and annihilation at the hands of the adversary group (see Kriesberg 2005), outgroup victories are typically seen as destructive to particular needs and values deemed vital to the ingroup's survival . Recent work by Wohl and colleagues (e.g., Wohl and Branscombe 2008;Wohl et al 2012) suggests that the existential qualities of intractable conflicts elicit collective angst, a collective emotion that reflects concern for the future vitality of the ingroup. Collective angst primarily functions to arouse behaviors aimed at safeguarding the future of the group.…”

Representative Decision-Making: Challenges to Democratic Peace Theory

“…In many cases, fear in this violent context may even lead to the development of collective angst, which indicates a perception of the group's possible extinction ( Wohl and Branscombe 2008 ;Wohl et al 2010 ). The prolonged experience of severe fear leads to a number of observed cognitive effects that intensify freezing.…”