Reactions to threatening critical messages from minority group members with shared or distinct group identities

Abstract

Reactions to members of other groups are important in multicultural societies. In four studies (N = 725), we investigate the reactions of majority group members to minority group members who stress either their distinct identity or their shared identity when they express threatening critical messages. In Study 1, we investigate reactions to a person who stresses the importance of either his Moroccan and Muslim identity or his Dutch and non‐Islamic identity. In Studies 2 and 3, we disentangle national and religious identity. Across all studies, we find that minority group members who stress their shared identity rather than their distinct identity are evaluated more positively, are perceived as more similar to the self, and tend to evoke less anger. In Study 4, we replicate this finding and show that perceived similarity mediates the impact of identity on these evaluations, but constructiveness only partially mediates these relations. Results are discussed in terms of recategorization models and the intergroup sensitivity effect. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

From Cultural Discordance to Support for Collective Action

“…In line with the results of Tam et al (2009), low outgroup trust was associated with weaker majority support for collective action geared at improving immigrants' social standing. As Wirtz and Doosje (2013) demonstrated, it is easier for majority members to accept messages about injustice when minority members giving such comments do not overemphasise cultural maintenance. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that under these conditions, minority members are seen as less of a threat for the majority identity and, thus, more trustworthy.…”

When lack of control enhances closeness to others: The case of unemployment and economic threat

“…The common group categorization that would apply in this context could include countries that are heavily affected by the economic crisis in Europe (in this case, Greece and Spain). Wirtz and Doosje (2013) found that the perceived similarity of minority group members mediated the effect of identity on the evaluations of the outgroup. In fact, previous research showed that perceived common fate, such as in the face of a natural disaster, created a shared identity with outgroup members (Drury, Brown, Gonz alez, & Miranda, 2016).…”

“…According to the self-categorization theory (Turner et al, 1987) and the dual-identity model (Dovidio, Gaertner, & Validzic, 1998;Gonz alez & Brown, 2003), people are perceived as being more similar if they share some common identity, which has a positive impact on intergroup relations (e.g., social support or solidarity). Wirtz and Doosje (2013) found that the perceived similarity of minority group members mediated the effect of identity on the evaluations of the outgroup. Hence, we predicted that personal lack of control accompanied by realistic unemployment threat will increase identification with the Greeks, which in turn will lead to higher perceived similarity, resulting in more positive outgroup perceptions (Brown, 1984).…”

If You Criticize Us, Do It in Concrete Terms: Linguistic Abstraction as a Moderator of the Intergroup Sensitivity Effect

“…Research on the intergroup sensitivity effect has demonstrated that criticisms by outsiders provoke harsher reactions and higher defensiveness, are perceived as less correct, and arouse a less favorable perception of the speaker, compared with criticisms by insiders (Hornsey & Esposo, 2009). Evidence for this phenomenon has been found by considering criticisms of various groups such as national (Adelman & Dasgupta, 2018; Esposo, Hornsey, & Spoor, 2013; Hornsey et al, 2002; Hornsey, Trembath, & Gunthorpe, 2004; Rabinovich & Morton, 2010; Sutton et al, 2006), occupational (Hornsey, Grice, Jetten, Paulsen, & Callan, 2007), and religious groups (Ariyanto, Hornsey, & Gallois, 2006, 2010; Wirtz & Doosje, 2013). The more positive responses to in-group criticism are independent of the receivers’ strength of in-group identification (Sutton et al, 2006), but depend on an attributional mechanism.…”