Testing the Limits of Tolerance: How Intergroup Anxiety Amplifies Negative and Offensive Responses to Out-Group-Initiated Contact

Zomeren, Martijn van; Fischer, Agneta H.; Spears, Russell

doi:10.1177/0146167207307485

Cited by 70 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In addition, intergroup anxiety is positively correlated with offensive behavioral action tendencies toward the outgroup (Van Zomeren et al, 2007).…”

Section: Behavioral Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergroup Anxiety

Stephan

2014

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

315

183

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This article reviews studies of intergroup anxiety and places them in the context of a theoretical model that specifies categories of antecedents and consequences of intergroup anxiety. It is proposed that intergroup anxiety is comprised of three interrelated components: an affective component, a cognitive component, and a physiological component. The potential causes of intergroup anxiety include personality traits (e.g., social dominance orientation, attributional complexity), attitudes and related cognitions (e.g., negative expectations, stereotypes), personal experience (e.g., negative contact), and situational factors (e.g., the presence of linguistic barriers, structured vs. unstructured interactions). The potential consequences include attitudes and other cognitions (e.g., stereotypes, negative expectations), affect (e.g., fear, anger), and behavior (e.g., avoidance, negative behaviors). Theory and research on the reduction of intergroup anxiety (e.g., intergroup contact, direct or indirect cross-group friendships) are also presented. The discussion explores the implications of these studies for theory, research, and practice.

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“…In addition, intergroup anxiety is positively correlated with offensive behavioral action tendencies toward the outgroup (Van Zomeren et al, 2007).…”

Section: Behavioral Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intergroup Anxiety

Stephan

2014

Pers Soc Psychol Rev

315

183

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although this tendency has been explained by theories such as social identity theory and social identity gratification, it is possible that anxiety also plays a part in the avoidance of outgroup media content. In contact theory, intergroup anxiety was found to cause avoidance of intergroup contact (Stephen, Ybarra, Martinez, Schwarzwald, & Tur-Kaspa, 1998) and even offensive responses to outgroupinitiated contact (Van Zomeren, Fischer, & Spears, 2007).…”

Section: Affective Mediatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediated Intergroup Contact: Concept Explication, Synthesis, and Application

Park

2012

Mass Communication and Society

104

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This article had an overarching goal of paving a foundation for the scholarship on intergroup contact in the field of media research. This goal was approached from three different directions: concept explication, synthesis, and application. First, selective reviews of literature on intergroup contact research and media effects research were conducted to identify a term that can best represent existing terminology on intergroup contact via media consumption and elaborate on its definition. A synthesis of intergroup contact literature and existing studies of mediated intergroup contact revealed potential moderators and mediators of mediated contact effect. Last, current practices of media production and consumption in the United States were analyzed through the lens of intergroup contact to provide an assessment of the current state of mediated contact. Based on these reviews and syntheses, suggestions for future research and practice were made.As early as 1956, psychologists noted the possibility that mass media messages could create in an audience the illusion of face-to-face interaction with their characters (Horton & Wohl, 1956). For all the right reasons, however, the media research involving different social=ethnic groups mostly focused on negative stereotypes of minority groups and the effects those stereotypes had on audiences, and did so without clearly recognizing the Sung-Yeon Park

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“…Despite this general pattern to value emotions from in-groups better than from out-groups, large individual differences exist. Prejudice, for example, has shown to strengthen this bias (Hugenberg and Bodenhausen, 2004) and the level of intergroup anxiety amplifies individuals’ threat appraisal, anger, and offensive action tendencies toward the out-group (Van Zomeren et al, 2007). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Islamic Headdress Influences How Emotion is Recognized from the Eyes

Kret¹,

Gelder²

2012

Front. Psychology

113

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Previous research has shown a negative bias in the perception of whole facial expressions from out-group members. Whether or not emotion recognition from the eyes is already sensitive to contextual information is presently a matter of debate. In three experiments we tested whether emotions can be recognized when just the eyes are visible and whether this recognition is affected by context cues, such as various Islamic headdresses vs. a cap or a scarf. Our results indicate that fear is still well recognized from a briefly flashed (100 ms) image of a women wearing a burqa with less than 20% transparency of the eye region. Moreover, the type of headdress influences how emotions are recognized. In a group of participants from non-Islamic background, fear was recognized better from women wearing a niqāb than from women wearing a cap and a shawl, whereas the opposite was observed for happy and sad expressions. The response patterns showed that fearful and anger labels were more often attributed to women with a niqāb vs. a cap and a shawl and again, an opposite pattern was observed for the happy response. However, there was no general response bias: both correct and incorrect responses were influenced by the facial expression as well. Anxiety levels and/or explicit negative associations with the Islam as measured via questionnaires did not mediate the effects. Consistent with the face literature, we conclude that the recognition of emotions from the eyes is also influenced by context.

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Testing the Limits of Tolerance: How Intergroup Anxiety Amplifies Negative and Offensive Responses to Out-Group-Initiated Contact

Cited by 70 publications

References 30 publications

Intergroup Anxiety

Intergroup Anxiety

Mediated Intergroup Contact: Concept Explication, Synthesis, and Application

Islamic Headdress Influences How Emotion is Recognized from the Eyes

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