Subtle activation of a social categorization triggers group-level emotions

Previous research [Smith, E. R., Seger, C. R., & Mackie, D. M. (2007). Can emotions be truly group-level? Evidence regarding four conceptual criteria. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 431–446] has demonstrated that when people are explicitly asked about the emotions they experience as members of a particular group, their reported emotions converge toward a profile typical for that group. Two studies demonstrate that the same type of convergence occurs when a group identity is made situationally salient through priming, without an explicit request to report group-level emotions. People who identify more strongly with the group converge more, and show more similarity between their group-primed emotions and explicitly reported group-level emotions. This research confirms that activating a social identity produces convergence for emotions as well as for attitudes and behaviors. It also suggests that some previous emotion research may have tapped group rather than individual-level emotions, potentially requiring some reconceptualization.

[1]  H. Kelley.  The processes of causal attribution. , 1973 .

[2]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Intergroup emotions: explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[3]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Arousal, Processing, and Risk Taking: Consequences of Intergroup Anger , 2008, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[4]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  From prejudice to intergroup emotions : differentiated reactions to social groups , 2002 .

[5]  T. Postmes,et al.  Deindividuation and antinormative behavior: A meta-analysis. , 1998 .

[6]  L. Festinger,et al.  Some consequences of de-individuation in a group , 1952 .

[7]  M. Hogg,et al.  Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. , 1989 .

[8]  D. Albarracín,et al.  Forming attitudes that predict future behavior: a meta-analysis of the attitude-behavior relation. , 2006, Psychological bulletin.

[9]  Diane M. Mackie,et al.  Affect, cognition, and stereotyping: Interactive processes in group perception. , 1993 .

[10]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction and Guilt Following Ingroup Aggression , 2007 .

[11]  Christopher W. Bauman,et al.  Political Tolerance and Coming to Psychological Closure Following the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks: An Integrative Approach , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[12]  Heather M. Claypool,et al.  A Meta-Analysis of Priming Effects on Impression Formation Supporting a General Model of Informational Biases , 2004, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[13]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Changing categorization of self can change emotions about outgroups , 2008 .

[14]  L. Doob.  The psychology of social norms. , 1937 .

[15]  D. Wigboldus,et al.  I feel for us: the impact of categorization and identification on emotions and action tendencies. , 2003, The British journal of social psychology.

[16]  Judith D. Singer,et al.  Using SAS PROC MIXED to Fit Multilevel Models, Hierarchical Models, and Individual Growth Models , 1998 .

[17]  F. H. Hankins,et al.  The Psychology of Social Norms , 1937 .

[18]  Steven L. Neuberg,et al.  INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND GROUP PROCESSES Different Emotional Reactions to Different Groups : A Sociofunctional Threat-Based Approach to “ Prejudice ” , 2005 .

[19]  Nalini Ambady,et al.  “Math is Hard!” The effect of gender priming on women’s attitudes , 2006 .

[20]  Norris R. Johnson,et al.  Crowd Behavior as "Risky Shift": A Laboratory Experiment , 1977 .

[21]  Jolanda Jetten,et al.  Guilty by Association : When One ' s Group Has a Negative History , 2001 .

[22]  D. Wigboldus,et al.  Intergroup emotions and self-categorization: The impact of perspective-taking on reactions to victims of harmful behavior , 2002 .

[23]  Victor Ottati,et al.  Perceived In-Group Homogeneity as a Function of Group Membership Salience and Stereotype Threat , 1995 .

[24]  Gregory Camilli,et al.  Application of a Method of Estimating DIF for Polytomous Test Items , 1999 .

[25]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Can emotions be truly group level? Evidence regarding four conceptual criteria. , 2007, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[26]  Eliot R. Smith.  Social Identity and Social Emotions: Toward New Conceptualizations of Prejudice , 1993 .

[27]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Effects of Intergroup Contact and Political Predispositions on Prejudice: Role of Intergroup Emotions , 2004 .

[28]  Rupert Brown,et al.  Social Identities: Motivational, Emotional, Cultural Influences , 2008 .

[29]  Seymour Sudman,et al.  Answering Questions: Methodology for Determining Cognitive and Communicative Processes in Survey Research , 1995 .

[30]  Mark W. Baldwin,et al.  Priming relationship schemas: My advisor and the pope are watching me from the back of my mind , 1990 .

[31]  J. Blascovich,et al.  How attributional ambiguity shapes physiological and emotional responses to social rejection and acceptance. , 2008, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

[32]  Linda L. Carli,et al.  Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes Gender, Language, and Influence , 2022 .

[33]  J. Dovidio,et al.  Automatic Stereotyping: Category, Trait, and Behavioral Activations , 2002 .

[34]  D. Wigboldus,et al.  Emotional reactions to harmful intergroup behavior , 2006 .

[35]  D. Watson,et al.  On traits and temperament: general and specific factors of emotional experience and their relation to the five-factor model. , 1992, Journal of personality.

[36]  F. Strack,et al.  "Mood contagion": the automatic transfer of mood between persons. , 2000, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[37]  H. Tajfel.  Social identity and intergroup relations , 1985 .

[38]  Eliot R. Smith,et al.  Knowing how they feel : Perceiving emotions felt by outgroups , 2009 .

[39]  Naomi Ellemers,et al.  PERCEIVED INTRAGROUP VARIABILITY AS A FUNCTION OF GROUP STATUS AND IDENTIFICATION , 1995 .

[40]  M. Liss,et al.  Predictors and Correlates of Collective Action , 2004 .

[41]  L. Festinger,et al.  Some consequences of deindividuation in a group. , 1952, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[42]  A. Kruglanski,et al.  Persuasion by a Single Route: A View From the Unimodel , 1999 .