Intergroup aggression: its predictors and distinctness from in-group bias.
Investigated predictors of intergroup aggression and its relations to in-group bias. In a questionnaire, 156 Israeli adults reported perceptions of their own religious group and of the ultraorthodox Jewish out-group and expressed aggression toward the ultraorthodox (opposing institutions that serve their needs, supporting acts harmful to them, and opposing interaction with them). Respondents showed in-group favoritism in trait evaluations, but this bias was unrelated to aggression. Perceived inter-group conflict of interests, the postulated motivator of aggression, predicted it strongly. The effects of conflict on aggression were partially mediated by 2 indexes of dehumanizing the out-group (perceived value dissimilarity and trait inhumanity) and by 1 index of probable empathy with it (perceived in-group-out-group boundary permeability). These variables related to aggression more strongly among persons who identified highly with their in-group. The variables also mediated the effects of religious group affiliation on aggression. The value dissimilarity finding supports derivations from belief congruence theory.
Struch
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Department of Psychology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
Schwartz
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D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior; D012928:Social Desirability; D012931:Social Environment