Linguistic intergroup bias: differential expectancies or in-group protection?
The linguistic intergroup bias describes the tendency to communicate positive in-group and negative out-group behaviors more abstractly than negative in-group and positive out-group behaviors. This article investigated whether this bias is driven by differential expectancies or by in-group protective motives. In Experiment 1, northern and southern Italian participants (N = 151) described positive and negative behaviors of northern or southern protagonists that were either congruent or incongruent with stereotypic expectancies. Regardless of valence, expectancy-congruent behaviors were described more abstractly than incongruent ones. Experiment 2 (N = 40) showed that language is used in an equally biased fashion for individuals as previously demonstrated for groups. Experiment 3 (N = 192) induced expectancies experimentally and found greater abstraction for expectancy-congruent behaviors regardless of valence. All experiments confirmed the differential expectancy approach.
Maass
A
A
Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.
Milesi
A
A
Zabbini
S
S
Stahlberg
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D007802:Language; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012574:Schools; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior