Group-based guilt as a predictor of commitment to apology.
Whether the Australian government should officially apologize to Indigenous Australians for past wrongs is hotly debated in Australia. The predictors of support amongst non-Indigenous Australians for such an apology were examined in two studies. The first study (N=164) showed that group-based guilt was a good predictor of support for a government apology, as was the perception that non-Indigenous Australians were relatively advantaged. In the second study (N=116) it was found that group-based guilt was an excellent predictor of support for apology and was itself predicted by perceived non-Indigenous responsibility for harsh treatment of Indigenous people, and an absence of doubts about the legitimacy of group-based guilt. National identification was not a predictor of group-based guilt. The results of the two studies suggest that, just as individual emotions predict individual action tendencies, so group-based guilt predicts support for actions or decisions to be taken at the collective level.
McGarty
Craig
C
School of Psychology, The Australian National University, Australia. Craig.McGarty@anu.edu.au
Pedersen
Anne
A
Leach
Colin Wayne
CW
Mansell
Tamarra
T
Waller
Julie
J
Bliuc
Ana-Maria
AM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006076:Government; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044382:Population Groups; D012941:Social Responsibility