Anger and guilt about ingroup advantage explain the willingness for political action.
Three studies examined non-Aboriginal Australians' guilt and anger about their ingroup's advantage over structurally disadvantaged Aborigines. Study 1 showed that participants who perceived their ingroup as relatively advantaged perceived this inequality as unfair and felt guilt and anger about it. Anger, and to a lesser degree guilt, predicted the willingness to engage in political action regarding ingroup advantage. Study 2 showed both guilt and anger to be relatively self-focused because both were associated with appraising the ingroup's (rather than the government's) discrimination as responsible for ingroup advantage. Study 3 examined on participants especially willing to engage in political action to bring about systemic compensation to Aborigines. Anger about ingroup advantage was a potent predictor. Although guilt was associated with the abstract goal of systemic compensation, guilt did not explain willingness for political action. Results underline the importance of examining specific group-based emotions in intergroup relations.
Leach
Colin Wayne
CW
University of California, Santa Cruz, USA. c.w.leach@sussex.ac.uk
Iyer
Aarti
A
Pedersen
Anne
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000786:Anger / Q000502:physiology*; D001315:Australia; D006040:Goals; D006126:Group Processes; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011057:Politics; D044382:Population Groups / Q000523:psychology; D011287:Prejudice; D012935:Social Justice / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012938:Social Perception; D012941:Social Responsibility