Mind-reading in strategic interaction: The impact of perceived similarity on projection and stereotyping

In social dilemmas, negotiations, and other forms of strategic interaction, mind-reading—intuiting another party’s preferences and intentions—has an important impact on an actor’s own behavior. In this paper, we present a model of how perceivers shift between social projection (using one’s own mental states to intuit a counterpart’s mental states) and stereotyping (using general assumptions about a group to intuit a counterpart’s mental states). Study 1 extends prior work on perceptual dilemmas in arms races, examining Americans’ perceptions of Chinese attitudes toward military escalation. Study 2 adapts a prisoner’s dilemma, pairing participants with outgroup targets. Study 3 employs an ultimatum game, asking male and female participants to make judgments about opposite sex partners. Study 4 manipulates perceived similarity as well as counterpart stereotype in a principal–agent context. Across the studies, we find evidence for our central prediction: higher levels of perceived similarity are associated with increased projection and reduced stereotyping.     

Liberty and justice for all? Implications of exposure to the U.S. flag for intergroup relations

Three studies examined the implications of nationalistic ideologies and exposure to the U.S. flag for the activation of egalitarian concepts and outgroup hostility. Study 1 demonstrated that subliminal exposure to the U.S. flag activated participants' egalitarian concepts. In Study 2, highly nationalistic participants who were exposed to the U.S. flag reported less hostility than did those not exposed to the flag, whereas the flag did not influence the hostility of participants low in nationalism. Study 3 demonstrated that for participants high in nationalism, greater activation of egalitarian concepts on subliminal exposure to the U.S. flag was associated with less hostility toward Arabs and Muslims in the presence of the U.S. flag. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

How Do U.S. Christians and Atheists Stereotype One Another’s Moral Values?

Moral conflict between Christians and atheists is becoming increasingly heated amidst the U.S. “culture wars,” yet research has been mostly silent regarding how these groups stereotype one another’s moral values and beliefs. We used moral foundations theory to better understand the nature of such stereotypes. In Study 1, U.S. Christian and atheist participants completed measures of moral values from their own perspective as well as the perspectives of typical atheists and typical Christians. Whereas atheists believed their ingroup endorsed fairness/justice values more than Christians, Christians believed their ingroup endorsed all moral values more than atheists. Moreover, both groups held (often extremely) inaccurate stereotypes about the outgroup’s values. In Study 2, participants wrote explicitly about outgroup morality. Atheists typically described Christians more negatively than Christians described atheists, regardless of the moral foundation of concern. Also, Christians’ negative impressions drew primarily from the Authority foundation, and both groups drew heavily from the Care foundation in both their positive and negative depictions. Implications for addressing the growing conflict between Christians and atheists in the United States are discussed.     

Can We Identify with a Nation Low in Morality? The Heavy Weight of (Im)Morality in International Comparison

Research has shown that the perceived morality of the ingroup is a primary source of group pride and ingroup identification. The present research examined whether this is true even when a group has a poor reputation for morality in terms of dishonesty and corruption, such as in the case of Italians. To address this issue, two studies analyzed the role of the three fundamental dimensions of social judgment—morality, competence, and sociability—in predicting Italians’ identification with their nation when the salience of social comparison and the status of the comparison outgroup were varied. Findings showed that perceived morality predicted ingroup identification when participants did not engage in social comparison. Under salient social comparison, individuals based group identification on other dimensions: Perceived sociability was the main predictor of identification when respondents compared with a higher status outgroup (Germans; Study 1; N = 109), whereas perceived competence was the main predictor of identification when participants compared with a lower status outgroup (Romanians; Study 2; N = 121). Overall, findings showed compensation processes in social identification: When social comparison is salient, members of a low morality group base identification on the dimension which allows positive differentiation from the outgroup.     

A group just like me: The moderating role of conservation values on social projection

We examined the moderating role of personal values on social projection. Study 1 was conducted prior to the 1999 Israeli elections among activists of the Center party, a newly established centrist party. The more importance activists attributed to conservation values (values that emphasize stability and certainty) the more they projected their political views to their party. Study 2 was conducted prior to the 2003 Israeli elections among students with varied attitudes toward the Kadima party, another newly established centrist party. Conservation values interacted with support for the Kadima party in their effect on social projection: The more importance participants attributed to conservation values, the more positive was the relationship between support for the party and social projection. In Study 3, we examined the role of conservation values in an experimental study in which participants were members of a virtual team: Raising the accessibility of conservation values resulted in higher levels of social projection. Taken together, findings indicate that emphasizing conservation values leads to greater social projection. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Different selves,different values: Effects of self‐construals on value activation and use

Three experiments demonstrated structural properties and dynamic effects of self‐construal on the processing and use of values. In Study 1, it was found that self‐focus during encoding caused spontaneous cognitive clustering of individualistic versus relational values. Study 2 demonstrated that self‐construal affected the implicit weight of a value‐related attribute in a multi‐attribute choice task. In Study 3, behavioral intentions were better predicted by personal values than social norms when the personal self was primed, whereas social norms predicted better when the collective self was primed. The effects of manipulated self‐construal were mimicked when comparing participants with an individualistic versus collectivistic cultural background. No interaction was found between priming and cultural background. Taken together, the studies demonstrated that different domains of the self are associated with different values, which may instigate different cognitive and behavioral processes when activated. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Projection in the Face of Centrism: Voter Inferences About Candidates' Party Affiliation in Low-Information Contexts

When are voters more likely to project their own political position onto a candidate for office? We investigate this question by examining the assumed partisanship of a (self-declared) centrist politician, using data from a survey experiment fielded in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In doing so, we build on the social categorization model as well as recent U.S.-focused political science research on projection and ingroup/outgroup racial divides—extending our analysis to incorporate racial and class similarities/differences across three countries where these divides likely vary in salience. We thus seek: (1) to contribute to research on the inferences citizens draw in nonpartisan elections and low-information contexts generally and (2) to highlight some potential methodological complications of using partisanship-less candidates in vignette experiments. Results suggest that even in the face of a self-declared centrist, voters from across the political spectrum tended to assume shared partisanship in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Examining projection by ingroup/outgroup divisions indicated that class appears to shape projection across all three countries, but that the racial divide only mattered in the United States. Finally, we also find evidence of counterprojection toward outgroup members—but once again only in the American context.     

Intergroup helping during the coronavirus crisis: Effects of group identification,ingroup blame and third party outgroup blame

Two studies tested predictors of helping across national boundaries. British participants reported blame attributions for the coronavirus crisis, either to the British government (ingroup blame), or to the Chinese government (third party outgroup blame), and it was tested whether this was associated with intentions to donate money to help outgroup members suffering from effects of the coronavirus crisis in the world's poorer countries. It was hypothesized that strength of identification with the national ingroup would be negatively associated with blame attributions to the ingroup, and that it would be positively associated with blame attributions to a third party outgroup. Blame attributions were predicted in turn to be related to outgroup helping, with ingroup blame being positively associated with helping intentions, and third party outgroup blame being negatively associated with helping intentions. Support for these predictions were found in one exploratory (N = 100) and one confirmatory (N = 250) study.     

Chinese Proverb Scale: Development and validation of an indigenous measure of Chinese traditional values

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an indigenous measure of Chinese traditional values using Chinese proverbs. A sample of 363 Mainland Chinese undergraduates participated in Study 1, in which a 26‐item Chinese Proverb Scale (CPS) was developed through factor analysis on an initial pool of 118 Chinese proverbs. Four factors were clearly identified: (a) Diligence, (b) Integrity, (c) Self‐Preservation, and (d) Self‐Interest. The CPS showed satisfactory convergent validity with personal values (S. H. Schwartz, 1992, Advances In Experimental Social Psychology, San Diego, Academic Press) and social axioms (K. Leung et al., 2002, Journal of Cross‐Cultural Psychology, 33, p. 286). For incremental validity, the CPS predicted life satisfaction beyond the Big Five personality, personal values, and social axioms. In Study 2, a sample of 239 Mainland Chinese participants completed the CPS across two measurement occasions with an interval of 6 months. Longitudinal structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed the structure of the CPS was robust and invariant over time. In Study 3, a sample of 167 Chinese undergraduates from Hong Kong responded to an adapted version of the CPS. Multigroup SEM showed structural equivalence of the scale across the mainland and Hong Kong samples. The cultural origins of the factors in the CPS and future applications of the scale in various research areas are discussed.     

We are the opposite of you! Mirroring of national,regional and ethnic stereotypes

The content of stereotypes can be shaped by multiple mechanisms, one of them possibly being the “mirroring effect.” Mirroring describes a phenomenon whereby people rate their ingroup characteristics as opposite to characteristics typical of a relevant outgroup. The aim of our study was to explore mirroring in three intergroup contexts—in national, regional, and ethnic stereotypes. In Study 1, 2,241 participants rated national ingroup stereotype and outgroup stereotypes of five Central European countries. In Study 2, 741 Czech participants rated regional ingroup and outgroup stereotypes of people living in two distinct parts of the Czech Republic. In Study 3, 463 majority and Hungarian minority participants in Slovakia rated ethnic ingroup and outgroup stereotypes. The results showed a clear presence of mirroring in all three contexts.     

刻板印象内容模型：理论假设及研究

介绍了刻板印象内容模型(SCM)的来源、理论假设和在美国与欧洲(个人主义文化)、东亚(集体主义文化)样本中的实证研究。SCM假设:(1)用热情和能力区分不同群体的刻板印象;(2)对外群体的刻板印象是混合的;(3)高社会地位群体被刻板为具有高能力,竞争性群体被刻板为缺乏热情;(4)刻板印象中存在参照群体偏好和外群体贬抑。在比较和评价SCM与其他理论的基础上,提出了刻板印象内容研究进一步细化和扩展的方向     

Sharing moral values: anticipated ingroup respect as a determinant of adherence to morality-based (but not competence-based) group norms

This research examines how moral values regulate the behavior of individual group members. It argues that group members behave in line with moral group norms because they anticipate receiving ingroup respect when enacting moral values that are shared by ingroup members. Data from two experimental studies offer evidence in support. In Study 1 (N = 82), morality-based (but not competence-based) ingroup norms determined whether members of a low-status group opted for individual versus collective strategies for status improvement. This effect was mediated by anticipated ingroup respect and emerged regardless of whether group norms prescribed collectivistic or individualistic behavior. These effects were replicated in Study 2 (N = 69), where no comparable effect was found as a result of moral norms communicated by a higher status outgroup. This indicates that social identity implications rather than interdependence or more generic concerns about social approval or importance of cooperation drive these effects.     

Merging on mayday: subgroup and superordinate identification as joint moderators of threat effects in the context of European Union's expansion

Threat has been proposed as an important cause of prejudice with social identification moderating its effects. In the context of the expansion of the European Union, two studies (N = 216 students and N = 107 non‐students) examined how people with different levels of subgroup and superordinate identification respond to threats from an outgroup nested within the same superordinate category as the ingroup. Across experiments, a consistent finding was that participants who strongly identified with the subgroup (Germany) and the superordinate group (Europe) at the same time were most susceptible to a subtle manipulation of threat. Among these participants, threat increased prejudice (Studies 1 and 2) and ingroup projection (Study 2). Findings are discussed with regard to theoretical models of subgroup relations, especially the ingroup projection model, as well as the European integration process. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reproduction of cultural values: a cross-cultural examination of stories people create and transmit

Narratives are one of the oldest and universal forms of communication in human societies. In the present research, the authors hypothesized that narratives play an important role in the reproduction of cultural values. To test this idea, Study 1 examined the contents of stories created by American and Japanese participants for their reflection of individualistic and collectivistic values, and Study 2 examined whether information consistent with cultural values would be more likely to be retained and passed onto others. The studies found that American participants created stories that reflected individualistic values and retained more individualistic information than collectivistic information when they transmitted a story to others. In contrast, Japanese participants created stories that reflected collectivistic values and retained more collectivistic information than individualistic information when they transmitted a story to others. These findings support the idea that narrative communication is an important part of cultural reproduction mechanism.     

Open or close the door to the outgroup? Diversity beliefs moderate the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward the outgroup

The present research investigated the moderating role of diversity beliefs with the aim of reconciling inconsistent findings regarding the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward outgroup. In Study 1, all variables were measured with self‐report scales completed by Chinese participants. In Study 2, diversity beliefs were manipulated by randomly assigning Chinese participants to a high or low diversity belief condition. In Study 3, we replicated the moderating model with American participants. Results of all three studies indicated that diversity beliefs moderated the relationship between group boundary permeability and attitudes toward outgroup. Individuals with high diversity beliefs held more positive attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). Conversely, individuals with low diversity beliefs held more negative attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). These findings suggest that when the inflow of the outgroup members is inevitable, attitudes toward the outgroup may be effectively improved by increasing diversity beliefs.     

Role of personal endorsement of outgroup members' distinctive values and need for cognitive closure in attitude towards the outgroup

The present study was designed to examine the role of the perceived culture of the outgroup and the perceiver's cognitive style on the intergroup process. We conducted a survey among mainland Chinese college students to discover the role of their personal endorsement of Hong Kong Chinese's distinctive values and need for cognitive closure in predicting their attitude towards the Hong Kong Chinese outgroup. Results showed that mainland Chinese who gave a higher endorsement of Hong Kong Chinese values were more likely to show a positive attitude towards Hong Kong Chinese, especially for people with a higher need for cognitive closure. These results were discussed in terms of the function of shared social reality on the formation of positive intergroup attitude. Future directions for intergroup research were proposed based on these findings.     

Defensive Partisanship? Evidence that In-Party Scandals Increase Out-Party Hostility

Contemporary U.S. politics is characterized by polarization and interpartisan antipathy. This is accompanied by a media landscape saturated with coverage of political scandals. Applying a social identity perspective, we examined whether exposure to scandals that threaten partisan's moral group image (i.e., in-party scandals), may motivate defensive hostility against opposing partisans. Across three experiments we exposed U.S. partisans to scandals attributed to either in-party or out-party politicians. We then assessed partisan hostility using a variety of operationalizations, including anger at a real outgroup politician (Study 1), judgments about the alleged misdeeds of a fabricated outgroup politician (Study 2), and negative perceptions of opposing party members (Study 3). Strength of partisan identity was assessed as a predicted moderator (Study 3). As expected in- (vs. out-) party scandals, were perceived as group-image threats and elicited greater hostility towards opposing partisans, independent of partisans' ideological extremity or prior affective polarization.     

Consistency-based compliance across cultures

A field study investigated cross-cultural differences in choice-congruent behavior and its impact on compliance. U.S. and Asian participants received a request to complete an online survey and a month later they were approached with a larger, related request. Compliance with the initial request had a stronger impact on subsequent compliance among the U.S. participants than among the Asian participants. Despite their lower rate of compliance with the initial request, the U.S. participants who chose to comply were more likely than their Asian counterparts to agree to the subsequent request. Further analyses revealed that this effect was driven by differences in the individualistic/collectivistic orientation of the participants from the two cultures. Within both cultures, the more individualistic participants showed stronger consistency with their earlier compliance than the more collectivistically oriented participants.     

Blaming a Few Bad Apples to Save a Threatened Barrel: The System‐Justifying Function of Conspiracy Theories

This research demonstrates that conspiracy theories—often represented as subversive alternatives to establishment narratives—may bolster, rather than undermine, support for the social status quo when its legitimacy is under threat. A pilot study (N = 98) found a positive relationship between conspiracy belief and satisfaction with the status quo. In Study 1 (N = 120), threatening (vs. affirming) the status quo in British society caused participants to endorse conspiracy theories. In Study 2 (N = 159), exposure to conspiracy theories increased satisfaction with the British social system after this had been experimentally threatened. In Study 3 (N = 109), this effect was mediated by the tendency for participants exposed (vs. not exposed) to conspiracy theories to attribute societal problems relatively more strongly to small groups of people rather than systemic causes. By blaming tragedies, disasters, and social problems on the actions of a malign few, conspiracy theories can divert attention from the inherent limitations of social systems.     

Belief in group interdependence: Facilitating evacuee–host interactions after the Fukushima nuclear accident

After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, intercultural friction and aversion arose between evacuees and host community residents in relocation areas. We examined whether a belief in group interdependence—the extent to which an individual believes that group function is realized through interdependence with related other groups—is consistent with positive interactions between evacuees and hosts. A door-to-door survey of 77 evacuees and 75 hosts revealed that residents with an integrated social identity interacted favorably with both ingroup and outgroup members, and that a belief in group interdependence was consistent with the integration of social identity between the evacuee and host communities. Those findings suggest that a belief in group interdependence can reduce intercultural conflict by allowing both immigrants and host residents to acquire an integrated social identity without the dilemma of internalizing different cultures into an individual's mind.