Can identity fusion foster social harmony? Strongly fused individuals embrace familiar outgroup members unless threatened?
Past research has established that people whose identities are deeply aligned (“fused’) with a group endorse hostility toward distant outgroups (e.g., foreigners). We propose that identity fusion can have the opposite effect under certain conditions. Specifically, when the outgroup is familiar and n...
| Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | article |
| Publication Date: | 2023 |
| Country: | España |
| Institution: | Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia |
| Repository: | e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED |
| Language: | English |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/23042 |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/23042 |
| Access Level: | Open access |
| Keyword: | 63 Sociología::6302 Sociología Experimental::6302.02 Psicología social Identity fusion Intergroup hostility Intergroup threat Negative intergroup contact Prejudice |
| Summary: | Past research has established that people whose identities are deeply aligned (“fused’) with a group endorse hostility toward distant outgroups (e.g., foreigners). We propose that identity fusion can have the opposite effect under certain conditions. Specifically, when the outgroup is familiar and non-threatening, strongly fused persons may be positively disposed toward its members. Four studies tested this hypothesis. In the baseline control conditions, strongly fused participants expressed more positive sentiments toward familiar outgroup members than weakly fused participants (Experiments 1–3). Only after any of three distinct forms of negative intergroup contact (direct, extended, and depersonalized extended) did strongly fused persons denigrate familiar outgroup members. This effect replicated in a prospective study (Experiment 4). These findings support Klein and Bastian's (2022) contention that identity fusion can serve as a secure base that encourages cooperation with members of non-threatening familiar outgroups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) |
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