Arousal, processing, and risk taking: Consequences of intergroup anger

Robert J. Rydell, Diane M. MacKie, Angela T. Maitner, Heather M. Claypool, Melissa J. Ryan, Eliot R. Smith

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Intergroup emotions theory (IET) posits that when social categorization is salient, individuals feel the same emotions as others who share their group membership. Extensive research supporting this proposition has relied heavily on self-reports of group-based emotions. In three experiments, the authors provide converging evidence that group-based anger has subtle and less explicitly controlled consequences for information processing, using measures that do not rely on self-reported emotional experience. Specifically, the authors show that intergroup anger involves arousal (Experiment 1), reduces systematic processing of persuasive messages (Experiment 2), is moderated by group identification (Experiment 2, posttest), and compared to intergroup fear, increases risk taking (Experiment 3). These findings provide converging evidence that consistent with IET, emotions triggered by social categorization have psychologically consequential effects and are not evident solely in self-reports.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1141-1152
Number of pages12
JournalPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume34
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2008

Keywords

  • Anger
  • Arousal
  • Intergroup emotion
  • Persuasion
  • Risk taking

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology

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