Does a common ingroup identity reduce intergroup threat?

• Published in: Group processes & intergroup relations Vol. 13; no. 4; pp. 403 - 423
• Main Authors: Riek, Blake M., Mania, Eric W., Gaertner, Samuel L., McDonald, Stacy A., Lamoreaux, Marika J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-07-2010; Sage Publications; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Attitudes; Black white relations; Group identity; Identity; Intergroup Relations; Interpersonal relationships. Groups. Leadership; Political attitudes; Political Parties; Racial identity; Social psychology; Sociology; Students; Studies; Threat; Threats; United States Of America; common ingroup identity; intergroup; intergroup threat; prejudice reduction; Collective Identity; Collective attitude; Intergroup relation; Threat
• ISSN: 1368-4302; 1461-7188
• DOI: 10.1177/1368430209346701

Intergroup threat is regarded as a cause of negative outgroup attitudes; however, little research has attempted to examine ways of reducing intergroup threat. Two studies examine the effectiveness of a superordinate identity for reducing intergroup threat. It was predicted that when two groups were aware of a shared identity, intergroup threat would be lowered and attitudes would become more positive. In Study 1, perceptions of common identities among Black and White students were related to decreases in intergroup threat and increases in positive outgroup attitudes. In Study 2, when their shared identity as Americans was made salient, Democrats and Republicans experienced less threat and more positive outgroup attitudes compared to when political party identities alone were salient. In both studies, intergroup threat acted as a mediator of the relationship between common identity and outgroup attitudes, suggesting that a common identity increases positive outgroup attitudes by first reducing intergroup threat.