Group-based meta-emotion and emotion responses to intergroup threat

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Intergroup Relations
• Religious Studies

Background:

• Secularization trends increase perceived threats to religious groups from anti-religious factions.
• Understanding religious individuals' responses to these intergroup threats is crucial for social cohesion.
• Existing research often overlooks the role of meta-emotions in intergroup threat perception.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how anti-religious threats influence religious individuals' group-based emotions and behavioral intentions.
• To examine a novel pathway where perceived outgroup emotions (meta-emotions) mediate threat responses.
• To explore the impact of symbolic and realistic threats in real-world anti-religious campaigns.

Main Methods:

• Two experimental studies were conducted with participants from diverse cultural backgrounds (British, Latinx/Hispanic, American).
• Study 1 manipulated intergroup threat and group salience experimentally.
• Study 2 employed different threat manipulations (symbolic, realistic) and assessed responses to actual anti-religious campaigns.

Main Results:

• Increased perceived threat heightened negative group-based meta-emotions and outgroup-directed emotions.
• Threat also increased the desire to respond and opposition to anti-religious campaigns.
• The indirect pathway through meta-emotions consistently predicted emotional and behavioral outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Perceived anti-religious threats significantly impact religious groups' emotional states and behavioral intentions.
• Group-based meta-emotions serve as a critical mediator in understanding responses to intergroup threats.
• This meta-emotion pathway offers a novel perspective on intergroup dynamics within secularizing societies.