Attributions to low group effort can make you feel better: The distinct roles of in-group identification, legitimacy of intergroup status, and controllability perceptions

One experiment investigates the process whereby attributing to low group effort the social status of an in-group that is perceived as being illegitimately low can spare group members the unpleasant affective consequences of a threat to one’s social identity. Specifically, this is the case because such attributions increase the perception that in-group failings can be controlled and, thus, are unlikely to recur. In turn, this ameliorates individuals’ subsequent affect. However, this only occurs to strongly but not weakly group-identified individuals. These findings point to a fairness-based account of coping with social identity threat through biased effort attributions.