Intergroup threat and experienced affect: the distinct roles of causal attributions and in-group identification

Research shows that under manipulated conditions of intergroup threat, individuals
experience greater negative affect to the extent that low in-group identifiers make
an in-group-internal attribution rather than an out-group-internal attribution, and high ingroup
identifiers make an out-group-internal attribution rather than an in-group-internal
attribution for outcomes of intergroup comparison that threaten their social identity. The
author predicted and found that under conditions of making an out-group-internal attribution,
such an effect of in-group identification is mediated by the general proneness to
perceiving in-group–out-group differences, or intergroup distinctiveness, at high, but not
low, levels of in-group identification. Combining the findings of 2 different literatures,
the author provides new insights into the distinct roles played by intergroup attributions
as a predictor, in-group identification as a moderator, and intergroup distinctiveness as
a mediator of the affective responses produced under conditions of social identity threat
instantiated by individuals’ making out-group-internal attribution for the in-group unfavorable
outcomes of intergroup comparison.