Open AccessEffect of attribution on the emotions and behavioral intentions of third-party observers toward intergroup discriminators during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Bin Zuo,
Hanxue Ye,
Fangfang Wen,
Wenlin Ke,
Huanrui Xiao,
Jin Wang
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
group processes and intergroup relations/group processes and intergroup relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.535
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1461-7188
pISSN - 1368-4302
DOI - 10.1177/13684302211062367
Subject(s) - attribution , psychology , anger , contempt , social psychology , causality (physics) , social distance , covid-19 , developmental psychology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics , pathology
The global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 has caused intergroup discrimination associated with the disease to become increasingly prominent. Research demonstrates that the attitudes and behaviors of third-party observers significantly impact the progression of discrimination incidents. This study tested a parallel mediating model in which the attribution tendencies of observers influence their behavioral intentions through the mediating effect of the emotions of anger and contempt. The first two studies confirmed the proposed model with discrimination incidents reported against "returnees from Wuhan" and "returning workers from Hubei." Study 3 further manipulated the attribution tendencies of observers, providing empirical evidence for the causality from attribution tendencies to emotions, confirming the validity of the model. These findings enrich the cognitive (attribution)-emotion-action model, further enhancing our understanding of the role of third parties in intergroup conflicts, with implications for the management of people's emotions and behaviors in social crises.