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Solving the paradox – (further) evidence for a quadratic relationship between in‐group centrality and group‐based guilt
Author(s) -
Masson Torsten,
Barth Markus
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/bjso.12310
Subject(s) - centrality , psychology , social psychology , group (periodic table) , quadratic equation , function (biology) , identification (biology) , mathematics , statistics , chemistry , geometry , botany , organic chemistry , evolutionary biology , biology
Previous research on the relationship between strength of in‐group identification and collective guilt about an in‐group's wrongdoing is mixed, providing evidence for both a negative and a positive relationship. One possible way to reconcile these findings is to explore non‐linear (quadratic) functions. Correlational data (Study 1) and experimental data (Study 2) from two questionnaire studies ( Ntotal = 311) were in line with a quadratic relationship between self‐centrality of the in‐group and collective guilt (inverted U‐shaped function). Collective guilt about a group's transgression was highest at medium levels of in‐group centrality and lower for low and high levels of centrality, respectively. Additionally, defensive in‐group beliefs (i.e., beliefs restoring a positive in‐group image) were also associated non‐linearly with in‐group centrality (cubic relation relationship). Our findings call for a more detailed look on possible non‐linear relationships between in‐group identification and collective guilt or in‐group defensiveness.