Core disgust is attenuated by ingroup relations

Abstract

We present the first experimental evidence to our knowledge that ingroup relations attenuate core disgust and that this helps explain the ability of groups to coact. In study 1, 45 student participants smelled a sweaty t-shirt bearing the logo of another university, with either their student identity (ingroup condition), their specific university identity (outgroup condition), or their personal identity (interpersonal condition) made salient. Self-reported disgust was lower in the ingroup condition than in the other conditions, and disgust mediated the relationship between condition and willingness to interact with target. In study 2, 90 student participants smelled a sweaty target t-shirt bearing either the logo of their own university, another university, or no logo, with either their student identity or their specific university identity made salient. Walking time to wash hands and pumps of soap indicated that disgust was lower where the relationship between participant and target was ingroup rather than outgroup or ambivalent (no logo).disgust | social identity | groups | group processes | coaction

Clarifying the Role of Perception in Intergroup Relations: Origins of Bias, Components of Perception, and Practical Implications

“…326). Indeed, recent work has provided experimental evidence of the role of disgust in mediating the relationship between group identity and avoidance (Reicher, Templeton, Neville, Ferrari, & Drury, 2016). Specifically, in this research, after smelling a sweaty T-shirt, disgust-measured by either self-report or an unobtrusive measure of walking time to wash hands or number of pumps of hand sanitizer used-was lower when participants believed the T-shirt was owned by a member of their own group.…”

Perception, Action, and the Social Dynamics of the Variable Self

“…Indeed we even have evidence that noises attributed to the Mela, and hence seen as identity relevant, are encoded more richly and remembered better than identical noises attributed to non-identity relevant sources (Srinivasan, et al, 2013;Srinivasan, Tewari, Makwana, & Hopkins, 2015). Finally, as concerns the issue of proximity and the experience of disgust, we have evidence from elsewhere that bodily excreta (sweat in this case) are experienced as less disgusting when they emanate from an ingroup source (Reicher, Templeton, Neville, Ferrari & Drury, 2016) All in all, and across a series of modalities, we see that the identity relevance of stimuli -that is, precisely what they mean in relation to the self and whether they affirm or undermine the self, is critical to the way that they are encoded, evaluated and approached (or else avoided). Indeed, we even have evidence from very different settings (the Kosovan war)…”

“…Here the category is about creating reality rather than reflecting reality. It is about creating a constituency of people acting together and hence (as we have previously argued) having the power to bring new forms of social organisation into being (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001). Another way of putting this is to say that social identity processes are oriented to the future not just the present.…”

“…Indeed they are bound to be argued over insofar as they are the basis for creating and influencing new constituencies and hence for wielding social power (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001 (Hopkins & KahaniHopkins, 2004). …”

Aversive smell associations shape social judgment

“…As for the liking and morality judgments, previous research have shown that these could be influenced by aversive odors (Alaoui-Ismaili, Robin, Rada, Dittmar, & Vernet-Maury, 1997;Croy, Olgun, & Joraschky, 2011;Herz, Schankler, & Beland, 2004;Kirk-Smith, Van Toller, & Dodd, 1983;Reicher, Templeton, Neville, Ferrari, & Drury, 2016;Rozin & Fallon, 1987;Schnall, Haidt, Clore, & Jordan, 2008;Stevenson, 2010;Yeshurun & Sobel, 2010), but whether odor evaluative conditioning would similarly shape morality and liking judgments is unclear.…”