Majority grievance in Germany: The role of entitlement beliefs and ingroup threat.

Abstract

Group-based grievance has mainly been studied from the perspective of disadvantaged and minority groups. Following the refugee crisis and corresponding sociopolitical changes, there has also been an increase in perceived grievance among majority groups in many European countries. The present studies examined the role of perceived threat in the relationship between autochthony-based entitlement and group grievances among members of the German majority. Across three correlational studies, we tested whether threat moderates versus mediates this relationship. In Study 1, using a nationally representative sample, we found support for threat serving as a mediator of the relationship between autochthony-based entitlement and majority grievance. We replicated this finding in Studies 2 (N = 380) and 3 (N = 614) using convenience samples. We discuss the diverse roles played by perceived threat in predicting defensive reactions by majority groups and the importance of studying perceived entitlement in majority groups’ grievance claims.

The role of place in intergroup conflicts and intragroup solidarity: Recent advances and perspectives.

“…These results, while focused on nonviolent resistance, ironically correspond with the tragic current events in Israel, where residing near Israeli settlements and checkpoints has likely damaged the sense of social cohesion among the Palestinians and paved the way for violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Note that while the articles by Lee et al (2023), Okuyan et al (2023), and Ioku and Watamura (2024) considered perceived (ownership) threat, Penić et al (2023) captured territorial threat more objectively by modeling the This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.…”

“…This is because members of these groups consider their high status as deserved, while the improvement of the disadvantaged groups’ status is perceived as undeserved (Reyna et al, 2006). In three correlational studies, Okuyan et al (2023) examined the link between autochthony beliefs and grievance perceptions among German participants while also accounting for the role of perceived threat to the ingroup from migrants. They found that Germans who endorsed the idea that first inhabitants of a country deserve more rights than those who arrived later perceived more threats to their ingroup (i.e., Germans without migration background) and, in turn, claimed more majority grievances.…”

“…These results, while focused on nonviolent resistance, ironically correspond with the tragic current events in Israel, where residing near Israeli settlements and checkpoints has likely damaged the sense of social cohesion among the Palestinians and paved the way for violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Note that while the articles by Lee et al (2023), Okuyan et al (2023), and Ioku and Watamura (2024) considered perceived (ownership) threat, Penić et al (2023) captured territorial threat more objectively by modeling the effect of Palestinians’ proximity to Jewish settlements and proximity to Israel’s surveillance infrastructure as community-level predictors of community cohesion and willingness to engage in resistance. The authors argued that the geography of occupation undermines trust and solidarity, which is due to increased fear and threat.…”