Subtle prejudice and conformism: the intergroup indifference

2017

Culture & Psychology

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In so-called democracies, although several political measures have recently curbed citizens' personal freedom (e.g., 2001 US Patriot Act), no major demonstrations have been organized against such restrictions. The main idea underlying this manuscript is that citizens living in democracies often have an overestimated perception of their freedom of choice. This perception may lead to the risk of not recognizing possible restrictions of liberties with the consequence of being less prepared to protest in order to defend them. Some sociopsychological variables that prevent or favor the recognition of these limitations of freedom of choice in democracies are considered. In particular, a valuebased political orientation and a strong moral stance toward social equality are thought to lead citizens to have a more active evaluation of institutional policies regardless of the political system they live in.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Freedom, democracy, and values: Perception of freedom of choice and readiness to protest

2017

Culture & Psychology

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“…Second, unlike more blatant prejudicial attitudes, moral exclusion processes are both more indirect and more socially accepted (Opotow, 1990;Passini, 2017). That is, the use of moral exclusion strategies may lead to harsher judgments of offenders due to their group membership, without that the evaluator had to face public disapproval.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Justice and Immigration: The Effect of Moral Exclusion

Villano

2018

Int. j. psychol. res.

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Numerous media news items suggest on a daily basis that people tend to use harsher criteria when they judge immigrants than members of their own in-group. In the present research project, we were interested in studying individual justice judgments of a violation of a law by an Italian (in-group) or an immigrant (out-group) member and the influence of moral exclusion processes on the assessment. In particular, we examined whether those people who tend to exclude out-groups from their scope of justice will give such biased judgments and will adopt double standards, while inclusive people will not. A total of 255 people evaluated the seriousness of a crime in two different law-breaking scenarios in which the offender's and the victim's nationalities were systematically changed (either Italian or Romanian). Moreover, participants completed a scale measuring the moral inclusion/exclusion of other social groups. As hypothesized, participants who tended to exclude some groups from their moral community judged the Romanian more harshly than the Italian culprit. On the contrary, those people that tended to have a more inclusive moral community did not show any difference in evaluation. In conclusion, the present research highlights the importance of considering the effect of moral inclusion/ exclusion processes on the evaluation of justice events, especially in an intergroup context. ResumenNumerosas noticias en los medios sugieren que las personas tienden a usar criterios más severos cuando juzgan a miembros de grupos de inmigrantes que a quienes pertenecen a su propio grupo. Esta investigación tuvo como propósito estudiar los juicios morales que hacen los individuos ante la violación de una ley por parte de un miembro italiano (dentro del grupo) o un inmigrante (por fuera del grupo) y la influencia de los procesos de exclusión moral en la evaluación. En particular, se evaluó si los participantes tienden a excluir a quienes no pertenecen a su grupo, si emitían juicios sesgados y adoptarían una doble moral, mientras que las personas incluyentes no lo harían. Un total de 255 personas evaluaron la gravedad de un crimen en dos escenarios diferentes de violación de la ley en los cuales las nacionalidades del delincuente y de la víctima se cambiaron sistemáticamente (ya sea italiano o rumano). Además, los participantes completaron una escala que mide la inclusión/exclusión moral de otros grupos sociales. Según la hipótesis, los participantes que tienden a excluir a algunos grupos de su comunidad, tuvieron un juicio moral más severo ante los rumanos que ante los italianos. Por el contrario, aquellos que eran más incluyentes, no presentaron ninguna diferencia en el juicio moral y la evaluación de la situación. En conclusión, la presente investigación destaca la importancia de considerar el efecto de los procesos de inclusión/exclusión moral en la evaluación de los eventos de justicia, especialmente en un contexto intergrupal.

“…These observations suggest that parties and movements should assert their positions on social issues more explicitly in order to foster the representative process and protect democracy from decline. As some scholars (Moghaddam, 2012; Passini, 2017b, 2017c) have pointed out, not taking sides, indifference and opacity as concerns positions related to social issues, leader–follower and intergroup relationships all lead to an impoverishment in democratic values. Indeed, tolerance and protection of minority rights represent some of the most significant distinctions between democracy and dictatorship (Moghaddam, 2012; Passini & Morselli, 2011, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Left–Right Orientation and Electoral Choices: Divergences in the Relationships With Authority and Out-Groups

Villano

2017

Psychol Rep

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New political parties and movements have recently grown across Europe. These parties often state their distance from the classic left-right juxtaposition, even if their voters still place themselves in the left-right continuum. The aim of the present research was to focus on the Italian political context and to analyze differences between left of center and right of center self-positioned people on attitudes concerning authority-individual and intergroup relationships. The results confirm the hypotheses. Left of center voters have lower attitudes of authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, prejudice, and ethnocentrism; they are less supportive of harsh punitive methods toward delinquents; and attach more importance to democratic values as compared with right of center voters. These differences are significant also considering voters within the same party. Although participants have declared they vote for the same party/movement, the voters who place themselves on the left of center indeed appear to have different views from those on the right of center, as concerns the relationship with authority and attitudes toward minorities.