Is there prejudice from thin air? Replicating the effect of emotion on automatic intergroup attitudes

Abstract

Background: Previous studies showed that anger, rather than sadness, created automatic intergroup bias in a minimal group context. Methods: The current research reports a single study (N = 99) aiming to replicate this finding and further to test whether the intergroup bias manifests as ingroup favoritism, outgroup derogation, or both. Results: Our results failed to replicate the effect of anger on automatic bias. Intriguingly, participants across all emotion conditions exhibited high level of ingroup favoritism, but there was little evidence of outgroup derogation. Conclusion: These results suggest that, when there is no competition or conflict between groups, individuals, even in a bad emotional state such as anger, generally show ingroup love rather than outgroup hate.