Osterwald, Moritz (2025) Bachelor Thesis: European Identity and Solidarity with Refugees: Emotional and Behavioral Reactions to Intergroup Transgressions. Bachelor thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Abstract This study investigated the impact of European identity and attitudes towards refugees on the emotional and behavioural reactions to intergroup transgressions involving refugees and citizens. The examined emotions were guilt, shame and anger, while the behavioral reactions focused on anti-refugee action tendencies. 417 participants received in an experimental design one of two fictional articles in which either a group of citizens or refugees hurt the other. Attitudes towards refugees were the strongest explanatory variable and uniquely predicted all outcome measures. This study hypothesized that individuals with a strong European identity would experience more guilt and shame when European citizens were the perpetrators (H1a), while those with a weaker European identity would feel more anger in the same condition (H1b). Additionally, it was expected that individuals with a strong European identity would experience more anger and show greater anti-refugee action tendencies than low identifiers when refugees were the perpetrators (H2). Except for shame in H1a were all Hypothesis not supported. The behavioural effects of attitudes towards refugees was buffered by European identification, according to exploratory analyses: those with more negative attitudes towards refugees were less likely to support anti-refugee behaviour when they tend to identify more with Europe. Furthermore, the study's exploratory findings show that European identity can reduce the impact of personal prejudice on anti-refugee actions, leading to more consistent behavior across individuals. However, high identifiers may still act punitively if exclusionary norms dominate. Emotional reactions like shame and anger also depend on who commits the harm, suggesting that group identity shapes both behavior and emotion in intergroup conflict.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Bachelor) |
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| Supervisor name: | Gordijn, E.H. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | None [Bachelor Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Aug 2025 09:09 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Aug 2025 09:09 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5865 |
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