Social Identification Structures the Effects of Perspective Taking

Mark Tarrant*, Raff Calitri, Dale Weston

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

<jats:p> Researchers who study perspective taking are generally optimistic about the potential for interventions to improve intergroup perceptions. The current research provides new insight into the conditions that frame the intergroup outcomes of perspective taking. The results show that the effects of perspective taking are not always positive but depend on perspective takers’ degree of identification with the in-group. In two experiments, we demonstrated that adopting the perspective of an out-group member can have damaging effects on intergroup perceptions among group members who are highly identified with the in-group. Specifically, compared with less committed members, those who identified highly with the in-group used a greater number of negative traits to describe the out-group following perspective taking. Such perspective taking also led participants with high in-group identification to judge the out-group less favorably. Understanding how social identity concerns frame the outcome of perspective taking is crucial to its effective employment in intergroup-relations programs. </jats:p>
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)973-978
Number of pages0
JournalPsychological Science
Volume23
Issue number9
Early online date31 Jul 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2012

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