Grievance fuels aggressive intergroup inclinations and justification of political violence through hatred rather than anger

IF 3.8 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL

British Journal of Social Psychology Pub Date : 2026-09-21 DOI:10.1111/bjso.70135

Beatriz Alba, Alexandra Vázquez

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Grievance—the feeling of being or having been collectively wronged by an outgroup—has gained attention in majority groups facing perceived status threats or norm transgressions. Although grievance can elicit negative emotions, its role in shaping violence‐related tendencies remains unclear. This research examines the emotional pathways linking grievance to violence justification and aggressive intergroup inclinations among majority group members. Across three studies (correlational, field‐based with active protesters and experimental) within the Catalonia‐Spanish State conflict, we explore whether grievance is associated with anger, hatred (Studies 1–3), humiliation and contempt (Study 3), in relation to violence and aggression‐related tendencies. Study 1 ( N = 365) showed that grievance was associated with aggressive outcomes, and Study 2 ( N = 185) reaffirmed these findings, with hatred showing more consistent associations than anger. Study 3 ( N = 377) provided experimental evidence that grievance increases negative emotional responses, particularly hatred, which in turn led to violence justification and aggressive inclinations. Indirect associations through other emotions were weak or non‐significant. Results highlight the role of multiple emotional pathways through which grievance may relate to violence‐related responses among majority groups in polarized intergroup conflicts, with hatred emerging as a consistent emotional pathway.

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不满助长了群体间的侵略性倾向，并通过仇恨而不是愤怒为政治暴力辩护

在大多数面临地位威胁或违反规范的群体中，委屈——被外部群体集体冤枉的感觉——已经引起了人们的注意。尽管不满情绪会引发负面情绪，但其在形成暴力相关倾向方面的作用尚不清楚。本研究探讨了多数群体成员之间的情感通道，将不满与暴力辩护和侵略性群体间倾向联系起来。在加泰罗尼亚-西班牙国家冲突的三项研究中（相关的，基于现场的积极抗议者和实验性的），我们探讨了在暴力和侵略相关倾向方面，不满是否与愤怒、仇恨（研究1-3）、羞辱和蔑视（研究3）有关。研究1 （N = 365）表明怨恨与攻击性结果相关，研究2 （N = 185）重申了这些发现，仇恨比愤怒表现出更一致的关联。研究3 （N = 377）提供的实验证据表明，不满会增加负面情绪反应，尤其是仇恨，从而导致暴力正当化和攻击倾向。通过其他情绪产生的间接关联较弱或不显著。研究结果强调了多种情绪通路的作用，在两极分化的群体间冲突中，多数群体的不满可能与暴力相关的反应有关，而仇恨则是一种一致的情绪通路。

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来源期刊

British Journal of Social Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL-

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

7.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： The British Journal of Social Psychology publishes work from scholars based in all parts of the world, and manuscripts that present data on a wide range of populations inside and outside the UK. It publishes original papers in all areas of social psychology including: • social cognition • attitudes • group processes • social influence • intergroup relations • self and identity • nonverbal communication • social psychological aspects of personality, affect and emotion • language and discourse Submissions addressing these topics from a variety of approaches and methods, both quantitative and qualitative are welcomed. We publish papers of the following kinds: • empirical papers that address theoretical issues; • theoretical papers, including analyses of existing social psychological theories and presentations of theoretical innovations, extensions, or integrations; • review papers that provide an evaluation of work within a given area of social psychology and that present proposals for further research in that area; • methodological papers concerning issues that are particularly relevant to a wide range of social psychologists; • an invited agenda article as the first article in the first part of every volume. The editorial team aims to handle papers as efficiently as possible. In 2016, papers were triaged within less than a week, and the average turnaround time from receipt of the manuscript to first decision sent back to the authors was 47 days.