The Effects of Outgroup Threat and Opportunity to Derogate on Salivary Cortisol Levels

Exploring the Influence of Perceived Ingroup and Outgroup Threat on Quality of Life in a Region Impacted by Protracted Conflict

While the detrimental effects of protracted political conflict on the wellbeing of Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) are generally recognized, the impact of perceived threat on quality of life (QoL) faced from within their community (ingroup; Palestinians) and from the outgroup (Israelis) is unexplored. This cross-sectional study examined the following: (1) The status of perceptions of QoL on four domains measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQoL-Bref) instrument, physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment, among Palestinian adults (n = 709) living in the Gaza Strip; (2) The associations between perceived ingroup threat (PIT) and QoL on the four domains; (3) The associations between perceived outgroup threat (POT) and QoL on the four domains. Multivariable linear regression models revealed PIT was negatively associated with QoL in each of the four domains (p < 0.001). POT was positively associated with QoL in three of the four domains: physical health (p < 0.001), psychological health (p < 0.001), and social relationships (p < 0.001). This study contributes valuable insights into how QoL is viewed by a group experiencing collective existential threat. The findings expand the limited recognition of the reciprocal roles of perceived threat from the ingroup and outgroup on the QoL of vulnerable populations.

Is stress colorblind? Exploring endocrine stress responses in intergroup contexts using a virtual reality-based Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR)

Are social stress reactions dependent on the group identities of interaction partners? This study explored the role of ethnic context in modulating endocrine stress responses using a virtual reality (VR)-based adaptation of a standardized stress induction protocol, the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR). Previous research found no clear link between endocrine stress response and ethnic context in the TSST, but conclusions remain limited due to the quasi-experimental nature of manipulating ethnic context in real-life face-to-face interactions. The VR adaptation of the TSST circumvents quasi-experimental limitations and thus provides a first, randomized-controlled investigation of the effects of ethnic context on endocrine stress responses. Forty-three men participated in the study, facing either an ingroup ("White") or an outgroup ("Arab") panel of interviewers. As expected, the TSST-VR produced physiological and subjective stress reactions. However, endocrine stress reactions occurred independent of interviewer ethnicity and could not be predicted based on implicit bias, explicit prejudice, or prejudice-related appearance concerns. Other physiological and subjective stress reactivity parameters also remained comparable across intergroup conditions. Implications for stress research are discussed.

Modeling the emergence of affective polarization in the social media society

Rising political polarization in recent decades has hampered and gridlocked policymaking, as well as weakened trust in democratic institutions. These developments have been linked to the idea that new media technology fosters extreme views and political conflict by facilitating self-segregation into "echo chambers" where opinions are isolated and reinforced. This opinion-centered picture has recently been challenged by an emerging political science literature on "affective polarization", which suggests that current polarization is better understood as driven by partisanship emerging as a strong social identity. Through this lens, politics has become a question of competing social groups rather than differences in policy position. Contrary to the opinion-centered view, this identity-centered perspective has not been subject to dynamical formal modeling, which generally permits hypotheses about micro-level explanations for macro-level phenomena to be systematically tested and explored. We here propose a formal model that links new information technology to affective polarization via social psychological mechanisms of social identity. Our results suggest that new information technology catalyzes affective polarization by lowering search and interaction costs, which shifts the balance between centrifugal and centripetal forces of social identity. We find that the macro-dynamics of social identity is characterized by two stable regimes on the societal level: one fluid regime, in which identities are weak and social connections heterogeneous, and one solid regime in which identities are strong and groups homogeneous. We also find evidence of hysteresis, meaning that a transition into a fragmented state is not readily reversed by again increasing those costs. This suggests that, due to systemic feedback effects, if polarization passes certain tipping points, we may experience run-away political polarization that is highly difficult to reverse.

Toward an Intersectional Psychological Science of Reproductive Norms: Generating Research Across the Natalism Spectrum

Pronatalism is the belief system that encourages parenthood and reproduction, supporting the notion that a woman’s value is rooted in her ability to give birth to and parent children. Pronatalist expectations are disproportionately applied to high-status women in the United States, prescribing not only that women are supposed to reproduce, but which women are supposed to reproduce. Those who deviate from this hegemonic idea of a prototypical mother may disproportionately encounter antinatalist norms that prescribe that they should not bear or parent children. In the present article, I advocate for an intersectional psychological study of reproductive norms across the natalism spectrum, grounded in interdisciplinary insights and an understanding of systems of power and oppression. I discuss three common areas of interdisciplinary research related to reproductive norms: (a) pronatalism as a limit to women’s freedom, (b) racism and the control of Black women’s reproduction, and (c) queer perspectives on reproduction. Informed by intersectionality and stigma frameworks, I propose a generative model and six research questions that serve as a research agenda for the psychological study of reproductive norms across the natalism spectrum.

Sex differences in the psychophysiological response to an intergroup conflict

Conflict induces psychophysiological responses, but less is known about responses to intergroup conflict. Intergroup relationships activate social processes, adding complexity to people's physiological responses. This study analyzes the psychophysiological responses to intergroup conflict considering sex differences. Thus, 150 young people were distributed in 50 groups in two conditions (conflict vs. non-conflict). Conflict was created in the interaction between two groups (three people each) in the laboratory. Their responses were compared to a control group. Mood, heart rate variability, cortisol, and testosterone were measured. Results showed that intergroup conflict induced a less pronounced decrease in negative and positive mood, and a reduction in parasympathetic activity (RMSSD of IBI). Moreover, women in conflict showed lower testosterone levels than men in conflict and control women. Finally, women's conflict perception correlated with their psychophysiological response. Results suggest that intergroup conflict induces emotional, cardiovascular, and endocrine responses, and that men and women interpret conflict differently.

Dialogue intervention to youth amidst intractable conflict attenuates stress response to outgroup

Encounter with outgroup has been shown to elicit physiological stress response and when outgroup is perceived as threatening to one's own family and community, stress is higher. In such contexts, becoming familiar and learning to empathize with the other side may reduce stress. Building on the long-lasting Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we developed an eight-week group intervention focused on dialogue and empathy and tested it within a randomized controlled trial. Eighty-eight Israeli-Jewish and Arab-Palestinian adolescents (16-18 years) were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. Before(T1) and after(T2) intervention, one-on-one interaction with outgroup member was videotaped, cortisol levels assessed five times during a 2.5-hour session involving exposure to outgroup stimuli, and adolescents were interviewed regarding national conflict. Intervention reduced cortisol response to social contact and reminders of outgroup (F = 4.92, p = .032, Eta² = 0.109). This HPA-activity suppression was defined by two pathways. First, intervention had a direct impact on cortisol decrease; and second, intervention increased youth's behavioral empathy during one-on-one interaction with outgroup member and this empathic response mediated the effect of intervention on cortisol reduction. Adolescents' belief in the potential for reconciliation at T1 predicted greater empathy at T2. Our study provides the first evidence-based intervention for youth growing up amidst intractable conflict and demonstrates its impact on adolescents' physiological stress response to outgroup. Results contribute to research on the neurobiology of ingroup/outgroup relations, highlight the key role of dialogical empathy and social interactions for interventions targeting youth, and emphasize the importance of enhancing motivation for social inclusion for initiating positive behavioral and physiological processes. Clinical Trials Registry (NCT02122887; https://clinicaltrials.gov).