PERCEIVED ANTECEDENTS OF EMOTIONAL-REACTIONS IN INTERETHNIC RELATIONS

It is argued that the aspects of intergroup relations that potentially can arouse emotions in the perceiver are likely to become central and motivationally relevant elements of group stereotypes. Asking partici pants to report on the perceived antecedents of their emotional reacti ons to in-group and our-group members should therefore bean especially useful method to reveal the content of stereotypes. Native Dutch part icipants reported both the frequencies with which different emotions w ere felt in different intergroup relations and the perceived causes of these emotions. Analysis of self-reported antecedents of emotional re actions revealed that (a) despite a general in-group favourability bia s, both the in-group and the two out-groups employed arouse different kinds of negative and positive emotions; and (b) differences in emotio nal reactions to the two out-groups are related to salient differences in perceived antecedents between these groups. Theoretical and practi cal implications of the present emphasis on the cognitive foundation o f emotion in intergroup relations are discussed.