Effect of affective reactions by an out-group on preferences for crossed categorization discussion partners

The authors experimentally examined the effects of positive or negative aff ect from an out-group (O) on preferences for the 4 crossed categorization t argets-in-group-in-group (ii), in-group-outgroup (io), out-group-in-group ( Oi), and out-group-out-group (oo)-as discussion partners. Study 1 induced a ffect with compliments; Study 2 used insults; Study 3 cross-culturally asse ssed the effects of both types of affect. Preferences for the target who po ssessed a category membership that matched the out-group source of affect o n 1 dimension of categorization (Oi) were increased by compliments and decr eased by insults. Confirming predictions, positive affect produced a hierar chical rejection pattern (ii = Oi > io > oo). Negative affect produced a hi erarchical acceptance pattern (ii > io > Oi = oo). All 3 control conditions yielded an additivity pattern (ii > io = oi > oo).