GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION - WHEN ONES GROUP HAS A NEGATIVE HISTORY

The impact of the history of one's own group's treatment of another gr oup on feelings of collective guilt and behavioral reactions to this g uilt were examined in 2 studies. In a laboratory experiment, it was sh own that it is possible to elicit feelings of group-based guilt and th at those are distinct from feelings of personal guilt. In a 2nd study, a field experiment, low-identified group members acknowledged the neg ative aspects of their own nation's history and felt more guilt compar ed with high identifiers when both negative and positive aspects of th eir nation's history were made salient. Perceptions of intragroup vari ability and out-group compensation closely paralleled the interactive pattern on guilt. Links between social identity theory and the experie nce of specific emotions are discussed.