Application: Intergroup Cognition and Emotions Theories

A society is a construction of various groups of people who share common interests. The intergroup emotion theory focuses on understanding and developing intergroup relationship by concentrating on feelings produced from integration to a particular group. Hence, one will develop their identity from the social group. Intergroup emotions help to shape individual differences within the group making the individuals recognize the group relevant purposes and events. The members of a group regard each other in a certain friendly way. The people form relationships that strongly bind them to identify with their groups. The feeling of belonging to a group evokes reactions from the members when certain events occur. The behavior of group members can be explained well through psychological theories, namely the intergroup emotion theory and the intergroup threat theory. The two theories help people conceptualize how different people interpret events in the internal or external environment.

Intergroup emotion theory fosters the idea that people try to create an identity within their social setting. People put themselves in categories with specific values in life depending upon the nature of their relations. Members of a group identify with issues and events that are relevant to them and affect them. In-groups usually do common things and have much attachment because of common interests. Emotional attachment prompts people to have control and regulations for the behavior of the group members. Intergroup emotions strive to create better relations and avoid problems of prejudice (Dovidio, 2010).

The intergroup threat theory explains the reactions of certain groups as a result of issues emanating from other groups. Prejudice is born out of the threat that an in-group perceives from another group. Intergroup threat theory says that the group holds negative perceptions against each other. The bad blood between groups trigger hostility between the groups and members try to protect themselves. Negative treatments are likely to occur in intergroup relationships. The intergroup threat theory explains the hostile actions that occur between groups that have a bad attitude about each other (Dovidio, 2010).

Events occur in the world today as a result of hostile relationships and bad attitude towards certain groups. Some people see prejudice from other groups in the society as a result of the stereotypes that they hold against each other. The knowledge of intergroup emotional theory and intergroup can shed light on the psychological processes that triggered the attack of the Charlie Hebdo printing press in Paris. The attackers identified themselves with the prophet that the Paris printing press wrote about in their magazine. The reaction of the attacking group members can be understood through the intergroup emotion theory and the intergroup threat theory.

According to the intergroup emotion theory, the attackers identified belong to the Islamic religion. The Muslims identify Prophet Mohammed as the only prophet of God and deserves to be respected. The killers’ allegations to the Charlie Hebdo newspaper were that the press published information that ridicules their prophet and their religion. The attackers strongly identify themselves with the Islamic group and would not wish to be disrespected in any way. Prophet Mohammed is very significant to them, and any behavior that brings shame or ridicule triggers prejudice among the members. The emotional attachment with Prophet Mohammed raised the aggression that the Charlie Hebdo had a bad attitude towards his followers (Devine, 1989).

The reaction could be a way of protecting themselves from the imminent bad attitude of the press group. The actions of the attackers could be as a result of stereotypes about the Charlie Hebdo. It is likely that the attack was due to strong emotional feelings about the actions of the Hebdo Group. The attackers were unable to contain their emotional aggression and did the killing as a way of relieving themselves. The attack was a form of venting out an aggressive prejudice. The violence is as a result of the inability to contain the negative attitude towards the offending group.

The intergroup threat theory visualizes the attackers as a group that feels unsafe about the publications of the Charlie Hebdo press. The attackers perceived that letting go the bad attitude towards Charlie Hebdo is harmful to the in group. The attackers registered that their behavior, freedom, and confidence could be eroded. Their behavior was greatly influenced by the feeling of threat. Hence, the action of killing was a way of defending their group (Devine, 1989).

The in-group members were unable to adopt the avoidant attitude. The threats of the published material surpassed the extent to which the attackers could contain. The aggression was fueled by continuous negative interactions with the Charlie Hebdo publishers.

The two theories are based on key principles that help in interpreting situations. The intergroup emotional theory comes from the emotional appeal to situations and actions of out-groups. Strong feelings of attachment are very common in the cases that suit the intergroup emotion theory. In our case, the emotional appeal to anything sacred is very high because it guides the spiritual being of the people. The aggression observed in the incident is out of pain that led to emotional reactions towards the out-group (Christie, 2011).

Self-identification is a key tenet that emotional theory uses. Individual identifying themselves with a certain group and form very strong bonds. The members can categorize other groups through stereotypes that they form. It is very clear that the attackers were able to identify strongly with Prophet Mohammed, hence the feeling of prejudice on their side. The attackers were able to put themselves in a different category with the members of the Charlie Hebdo out-group.

The main principle that intergroup threat theory uses is the perception of harm among groups. The attackers of Charlie Hebdo felt that the actions of the press were infringing on their freedoms and beliefs. The likely behavior of a party that feels intimidated by the actions of the other is to fight back to prevent continued threat. Aggressions come from the initiative to remove the threats that have the potential of causing harm to a given group. The publications of Charlie Hebdo were perceived to harm the attackers; hence, they had to act in a combative manner to stop them from doing their threatening activity (Christie, 2011).

Emotions in the intergroup emotion theory make the in-group members build a close relationship among the members. Strong and binding interests, develop among the group members such that they develop stereotypes about themselves and other groups. Emotions help the people to make categories about the groups they belong. The attacking group in the event being discussed had a strong emotional attachment to the Prophet. The in-group identifies itself as a different entity with distinct practices that need to be respected. Emotions are seen to evoke the aggressive reactions and bad attitude towards the Charlie Hebdo members. Emotions make a person take actions that can help vent out the feelings that are disturbing (Christie, 2011).

The intergroup threat theory uses emotions to show how anxiety is raised in a group. Anxiety comes from emotions and later leads to the development of tension. Tension occurs as a result of fear of harm at present or future. False feelings because of emotional appeals to something cause tension. The stereotypes explained in intergroup threat theory are attributed to emotions that are developed by an in-group towards an out-group. Emotions help to reinforce aggressive actions that are based on unfounded stereotypes. The stereotypes held by the attackers that the Charlie Hebdo group is ridiculous about their beliefs could not lead to animosity if emotional backup were absent. Emotions reinforce aggressive actions, just like the attackers made killer actions against The Charlie Hebdo newspaper press (Dovidio, 2010).

The intergroup bias can be reduced in the society to avoid sad events like the one that occurred in Paris in Charlie Hebdo press. One intervention to prevent bias among people of different social beliefs is to avoid forming of unfounded stereotypes. Holding beliefs or ideas that are not true make people act on wrong information and for the wrong reasons. The attackers perceived a wrong motive from the Charlie Hebdo publishers, which could be false believe (Trop and Tredeaux, 2008).

Control of emotions can help to reduce biased actions against groups. Emotions do not allow proper evaluation of actions. Hence, people tend to do unreasonable things. It was not a well-thought action to attack and kill other human beings as in the case of Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

It is also important to form healthy relationships among the inter groups. People need to regard each other as social beings and avoid issues that would bring coercion among them. The group that the attackers identify with had complained about the publications of Prophet Mohammed by Charlie Hebdo. The aggression of the attackers in the group would likely not have happened if the Charlie Hebdo had abandoned anything that offended the other party (Trop and Tredaux, 2010).

 

A society is a construction of various groups of people who share common interests. The intergroup emotion theory primarily focuses on understanding and developing intergroup relationship by concentrating on feelings produced from integration to a particular group. Hence, one will develop their identity from the social group. Intergroup emotions help to shape individual differences within the group making the individuals recognize the group relevant purposes and events. The members of a group regard each other in a certain friendly way. The people form relationships that strongly bind them to identify with their groups. The feeling of belonging to a group evokes reactions from the members when certain events occur. The behavior of group members can be explained well through psychological theories, namely the intergroup emotion theory and the intergroup threat theory. The two theories help people conceptualize how different people interpret events in the internal or external environment.

Intergroup emotion theory fosters the idea that people try to create an identity within their social setting. People put themselves in categories with specific values in life depending upon the nature of their relations. Members of a group identify with issues and events that are relevant to them and affect them. In-groups usually do common things and have much attachment because of common interests. Emotional attachment prompts people to have control and regulations for the behavior of the group members. Intergroup emotions strive to create better relations and avoid problems of prejudice (Dovidio, 2010).

The intergroup threat theory explains the reactions of certain groups as a result of issues emanating from other groups. Prejudice is born out of the threat that an in-group perceives from another group. Intergroup threat theory says that the group holds negative perceptions against each other. The bad blood between groups trigger hostility between the groups and members try to protect themselves. Negative treatments are likely to occur in intergroup relationships. The intergroup threat theory explains the hostile actions that occur between groups that have a bad attitude about each other (Dovidio, 2010).

Events occur in the world today as a result of hostile relationships and bad attitude towards certain groups. Some people see prejudice from other groups in the society as a result of the stereotypes that they hold against each other. The knowledge of intergroup emotional theory and intergroup can shed light on the psychological processes that triggered the attack of the Charlie Hebdo printing press in Paris. The attackers identified themselves with the prophet that the Paris printing press wrote about in their magazine. The reaction of the attacking group members can be understood through the intergroup emotion theory and the intergroup threat theory.

According to the intergroup emotion theory, the attackers identified belong to the Islamic religion. The Muslims identify Prophet Mohammed as the only prophet of God and deserves to be respected. The killers’ allegations to the Charlie Hebdo newspaper were that the press published information that ridicules their prophet and their religion. The attackers strongly identify themselves with the Islamic group and would not wish to be disrespected in any way. Prophet Mohammed is very significant to them, and any behavior that brings shame or ridicule triggers prejudice among the members. The emotional attachment with Prophet Mohammed raised the aggression that the Charlie Hebdo had a bad attitude towards his followers (Devine, 1989).

The reaction could be a way of protecting themselves from the imminent bad attitude of the press group. The actions of the attackers could be as a result of stereotypes about the Charlie Hebdo. It is likely that the attack was due to strong emotional feelings about the actions of the Hebdo Group. The attackers were unable to contain their emotional aggression and did the killing as a way of relieving themselves. The attack was a form of venting out an aggressive prejudice. The violence is as a result of the inability to contain the negative attitude towards the offending group.

The intergroup threat theory visualizes the attackers as a group that feels unsafe about the publications of the Charlie Hebdo press. The attackers perceived that letting go the bad attitude towards Charlie Hebdo is harmful to the in group. The attackers registered that their behavior, freedom, and confidence could be eroded. Their behavior was greatly influenced by the feeling of threat. Hence, the action of killing was a way of defending their group (Devine, 1989).

The in-group members were unable to adopt the avoidant attitude. The threats of the published material surpassed the extent to which the attackers could contain. The aggression was fueled by continuous negative interactions with the Charlie Hebdo publishers.

The two theories are based on key principles that help in interpreting situations. The intergroup emotional theory comes from the emotional appeal to situations and actions of out-groups. Strong feelings of attachment are very common in the cases that suit the intergroup emotion theory. In our case, the emotional appeal to anything sacred is very high because it guides the spiritual being of the people. The aggression observed in the incident is out of pain that led to emotional reactions towards the out-group (Christie, 2011).

Self-identification is a key tenet that emotional theory uses. Individual identifying themselves with a certain group and form very strong bonds. The members can categorize other groups through stereotypes that they form. It is very clear that the attackers were able to identify strongly with Prophet Mohammed, hence the feeling of prejudice on their side. The attackers were able to put themselves in a different category with the members of the Charlie Hebdo out-group.

The main principle that intergroup threat theory uses is the perception of harm among groups. The attackers of Charlie Hebdo felt that the actions of the press were infringing on their freedoms and beliefs. The likely behavior of a party that feels intimidated by the actions of the other is to fight back to prevent continued threat. Aggressions come from the initiative to remove the threats that have the potential of causing harm to a given group. The publications of Charlie Hebdo were perceived to harm the attackers; hence, they had to act in a combative manner to stop them from doing their threatening activity (Christie, 2011).

Emotions in the intergroup emotion theory make the in-group members build a close relationship among the members. Strong and binding interests, develop among the group members such that they develop stereotypes about themselves and other groups. Emotions help the people to make categories about the groups they belong. The attacking group in the event being discussed had a strong emotional attachment to the Prophet. The in-group identifies itself as a different entity with distinct practices that need to be respected. Emotions are seen to evoke the aggressive reactions and bad attitude towards the Charlie Hebdo members. Emotions make a person take actions that can help vent out the feelings that are disturbing (Christie, 2011).

The intergroup threat theory uses emotions to show how anxiety is raised in a group. Anxiety comes from emotions and later leads to the development of tension. Tension occurs as a result of fear of harm at present or future. False feelings because of emotional appeals to something cause tension. The stereotypes explained in intergroup threat theory are attributed to emotions that are developed by an in-group towards an out-group. Emotions help to reinforce aggressive actions that are based on unfounded stereotypes. The stereotypes held by the attackers that the Charlie Hebdo group is ridiculous about their beliefs could not lead to animosity if emotional backup were absent. Emotions reinforce aggressive actions, just like the attackers made killer actions against The Charlie Hebdo newspaper press (Dovidio, 2010).

The intergroup bias can be reduced in the society to avoid sad events like the one that occurred in Paris in Charlie Hebdo press. One intervention to prevent bias among people of different social beliefs is to avoid forming of unfounded stereotypes. Holding beliefs or ideas that are not true make people act on wrong information and for the wrong reasons. The attackers perceived a wrong motive from the Charlie Hebdo publishers, which could be false believe (Trop and Tredeaux, 2008).

Control of emotions can help to reduce biased actions against groups. Emotions do not allow proper evaluation of actions. Hence, people tend to do unreasonable things. It was not a well-thought action to attack and kill other human beings as in the case of Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

It is also important to form healthy relationships among the inter groups. People need to regard each other as social beings and avoid issues that would bring coercion among them. The group that the attackers identify with had complained about the publications of Prophet Mohammed by Charlie Hebdo. The aggression of the attackers in the group would likely not have happened if the Charlie Hebdo had abandoned anything that offended the other party (Trop and Tredaux, 2010).

 

References Christie, D. J. (2011). The encyclopedia of peace psychology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Devine, P. G. (1989). Stereotypes and Prejudice: Their Automatic and Controlled Components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56 (1), 5 - 18. Dovidio, J. F. (2010). The SAGE handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination. London: Sage. Trop, W. and Tredeaux, C. (2008). Improving Inter-group Relations. Massachusetts, Blackwell publishers.