Feeling for and as a group member: Understanding LGBT victimization via group-based empathy and intergroup emotions

Jenny Paterson, Rupert Brown, Mark A. Walters

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

In two experimental studies (N = 120; N = 102), we apply intergroup emotions theory (IET) to examine the effects of hate crime on other community members. With participants from an oft-targeted group – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans people, we are the first to show empirically that hate crimes elicit more pronounced emotional and behavioural responses in other members of the victims’ community than comparable non-hate crimes. The findings also reveal the psychological processes behind these effects. Consistent with IET, hate crimes were seen to pose more of a group-based threat and so led to heightened emotional reactions (anger and anxiety) and, subsequently, to behavioural intentions (avoidance and pro-action). Importantly, we also show that hate crime victims, due to increased perceptions of similarity, received more empathy than non-hate crime victims. Such empathy, although neglected in previous research, was shown to be a potential mediator in understanding the indirect effects of hate crime. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to psychological theory and their potential to support the argument for the utility and appropriateness of hate crime legislation. © 2018 The British Psychological Society
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)211-224
Number of pages14
JournalBritish Journal of Social Psychology
Volume58
Issue number1
Early online date24 Jul 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2019

Keywords

  • hate crime
  • indirect victimisation
  • intergroup emotions
  • intergroup threat
  • community harms

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