What is intergroup emotions theory in simple terms?

When you feel part of a group, you can feel angry, afraid or sorry on behalf of "us" even about things that did not happen to you, and those feelings drive action.

How does it differ from earlier prejudice research?

Instead of treating prejudice as simple liking or disliking, it separates specific emotions such as anger, fear, disgust and guilt, each leading to different behavior.

Intergroup Emotions Theory

🧠 Psychology By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 27, 2026

Intergroup emotions theory is a social psychological theory holding that when people see themselves as members of a group, they appraise events from the group's standpoint, feel emotions such as anger, fear, contempt or guilt toward other groups and act on those emotions through attack, avoidance or support. Eliot Smith proposed it in 1993, and Diane Mackie and colleagues developed it. It explains prejudice through specific emotions rather than simple liking or disliking.

Contents

1. Origins
2. Evidence
3. Applications: guilt, anger and hatred
4. FAQ
5. References

Origins

Smith (1993) combined social identity theory with appraisal theories of emotion, which hold that emotions depend on how a situation is interpreted. He argued that when group identity is salient, people appraise events from the standpoint of "we" rather than "I," and so feel group-level emotions even without being harmed personally. Prejudice should therefore be seen not as a single negative attitude but as specific emotions: anger when an outgroup blocks our interests, fear when it threatens us, disgust when it violates norms. This resembles how the stereotype content model distinguishes emotions.

Evidence

Mackie and colleagues (2000) showed that when participants felt their group was stronger than the other, anger and intentions to confront the outgroup increased; when they felt weaker, fear and avoidance increased. Smith and colleagues (2007) tested four criteria: group emotions are distinct from individual emotions, are stronger with greater group identification, converge among members and predict group behavior. Mackie and colleagues (2008) reviewed this work and argued that emotions predict specific behaviors better than attitudes do.

Applications: guilt, anger and hatred

Doosje and colleagues (1998) showed that people exposed to their nation's colonial history feel collective guilt, which predicts support for reparations. Iyer and colleagues (2007) found that people who feel anger about their country's wrongdoing are more likely to protest for punishing those responsible, while those who feel shame are more likely to distance themselves. Halperin (2008) showed that hatred toward the other side in an intractable conflict strongly predicts opposition to peace negotiations. Such work is also used to explain political phenomena such as affective polarization.

FAQ

What is intergroup emotions theory in simple terms?: When you feel part of a group, you can feel angry, afraid or sorry on behalf of "us" even about things that did not happen to you, and those feelings drive action.
How does it differ from earlier prejudice research?: Instead of treating prejudice as simple liking or disliking, it separates specific emotions such as anger, fear, disgust and guilt, each leading to different behavior.

Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26

References

Smith, E. R. (1993). Social identity and social emotions: Toward new conceptualizations of prejudice. In D. M. Mackie & D. L. Hamilton (Eds.), Affect, Cognition, and Stereotyping (pp. 297–315). San Diego, CA: Academic Press. The chapter that first framed prejudice as group-based emotion.
Mackie, D. M., Devos, T., & Smith, E. R. (2000). Intergroup emotions: Explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroup context. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(4), 602–616. Key experiments linking group strength, anger and offensive tendencies.
Smith, E. R., Seger, C. R., & Mackie, D. M. (2007). Can emotions be truly group level? Evidence regarding four conceptual criteria. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(3), 431–446. Tests four criteria for truly group-level emotions.
Mackie, D. M., Smith, E. R., & Ray, D. G. (2008). Intergroup emotions and intergroup relations. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(5), 1866–1880. A concise overview of the theory.
Doosje, B., Branscombe, N. R., Spears, R., & Manstead, A. S. R. (1998). Guilty by association: When one's group has a negative history. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(4), 872–886. Group-based guilt over an ingroup's negative history.
Iyer, A., Schmader, T., & Lickel, B. (2007). Why individuals protest the perceived transgressions of their country: The role of anger, shame, and guilt. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(4), 572–587. Shows anger, shame and guilt predict different protest actions.
Halperin, E. (2008). Group-based hatred in intractable conflict in Israel. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 52(5), 713–736. Group-based hatred and opposition to compromise in conflict.

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Social identity theorySocial identity theory explained: Henri Tajfel's question after the Holocaust, the minimal group experiments, the three steps of categorization, identification, and comparison, how low-status groups respond, and uses in politics, fandom, and branding.🧠 Psychology Stereotype Content ModelWhat the stereotype content model is: people judge groups on warmth and competence, and the combinations produce pity, envy, contempt or admiration. Covers origins, the BIAS map, cross-cultural tests and critiques.🧠 Psychology Integrated Threat TheoryWhat integrated threat theory is: prejudice arises from perceiving that an outgroup threatens resources, safety, values and culture. Covers the four threats, evidence on immigration attitudes, the revised theory and critiques.🧠 Psychology Affective PolarizationWhat affective polarization is: growing dislike and distrust of the opposing party and its supporters. Covers its difference from ideological polarization, the social identity view, measurement, causes, consequences and European evidence.🏛️ Politics & Public Administration

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This article was last updated on October 27, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.