Double Standards of Ethnic Identification: Collective Guilt and Moral Disengagement in Coping with Group Historical Transgression

Abstract

In two post-conflict societies (Serbia and Cyprus) we investigated how different modes of ethnic identification affect peoples' coping with in-group historical transgression. We placed the events in foundational periods for Serbian (Experiment 1) and Greek Cypriot (Experiment 2) ethnic identity—that is, historical representations of the Battle of Kosovo (1389) and the Liberation Struggle (1955–1959), respectively. In both experiments, we used between-subjects design to manipulate group membership (in-group or out-group) in fictitious but historically plausible accounts of transgressions. In Experiment 1 (N = 225), participants who perceived the ethnic group as superior expected more collective guilt from out-group members in the case of out-group atrocity, but, in contrast, they used more moral disengagement regarding the identical in-group harmdoing. In Experiment 2 (N = 136), we introduced in-group attachment as a distinct and more benevolent mode of ethnic identification. When controlling for attachment, participants who perceived their ethnic group as superior reported less collective guilt and more moral disengagement in the case of in-group transgression. When controlling for superiority, participants who perceived the in-group as central for their self-concept („critically attached“) also reported more moral disengagement in the case of in-group transgression; whereas they expected more collective guilt from out-group members in the case of out-group atrocity. Our results suggest that high-identifying individuals, even those that ought to be the group's critical voice, apply double standards when interpreting in-group and out-group atrocity from the historical period foundational for their ethnic identity. We discuss the implications of avoiding collective guilt and using moral disengagement in response to past injustices for future intergroup relations and individuals living within post-conflict societies