When they support us: Expectations for social support from outgroup members

ABSTRACT

Our research examines perceptions of emotional support messages characterized by high verbal person-centeredness (VPC) when sent from an outgroup versus an ingroup member. We conducted two experiments in which White participants (N₁ = 206, N₂ = 166) imagined receiving a high VPC support message from a White (ingroup) or Black (outgroup) peer. Counter to our hypotheses drawn from expectancy violations theory, both studies revealed that participants perceived high VPC from a Black peer as more expected than high VPC from a White peer. In a highly salient intergroup context (Study 1), high VPC from the outgroup predicted greater perceived support effectiveness and support provider liking and trustworthiness. Implications of our findings for intergroup and supportive communication theory are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Social support
• intergroup communication
• expectancy violations
• person-centeredness
• prosocial behavior

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data are available on OSF at: https://bit.ly/48VJxo3.

Ethical approval

Ethics Approval from the University of Arizona Institutional Review Board (Approval Numbers: STUDY00000720, STUDY00001391).