How the Linguistic Intergroup Bias Affects Group Perception: Effects of Language Abstraction on Generalization to the Group

ABSTRACT

The present research investigated whether the impact of the Linguistic Intergroup Bias (LIB; Maass, 1999) is related to the effects of linguistic abstraction on social attribution (Yzerbyt & Rogier, 2001). We did this by assessing the impact of abstract descriptions versus concrete descriptions on the generalization of a group member's behaviors to the whole group. A target's behaviors were more attributed to the group when the description was abstract than when it was concrete, and this effect of language abstraction was stronger when the description was positive than when it was negative. Our results provide an insight into how the LIB is involved in the perpetuation of intergroup bias.

Keywords:

• generalization to the group
• language abstraction
• linguistic intergroup bias
• social attribution

Notes

1. We also included items assessing participants' perception of the differentiation between the ingroup and the outgroup. However, because they are not relevant to the current discussion they are not presented here.

2. The different dfs are due to the fact that a few participants did not complete all the items.

3. Other results emerged that were not related to the manipulation check (e.g., an effect for behavior valence).