Group-Based Guilt and Shame and Outgroup Attitudes in Russian Context

Abstract

This research explores group-based emotions of guilt and shame in the Russian context. The aim was to reveal the relations between these emotions and outgroup attitudes in individuals with different degrees of collective identity strength. The survey was carried out on the sample of Russian people (N = 89; 53,9% females; average age 35 years). The respondents were asked to answer questions concerning their experiences of group-based emotions of guilt, moral shame and image shame in relation to the deportation of Chechen and Ingush populations of the Northern Caucasus during the World War II. We measured outgroup attitudes towards groups both related (Caucasus populations) and unrelated (migrants) to emotion-provoking events; general attitude towards multiculturalism; and strength of collective identity. The results show that the experiences of guilt and moral shame are positively correlated both with the attitudes towards Caucasus populations (0,396*** and 0,304*** respectively) and with the attitudes towards migrants (0,330*** and 0,322*** respectively). Image shame is positively correlated only with the attitudes to migrants (0,326**). It was also found that collective identity moderates these relations: there were no correlations found between emotions and attitudes in the group of subjects with stronger collective identity.

Keywords

• group-based emotions
• guilt
• moral shame
• image shame
• outgroup attitudes
• Northern Caucasus
• attitudes to migrants