The literature suggests that self-esteem regulation mechanisms are interchangeable; people whose self-esteem is threatened in one domain utilize self-maintenance strategies that are effective in unrelated domains to cope with the original threats. From this perspective, we predicted that self-esteem threats in the dimension of ­academic competence would instigate the strengthening of one’s sense of belonging through the activation of group membership and the heightened perception of group entitativity. Two experimental studies were conducted with undergraduates using a reliving task (Study 1) and a bogus feedback paradigm (Study 2) to manipulate levels of self-esteem threats. Results from Study 2 demonstrated that self-esteem threats in the competence dimension led to heightened entitativity ratings for any relevant group, regardless of trait self-esteem levels, while those from Study 1 indicated that this tendency was observed only among participants with relatively high trait self-esteem. Generalizability of the cross-domain compensation in self-esteem maintenance is discussed.

View full abstract

Studies on anger have repeatedly assumed the existence of moral outrage, which is defined as the anger that results from witnessing a violation of a moral standard. However, recent research has found that more anger may be evoked by the unjustified treatment of one’s self or a member of one’s group, and not by the violation of a moral standard per se (e.g., Batson, Chao, & Givens, 2009). This is termed as personal anger. In our current study, we focused on justice sensitivity as a personality disposition and predicted that moral outrage would be a conditional emotional reaction that would be evoked only in individuals with high justice sensitivity. Japanese participants were asked to read a fictitious newspaper report describing an abduction case. For half the participants, the abducted victim was described as Japanese; for the remaining half, Slovenian. They were then asked to report their corresponding anger. Results indicated that even participants with high justice sensitivity reported more anger only when the victim of the abduction was Japanese. The finding that justice sensitivity did not lead to the evocation of moral outrage suggests that personal anger is an exceedingly prevalent and powerful emotion, which may be differentiated from moral outrage.

View full abstract

This study sought for reasons why conflicts increase in intergroup situations with status difference. In particular, we focused on intergroup bias, inquiring into how relative intergroup status, intergroup relationships, and intragroup status affect the evaluation of ingroup and outgoup members. University students (N=120) participated in an experiment in which intergroup and intragroup status were manipulated. Results indicated that the abilities of outgroup members were evaluated lower by low intragroup status members than high, in the high status group. Conversely, in the low status group, high intragroup status members gave lower evaluations than low. Moreover, this interaction was seen only by those who perceived the intergroup relationship as being competitive. These results suggest that people use outgroup derogation when they face a dilemma in intra- and intergroup comparison owing to both intra- and intergroup status differences.

View full abstract

Suppressing stereotypical thoughts ironically leads to a rebound effect. Although past research examined ­suppressing stereotypes toward minority and low status group members, such as skinheads and the elderly, we examined the suppression of envious stereotypes. The stereotype content model suggests that successful outgroup members are regarded as competent, but cold. In some cases, feelings of competition toward these outgroup members, engendered by their competence, may increase the salience of this negative trait. We hypothesized that such feelings of competition toward the suppressed target would moderate the rebound effect. Participants were asked to describe a working woman (Experiment 1) or an elite man (Experiment 2), in a work setting with co-workers. Half of the participants were instructed to suppress any unsociable traits in their description, while the other half did not receive this instruction. After this task, stereotype accessibility was measured. Results showed that those who felt competitiveness toward the target were likely to show the rebound effect after stereotype suppression, while those who did not feel any competitiveness did not. We discussed the implication of investigating stereotype suppression from the perspective of person perception.

View full abstract

This study examined the relationship between social skills and well-being by taking into account self/other ­orientation in terms of empathy. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 210 undergraduates measuring empathy, social skills, and well-being (life satisfaction and distress). A correlational analysis revealed that other-oriented empathy and social skills positively related to life satisfaction, while high self-oriented empathy and low social skills related to distress. In addition, a cluster analysis classified the participants into 4 groups created from crossing scores of ratings of empathy and social skills scales, and the findings in an ANOVA revealed that students with high other-oriented, low self-oriented empathy and high social skills exhibited better well-being than others. It was noted that both high other-oriented empathy and low self-oriented empathy were especially important for interpersonal adjustment facilitated by social skills, leading to well-being.

View full abstract