Blinding trust: the effect of perceived group victimhood on intergroup trust.

Abstract

Four studies investigate how perceptions that one's social group has been victimized in society-that is, perceived group victimhood (PGV)-influence intergroup trust. Jewish and politically conservative participants played an economic trust game ostensibly with "partners" from their ingroup and/or a salient outgroup. Across studies, participants dispositionally or primed to be high in PGV revealed greater trust behavior with ingroup than outgroup partners. Control participants and those dispositionally low in PGV did not display such bias. Study 3 revealed, moreover, that high PGV enhanced ingroup trust even after an overt betrayal by an ingroup partner. Results were not explained by fluctuations in group identification, highlighting the novel, independent role of PGV in shaping an important aspect of intergroup relations-that is, trust. Implications of PGV for intergroup relations are discussed.