NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
50 Years of ERIC
50 Years of ERIC
The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) is celebrating its 50th Birthday! First opened on May 15th, 1964 ERIC continues the long tradition of ongoing innovation and enhancement.

Learn more about the history of ERIC here. PDF icon

Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ939903
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jun
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0261-510X
A Developmental Study of the Infrahumanization Hypothesis
Martin, John; Bennett, Mark; Murray, Wayne S.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, v26 n2 p153-162 Jun 2008
Intergroup attitudes in children were examined based on Leyen's "infrahumanization hypothesis". This suggests that some uniquely human emotions, such as shame and guilt (secondary emotions), are reserved for the in-group, whilst other emotions that are not uniquely human and shared with animals, such as anger and pleasure (primary emotions), are attributed to in- and out-groups alike. The present study explored Scottish 6 to 7 and 10- to 11-year-old children's ability to forecast the intensity and duration of primary and secondary emotions experienced by in- and out-group members. Ratings of primary and secondary emotions forecast for national football teams (Scotland, in-group and England, out-group) for both a loss and a win, immediately after the game and 3 days later were recorded. As predicted by the infrahumanization hypothesis, forecasts for the intensity of secondary emotions experienced by the in-group were significantly greater overall than those of primary emotions; while, for the out-group, the intensity ratings for both emotion types were not significantly different. Importantly, this effect did not differ between age groups. These results demonstrate that even relatively young children discriminate between these types of emotion and provide qualified support for the generality of infrahumanization effects.
British Psychological Society. St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester, LE1 7DR, UK. Tel: +44-116-254-9568; Fax: +44-116-227-1314; e-mail: enquiry@bps.org.uk; Web site: http://www.bpsjournals.co.uk
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: Scotland; England