Morality's role in the Black Sheep Effect: When and why ingroup members are judged more harshly than outgroup members for the same transgression
When and why might someone judge an ingroup transgressor more harshly than an outgroup transgressor? Taking a social functionalist perspective, we argue that morality is central to this phenomenon–the Black Sheep Effect–and that it is driven by social cohesion concerns. Using mediation and moderation methods across our studies, we find that people judge ingroup (vs. outgroup) transgressors more harshly because of concerns regarding ingroup social cohesion (Studies 1a–4). We also find that ingroup derogation is stronger for moral transgressions than weak or non-moral transgressions (Studies 2 and 3). Throughout our studies, we address alternative explanations, including moral relativism, naïve realism, moral parochialism and belief in a just world. Our work speaks to the emerging contention around the reliability of the Black Sheep Effect by noting when and why it surfaces.
Duke Scholars
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- Social Psychology
- 5205 Social and personality psychology
- 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 1702 Cognitive Sciences
- 1701 Psychology
- 1608 Sociology
Citation
Published In
DOI
EISSN
ISSN
Publication Date
Volume
Issue
Start / End Page
Related Subject Headings
- Social Psychology
- 5205 Social and personality psychology
- 5204 Cognitive and computational psychology
- 5201 Applied and developmental psychology
- 1702 Cognitive Sciences
- 1701 Psychology
- 1608 Sociology