Intergroup emotions regulate intergroup interactions, often leading to attitudes and behaviors that favor the ingroup. Theoretical frameworks in social psychology suggest that group identities, perceived threats, stereotypes, and context shape intergroup outcomes, including intergroup emotions. Hence, studying emotions in intergroup dynamics can enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying prejudice and emotional bias. In this research, we aimed to investigate how emotional expressions and physical proximity of group members modulate brain patterns of emotions during intra- and intergroup encounters. We presented a series of 360-degree videos showing ingroup and outgroup members either looking at the Finnish White majority participants (N = 40) from a distance or approaching them while their BOLD activity was measured with fMRI. The protagonists in the videos expressed neutral, happy, or angry facial expressions. Evoked emotions were measured by decoding emotion-related neural patterns while watching the videos. The results suggest that the valence of emotional expressions modified the perception of warmth of ingroup and outgroup members, as happy-looking outgroup members evoked emotions associated with the paternalistic stereotype, whereas angry-looking ingroup members elicited emotions associated with the envious stereotype. Moreover, physical proximity enhanced intergroup emotional bias, with close-proximity ingroup members evoking neural patterns of anger and fear, while close-proximity outgroup members evoked patterns of contempt and discomfort. The results are discussed in terms of their contribution to neuroscientifically informed models of intergroup emotions.

Virtual reality (VR) offers unique opportunities for examining intergroup interactions. Even though VR-based intergroup contact has been seen as promising in reducing prejudice, researchers have faced significant challenges to deliver effective virtual contact interventions and called for better understanding of VR-specific identity-related processes that are present during and facilitate the social interactions in VR. This is a follow-up study on the virtual intergroup contact intervention conducted among 132 White Italian adult participants. The intervention failed to obtain virtual intergroup contact effects on explicit prejudice and showed only a marginal improvement in implicit intergroup bias towards people of African descent following cooperative intergroup contact with a Black avatar. Critical factors contributing to decreasing prejudice in VR were co-presence, body ownership and common cyber identity. In this follow-up study, we examine an additional mechanism that may influence intergroup outcomes in VR contact: the experience of Collective Psychological Ownership of a Virtual Space (CPO-VS). Particularly, we examine the effect of CPO-VS on explicit and implicit attitudes toward people of African ethnic descent following cooperative intergroup contact with an avatar representing a Black person. Results showed that higher perceived CPO-VS was associated with more favorable explicit attitudes toward outgroup members following VR experience across conditions, but it did not moderate the effect of contact on outgroup attitudes. These findings suggest that fostering collective psychological ownership in shared virtual spaces may improve intergroup relations.

Sharp disagreements about social issues have raised concerns about increasing societal polarization in democracies worldwide. While diversity of opinion is vital for democratic engagement and can promote innovative solutions, social science research shows that such disagreements can undermine social cohesion and erode social trust if they turn into identity-based conflicts. The present research examines the potential importance of social norms that promote equality-based respect, dialogue, and unity (inclusivity norms) in mitigating these negative outcomes. In a pre-registered representative survey of 12,041 individuals in twelve European countries, we find that perceived inclusivity norms are associated with increased tolerance, greater willingness to collaborate, and lower tendencies to avoid people who hold opposing opinions. In most countries studied, this pattern holds among respondents who strongly disapprove of the opposing viewpoint, endorse anti-pluralist opinions, hold anti-egalitarian preferences, and identify more strongly with their opinion-based group relative to society. These findings support the potential of inclusivity norms to preserve social trust and cohesion amid opinion diversity.

While decreasing negative attitudes against outgroups are often reported by individuals themselves, biased behaviour prevails. This gap between words and actions may stem from unobtrusive mental processes that could be uncovered by using neuroimaging in addition to self-reports. In this study we investigated whether adding neuroimaging to a traditional intergroup bias measure could detect intersubject differences in intergroup bias processes in a societal context where opposing discrimination is normative. In a sample of 43 Finnish students, implicit behavioural measures failed to indicate intergroup bias against Middle Eastern and Muslim immigrants, and explicit measures reported rather positive attitudes and sentiments towards that targeted group. Yet, while implementing a repeatedly validated method for detecting intergroup bias, an implicit association paradigm presenting stereotypical ingroup and outgroup face stimuli while undergoing magnetoencephalography, we detected a clear neural difference between two experimental conditions. The neural effect is thought to reflect intergroup bias in the valence of the associations that faces evoke. The activity cluster of the neural bias peaked in BA37 and included significant activity in the fusiform gyrus, which has been repeatedly found to be active during face perception bias. Importantly, this neural pattern was driven by participants who were explicitly favourable of immigration - but to a lesser extent than others. These findings suggest that such variations in explicit support of immigration are associated with the differential neural sensitivity to the congruency of associations between intergroup faces and valence. This research showcases the potential of neuroimaging to unravel covert perceptual bias against outgroup members and its sensitivity to small variations in explicit attitudes.

Activity in the amygdala during intergroup contact and prejudice has been explained as a conditioned threat response and as a social saliency response. More recently, the theory that both explanations are true has received some empirical support, suggesting that the amygdala subnuclei (basal, lateral, and central) may play distinct roles in the social categorization process. In this study, we used machine learning to decode amygdala subregion activations during simulated encounters with protagonists representing four different stereotypes. In these encounters, a generalized threat was presented: the protagonists initially remained at a distance, then approached the participant, and finally entered their personal space. Using a time-resolved decoding approach, we studied the effect of interpersonal distance on the subnuclei's prejudice response. Moreover, a second classification was used to evaluate how the group relevance modified the perceived generalized threat. Both classifications revealed that all amygdala subregions encoded stereotype content. The likelihood of successful stereotype classification in each subregion was modulated differently by the context. Methodologically, our results show that a time-resolved decoding approach provides tools for studying prejudice within the amygdala's subnuclei. Neuroscientifically, our results support the theorization of different and parallel functions of amygdala subnuclei in prejudice.

In an increasingly polarized and divided world, people often interpret new information through an ideologically biased lens (e.g., confirmation bias). Recent studies in the emerging field of political neuroscience report the phenomenon of "neural polarization": cerebral activity that is shared (synchronized) between individuals holding similar political perspectives - but not between those holding dissimilar perspectives. Here, we extend this literature by testing for neural polarization between people with subtly different ideologies. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while individuals (n = 40) listened to narratives about immigration in Finland, we observe neural polarization between more and slightly less immigration-supportive individuals in widespread neural areas, similar to the areas reported in previous studies of neural polarization. The findings extend current knowledge by revealing that neural polarization arises even when self-reported ideological perspectives differ only slightly. Together, these results shed light on how political information is interpreted and processed in the brain.

This study investigated online intergroup contact between heterosexual men and women (the majority) and gay men and lesbian women (the minority) and tested whether Allport's optimal conditions - cooperation, common goals, equal status, and authority support - moderate the positive effects of online contact quality on intergroup attitudes and outgroup trust. Italian adult participants reported their experiences of social media contact with a sexual outgroup. Results revealed that optimal conditions did not moderate the association between the perceived quality of online contact and intergroup attitudes in either the majority or minority group. However, when outgroup trust was the dependent variable, the perception of common goals and equal status in online contact strengthened the effect of contact quality among gay and lesbian participants (but not among heterosexual participants). These results shed light on the conditions needed to improve the effects of online intergroup contact on reducing prejudice toward sexual minorities.

The Stereotype Content Model (SCM) states that different social groups elicit different emotions according to their perceived level of competence and warmth. Because of this relationship between stereotypes and emotional states and because emotions are highly predictive of intergroup behaviors, emotional evaluation is crucial for research on intergroup relations. However, emotional assessment heavily relies on self-reports, which are often compromised by social desirability and challenges in reporting immediate emotional appraisals. In this study, we used machine learning to identify emotional brain patterns using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Subsequently, those patterns were used to monitor emotional reactions during virtual intergroup encounters. Specifically, we showed Finnish majority group members 360-videos depicting members of their ethnic ingroup and immigrant outgroups approaching and entering participants’ personal space. All the groups showed different levels of perceived competence and warmth. In alignment with the SCM, our results showed that the groups perceived as low in competence and warmth evoked contempt and discomfort. Moreover, the ambivalent low-competent/high-warm group elicited both happiness and discomfort. Additionally, upon the protagonists’ approach into personal space, emotional reactions were modulated differently for each group. Taken together, our findings suggest that our method could be used to explore the temporal dynamics of emotional responses during intergroup encounters.

This survey study conducted in Australia, Finland, Germany, and Norway examined the roles of (non)religious worldviews and morality perceptions when predicting reciprocal outgroup attitudes of religious and nonreligious national majority members, and their attitudes toward Muslims. Religious participants showed more positive attitudes toward nonreligious and Muslim outgroups and perceived their group as less morally superior to nonreligious participants. While perceived importance of (non)religious worldview did not directly explain attitudes toward (non)religious outgroups, it was systematically associated with higher levels of perceived personal morality and ingroup's moral superiority derived from one's worldview for both religious and nonreligious participants. Personal morality was in most cases associated with more positive attitudes, while perceived superiority of the ingroup was associated with more negative attitudes. However, indirect associations between (non)religious worldview and outgroup attitudes via morality perceptions varied by country. Our results show that worldviews act as sources of morality appraisals and guide outgroup attitudes.

This survey study explored double standards in immigration attitudes among the Finnish national majority (N = 1,000), comparing attitudes towards the reception of Ukrainians fleeing the war vs. border control for migrants in general. We investigated how Collective Psychological Ownership (CPO) and welfare chauvinism shape these attitudes. CPO over the country was assessed through territorial (CPO-T: 'Finland is our country/land') and epistemic (CPO-E: 'The story of Finland is our story') dimensions. Epistemic ownership was associated with support for stricter border control, with territorial ownership showing a weaker positive association. Neither dimension directly affected attitudes towards the reception of Ukrainians. Welfare chauvinism consistently related to stricter attitudes across both domains. Importantly, welfare chauvinism moderated how ownership shaped attitudes towards Ukrainians: at low levels, territorial ownership was linked to more exclusion while epistemic ownership was linked to more inclusion. At high levels of welfare chauvinism, this pattern partially reversed, with epistemic ownership being linked to more exclusion. These findings suggest that resource-related concerns alter how national ownership translates into immigration attitudes, revealing interactions between identity and economic considerations. Este estudio de encuesta explor & oacute; los dobles est & aacute;ndares en las actitudes hacia la inmigraci & oacute;n entre la mayor & iacute;a nacional finlandesa (N = 1,000), comparando las actitudes hacia la recepci & oacute;n de los ucranianos que huyen de la guerra frente al control fronterizo para los migrantes en general. Investigamos c & oacute;mo la propiedad psicol & oacute;gica colectiva (CPO) y el chovinismo del bienestar moldean estas actitudes. La CPO sobre el pa & iacute;s se evalu & oacute; a trav & eacute;s de las dimensiones territorial (CPO-T: 'Finlandia es nuestro pa & iacute;s/nuestra tierra') y epist & eacute;mica (CPO-E: 'La historia de Finlandia es nuestra historia'). La propiedad epist & eacute;mica se asoci & oacute; con el apoyo a un control fronterizo m & aacute;s estricto, mientras que la propiedad territorial mostr & oacute; una asociaci & oacute;n positiva m & aacute;s d & eacute;bil. Ninguna de estas dimensiones afect & oacute; directamente las actitudes hacia la recepci & oacute;n de los ucranianos. El chovinismo del bienestar estuvo consistentemente relacionado con actitudes m & aacute;s estrictas en ambos dominios. Es importante destacar que el chovinismo del bienestar moder & oacute; el modo en que la propiedad molde & oacute; las actitudes hacia los ucranianos: en niveles bajos, la propiedad territorial estaba vinculada a una mayor exclusi & oacute;n, mientras que la propiedad epist & eacute;mica estaba vinculada a una mayor inclusi & oacute;n. En niveles elevados de chovinismo del bienestar, este patr & oacute;n se revirti & oacute; parcialmente: la propiedad epist & eacute;mica se asoci & oacute; con una mayor exclusi & oacute;n. Estos hallazgos sugieren que las preocupaciones relacionadas con los recursos alteran el modo en que la propiedad nacional se traduce en actitudes hacia la inmigraci & oacute;n, revelando interacciones entre consideraciones de identidad y econ & oacute;micas.

BACKGROUND:Research on well-being inequalities has typically examined the independent effects of social positions, often overlooking how the interplay of multiple social categorizations can shape well-being outcomes. This study explored how multiple social positions based on gender, age, immigrant background, family structure, and perceived family socioeconomic status shape patterns of inequality in three well-being outcomes-psychosomatic complaints, mental well-being, and problematic social media use-among Nordic adolescents. METHODS:Data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study, collected in four Nordic countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) in 2022 (N = 22 366, ages 9-19), were analyzed using the Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA) approach. Participants were nested within 168 strata defined by their multiple social positions. RESULTS:Of the additive contributions of individual social positions, female gender was most strongly associated with poorer well-being across all outcomes. Interaction effects indicating more favorable well-being than expected based on additive main effects were identified across all outcomes for non-immigrant girls aged 9 to 12 perceiving high family socioeconomic status. Unexpectedly, non-immigrant boys aged 15 years and older from nuclear families with low perceived family socioeconomic status reported better well-being levels than anticipated. In contrast, interaction effects demonstrating less favorable well-being were observed for older, non-immigrant girls from nuclear families with high perceived family socioeconomic status, who reported poorer outcomes than expected. Several other subgroups also displayed significant deviations from anticipated outcomes in specific well-being domains. CONCLUSIONS:The findings reveal significant intersectional disparities in well-being, notably in psychosomatic complaints and problematic social media use. The same social positions can form different patterns of advantage and disadvantage for individuals across different subgroups.

The Nordic countries are among the most digitally advanced societies in the world. Past research suggests that both social support offline and interaction online are linked to adolescent psychological adjustment. However, less is known regarding the complex implications of distinctive sources of social support offline and online interaction for a broader range of indices of adolescent psychosocial well-being, including its contemporary forms such as social media addiction. This study utilized two methodological approaches to examine the social components and determinants of psychosocial well-being (psychosomatic complaints and problematic social media use) among 22,384 Nordic adolescents aged between 11 and 15 years. A variable-centered approach focused on examining perceived support from four sources (family, peers, teachers, and classmates), preference for online interaction, and intensity of online interaction as predictors of psychosocial well-being. Concurrently, a person-centered approach was utilized to explore the subgroups at risk of psychosocial ill-being. In the variable-centered analysis, lower support from family, teachers, and classmates, higher preference for online interaction, and higher intensity of online interaction with "online contacts" (i.e., interaction partners met online) were linked to higher levels of psychosomatic complaints and more problematic social media use. Additionally, lower peer support was associated with increased psychosomatic complaints, while greater intensity of online interaction with "offline contacts" (e.g., close friends, parents) was related to more problematic social media use. The person-centered analysis identified five profiles of adolescents: (1) "Multiply supported online users" (56%), (2) "Primarily (family-peer) supported high online users" (22%), (3) "Non-supported online users" (13%), (4) "Primarily non-supported online users" (5%), and (5) "Non-supported high online users" (4%). Adolescents reporting higher support from multiple sources and moderate online interaction with offline contacts experienced the lowest levels of psychosomatic complaints and the least problematic social media use, while the other profiles exhibited more complex and less optimal psychosocial well-being. In conclusion, these findings suggest that adolescents benefit most from robust social support offline across multiple social networks, but strong support from certain sources (teachers, classmates) can somewhat mitigate the adverse effects of low support from other sources (family, peers). The relationship between online interaction and psychosocial well-being is contingent on the level of social support.

This study examines collective psychological ownership (CPO) of a country on two dimensions: territorial ownership (CPO-T)—the traditional conceptualisation of CPO as ownership over physical land and borders—and our newly introduced term, epistemic ownership (CPO-E)—ownership over national narratives and symbolic borders. Using a quota-representative sample of ethnic majority Finns (n = 1000) and panel data from second-generation immigrants (n = 1239) in Finland, we examined how these dimensions manifest across groups, which arguments allow ownership claims, and how ownership claims are related to perceived determination of rights and responsibilities towards Finland. Results confirmed that CPO-T and CPO-E represent distinct dimensions. Collective investment was associated with a higher level of ownership across both dimensions and groups. Majority members’ sense of ownership was also associated with higher levels of intimate knowledge, while control was associated with a higher level of perceived ownership within the minority population. For majority Finns, CPO-T was associated with perceived exclusive rights, whereas CPO-E was associated with collective responsibility. Among second-generation immigrants, both dimensions were associated with perceived rights, but not responsibility. These findings demonstrate that understanding country ownership requires examining both territorial and epistemic dimensions whereby they serve different functions for majority and migrant groups’ claims of belonging.

This mixed-method study of 1,374 Russian-speaking immigrants living in Finland investigated how different characteristics of their socio-political integration are reflected in their attitudes towards supporting Ukraine during the war. The results of survey responses showed that trust in Finnish media and engagement with Finnish societal issues predicted stronger 'pro-Ukraine' attitudes (i.e., support for Finland's aid for Ukraine and condemning of Russia's invasion), while experiences of increased hate speech or discrimination of Russian speakers in Finland were related to weaker 'pro-Ukraine' attitudes. Next, person-centred analysis identified three socio-political integration clusters. High Integration cluster respondents highly supported Ukraine as compared to Critical and Low Integration clusters. Critical Integration respondents were somewhat more integrated than Low Integration respondents, except they felt that discrimination towards Russian speakers had increased due to the war. Analyses of open-ended responses confirmed that Critical Integration respondents were most likely concerned with discrimination. Low integration respondents had ambivalent attitudes in that many were opposed to the war but felt that Western countries were also responsible. Our findings highlight the role of socio-political integration - and especially perceived discrimination - in shaping immigrants' political views during political turmoil. Receiving societies should promote non-discrimination and inclusiveness to mitigate intergroup conflicts in societies with significant diasporic communities. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

In this article, we demonstrate how international social‐media discussions offer a platform for taking a stance on the war in Ukraine, redrawing national boundaries and legitimising their defence. We do so by analysing data that consist of comments triggered by a viral YouTube video depicting an encounter between an ageing civilian woman, labelled ‘Babushka Z’, and a Ukrainian soldier. Using a critical discursive psychological framework, we identify five interpretative repertoires: vulnerability , incapacity , national continuity , masculinised warriorship and righteousness . Our analysis illuminates how these repertoires draw on and reproduce intersecting categorisations based on gender, age and ethnic heritage. With the help of these categorisations, the repertoires build competing images of the actions of the figures in the video, which come to symbolise in various ways both patriotism and treason, heroism and cowardice. By aligning with competing historical‐national narratives, the commentors use these images to (de)legitimise the war and its actors.

Vicarious contact has often been used for studying prejudice-reduction in school contexts due to its relatively accessible application through written or audiovisual portrayals of positive intergroup contact. However, these interventions may sometimes prove ineffective, thus restricting their ecological validity and independent use in education. To contribute to the understanding of factors that might facilitate or mitigate the efficacy of vicarious contact in reducing ethnic prejudice among adolescents, the present study tested for the moderating effect of anti-prejudice motivation and friends’ outgroup attitudes. Participants were Finnish secondary school students (N = 334; M = 13.38 years, SD = 0.53; 48

: Collective action is a powerful tool for social change and is fundamental to women and girls' empowerment on a societal level. Collective action towards gender equality could be understood as intentional and conscious civic behaviors focused on social transformation, questioning power relations, and promoting gender equality through collective efforts. Various instruments to measure collective action intentions have been developed, but to our knowledge none of the published measures were subject to invariance testing. We introduce the gender equality collective action intention (GECAI) scale and examine its psychometric isomorphism and measurement invariance, using data from 60 countries (N = 31,686). Our findings indicate that partial scalar measurement invariance of the GECAI scale permits conditional comparisons of latent mean GECAI scores across countries. Moreover, this metric psychometric isomorphism of the GECAI means we can interpret scores at the country-level (i.e., as a group attribute) conceptually similar to individual attributes. Therefore, our findings add to the growing body of literature on gender based collective action by introducing a methodologically sound tool to measure collective action intentions towards gender equality across cultures.

The secondary transfer effect (STE) of intergroup contact posits that contact with one social group may reduce prejudice not only towards contacted but also non-contacted groups. Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to facilitate intergroup contact on a large scale, but its effectiveness in generating the STE of intergroup contact has not been studied before. In two pre-registered studies conducted in Finland and Italy, we examined whether cooperative (positive) contact in VR between participants' White avatar and an avatar representing a person with African ethnic background had an extended effect on more positive attitudes towards other non-contacted minority groups. Study 1 (N = 53) revealed that positive contact with a Black avatar in VR decreased explicit prejudice towards secondary non-contacted outgroups (Middle Eastern people, Muslims, homosexual people, individuals with intellectual disabilities, and immigrants) via attitude generalization but not via intergroup anxiety. Study 2 (N = 132) expanded the design of Study 1 by including a competitive (negative) contact situation to test the STE of both positive and negative contact in VR. The findings of Study 2 showed a trend towards improvement in explicit attitudes towards one secondary outgroup (East Asian people) for positive contact as compared to negative contact. Overall, our findings show the potential of VR contact to alleviate generalized prejudice through the STE of positive intergroup contact. However, caution must be exercised, as competitive activities in VR are common and may have detrimental effects on intergroup attitudes. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.