<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>In intergroup contexts, praise is important to encourage the members of a group to keep the desired behaviors and seems to be generally well-accepted. However, there is some evidence that, under specific conditions, recipients are more suspicious of praise delivered from outgroup rather than ingroup members. The current study (<italic>N</italic> = 126, university students) examined how people responded to ingroup and outgroup praise that concerned different dimensions (morality vs. competence). Although morality is considered the most important dimension in group evaluation, recipients of morality praise judged it as less pleasant and less sincere and attributed less benevolent motives to the speaker when the speaker was an outgroup (vs. ingroup) member. These findings contribute to the knowledge on responses to group-directed praise, suggesting that outgroup representatives should be careful about the dimension of praise if they wish the praise to be accepted.</p>
</abstract>

In intergroup contexts, praise is important to encourage the members of a group to keep the desired behaviors and seems to be generally well-accepted. However, there is some evidence that, under specific conditions, recipients are more suspicious of praise delivered from outgroup rather than ingroup members. The current study (N = 126, university students) examined how people responded to ingroup and outgroup praise that concerned different dimensions (morality vs. competence). Although morality is considered the most important dimension in group evaluation, recipients of morality praise judged it as less pleasant and less sincere and attributed less benevolent motives to the speaker when the speaker was an outgroup (vs. ingroup) member. These findings contribute to the knowledge on responses to group-directed praise, suggesting that outgroup representatives should be careful about the dimension of praise if they wish the praise to be accepted.

Why do outsiders commend us? Reactions to group-based praise concerning morality or competence

Psychology of Language and Communication

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In intergroup contexts, praise is important to encourage the members of a group to keep the desired behaviors and seems to be generally well-accepted. However,...

Why do outsiders commend us? Reactions to group-based praise concerning morality or competence

Published Online: Mar 21, 2023

Page range: 152 - 172

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2023-0008

Keywords
intergroup communication, praise, morality, speaker evaluation, intergroup bias

© 2023 Silvia Moscatelli, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Why do outsiders commend us? Reactions to group-based praise concerning morality or competence

Published Online: Mar 21, 2023

Page range: 152 - 172

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58734/plc-2023-0008

Keywordsintergroup communication, praise, morality, speaker evaluation, intergroup bias

© 2023 Silvia Moscatelli, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
intergroup communication, praise, morality, speaker evaluation, intergroup bias