Emotional responses to ethnolinguistic identity threat

Previous theoretical and empirical work suggests that group members who believe their ingroup is threatened will become motivated to protect it against such threats (e.g., Tajfel & Turner, 1986). Recent research suggests that emotion plays a role in such protective behaviour (e.g., Smith, 1993). The present research assesses the role of emotion when group-members' distinguish their ingroup in response to perceived threats to ingroup distinctiveness. Participants' perception of threat to the distinctiveness of the Francophone ingroup and the resulting emotional and protective behavioural responses were assessed. It was found that Francophone participants who perceived a threat to the distinctiveness of the Francophone ingroup tended to experience a group-based emotional response (i.e., collective or negative emotions). In turn, these participants tended to express their opposition to the idea of Francophone traditions and culture being mixed with those of outside groups. Group-based emotion mediated the relationship between distinctiveness threat and opposition to the merging of the ingroup with outgroups.