Socio-structural intergroup characteristics and group-based emotions in three countries

Participants from three countries (United States, India, and Bulgaria) rated the socio-structural context between their nation and China. We explored the relationship between the components of the intergroup context (permeability, stability, and legitimacy) and five group-based emotions (happiness, fear, contempt, jealousy, and disgust) across these three international relationships. Overall, the results showed that socio-structural intergroup characteristics interact to differentially influence the intensity of reported group-based emotions. The intensity and predictors of each group-based emotion were also found to differ for each country. Together, these results show that simultaneously examining different socio-structural variables yields a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the intergroup context and the emotions derived from group membership.