THE TRANSGRESSOR TREATMENT: HOW INTERGROUP PROCESSES, INTENTIONS TO TRANSGRESS AND MALEVOLENT PERSONALITIES SHAPE RESPONSES TOWARDS UNFAVOURABLE OTHERS

Abstract

This paper investigates the extent to which third-party responses to transgressors are influenced by the interplay between the transgressor’s social group, the intentionality of their wrongdoing, and the observer’s personality. We assigned participants to conditions with either an ingroup or outgroup transgressor, whose intention to transgress was either ambiguous or deliberate. Drawing on the intergroup processes suggested by Turner and Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory, we anticipated that ingroup favouritism would be conferred to ambiguous ingroup transgressors, while a deliberate ingroup transgressor would elicit a stronger black sheep effect. Additionally, we considered that individuals with a greater measure of dark personality traits (Machiavellianism and psychopathy) would display intensified ingroup bias and black sheep effects. Unexpected trends bear interesting implications for how darker personalities respond to typically unfavourable others, and several explanations are discussed. Notably, the current findings highlight the need to further investigate novel combinations of personality factors and intergroup processes, as they enhance our understanding of the crucial ingredients underlying evaluations of unfavourable others. We conclude with recommendations to probe the social and moral orientations of dark personalities as well, to better understand the unique self- or group-identification processes underlying how they feel, perceive and react towards deviants.