effects of collective angst and social identification on distance perception

Running head: EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION

The Effects Of Collective Angst And Social Identification With Jewish Identity On Distance

Perception From New York City To Jerusalem

Lena Kahn

New York University

Author Note

Jay Van Bavel, New York University Department of Psychology, Social Perception

and Evaluation Lab, 6 Washington Place, (212) 992-9627, [email protected]

Yi (Jenny) Xiao, New York University Department of Psychology, Social Perception

and Evaluation Lab, 6 Washington Place, (212) 998-8408, [email protected]

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mailto:[email protected]

EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION

Abstract

Collective identity and collective angst affect distance perception; the higher one’s degree of

identification with a social group, the closer this individual will perceive the social group’s

affiliated physical location especially in the presence of a threat. The purpose of this study

was to investigate if the addition of a hypothetical threat such as the risk of decline of the

Jewish collective group would be enough to create the same perceptual distance bias and

whether the degree of collective identification to Judaism would lead to greater biases.

Participants (N=31) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions representing the

absence or presence of collective angst: the Threat or No Threat condition. Participants then

completed a questionnaire where their self-reported measures were assessed with the help of

the Collective Identification Scale. Findings indicated that the participants in the Threat

condition did not significantly perceive the distance between New York City and Jerusalem

as being closer than participants in the No Threat condition (p = .69). Furthermore, results did

not show that the degree of identification with Judaism biased distance perception (p = .62).

The findings did not suggest that the presence of a hypothetical threat on one’s collective

identity creates a perceptual bias neither that the degree of collective identification affects

distance perception. Hypothetical threat therefore did not have the same impact as a real

physical threat on distance perception and degrees of collective identification were not

influencing biases in distance estimation.

Keywords: collective identification, collective angst, social identity, and distance perception

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The Effects Of Collective Angst And Social Identification With Jewish Identity On Distance

Estimation From New York City To Jerusalem

Social identity and group affiliation have been shown to have an impact on distance

perception and mental representation of the physical world (Xiao & Van Bavel, 2012; Burris

& Branscombe, 2005). For example, a Red Sox fan, during a Red Sox versus Yankee game,

would be more likely to perceive Boston, where the team is based, as being closer than it is to

where he/she would be than a Yankee fan. Furthermore, when individuals perceive an

imminent threat on their collective identity (for example, identifying oneself as being a Red

Sox fan) and its related affiliated physical location (Boston), this expression of threat tends to

further bias their estimation of distance, as they will perceive the distance from them to the

group location as closer.

Social and collective identities can exert influence on distance estimation and

perception (Xiao & Van Bavel, 2012). Identifying oneself with a specific social group can

lead to exaggerated perception of physical distance when threat to one’s social identity, such

as the risk of decline of this social group, is perceived. Xiao and Van Bavel (2012) called this

phenomenon the threat hypothesis, postulating that reduction of perception of physical

distance is the consequence of threats on one’s collective identity by an out-group (such as

the Yankee fans in our example). In addition, research on identity threat has shown that the

degree to which one perceives and responds to a threat is dependent on the level of

identification with a specific collective group (Branscombe, Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje,

1999). Subsequently, distance perception effects were further explored and the findings show

that the actual physical presence of an in-group member (another Red Sox fan) can help

attenuate the distance perception effect and cause one to perceive an out-group (a Yankee

fan) as being further away than one would estimate in the absence of an in-group member

(Cesario & Navarrete, 2014). Collective angst, which is understood here as being a threat of

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decline of one’s social group, was our main research focus; collective angst is “a group-based

emotion that stems from concern for the future vitality of one’s social group” (Wohl, Squires,

& Caouette, 2012, p. 379). There are some positive effects to collective angst; it enhances

group survival, as one will be more prone to actively support the in-group and attempt to

reduce threats. However this closeness to a specific group also triggers negative emotions

towards out-groups and can lead one to take aggressive actions (Wohl, Guigère, Branscombe,

& McVicar, 2011). A provided explanation for this behavior was that those who feel closely

related to their collective social group are more likely to base their self-concept on the group

and are, as a result, keener to respond aggressively to threats towards their group. Another

important variable in the exploration of distance perception and collective angst is the threat

of in-group extinction; such a threat promotes protective social behaviors such as the

reinforcement of one’s identification to a certain collective group (Wohl, Branscombe, &

Reysen, 2010).

The threat hypothesis and its impact on distance perception have been explored when

examining two different social groups; however, would our predictions remain the same if the

threat comes from within one’s in-group as opposed to coming from an out-group? Also,

what would be the magnitude of the effects of symbolic forms of collective angst (such as a

hypothetical threat that the social group is at risk of decline) on distance perception? To

answer these questions, we examined the influence of collective angst on distance perception

by looking specifically at one social group, Jewish individuals, and seeing if a hypothetical

threat on Jewish identity led to perceive the distance from New York City to Jerusalem as

being closer than it is. To do so, participants were randomly assigned to one of the two

conditions (Threat or No threat). We also explored how the degree to which one feels

affiliated with Judaism affected the distance estimation.

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We hypothesized that the hypothetical threat would indeed bias distance perception,

which would result in smaller distance estimation. Participants in the Threat condition were

expected to perceive the distance from New York City to Jerusalem as being closer than

those from the No Threat condition leading to a statistically significant influential effect of

hypothetical threat on distance perception (Hypothesis 1). We also hypothesized that the

degree of collective identification would also negatively affect distance perception.

Participants with a high degree of identification with Judaism are expected to perceive the

distance between the two cities as being closer than those with a low degree of identification

(Hypothesis 2). We therefore predicted a negative correlation between collective

identification and distance perception.

Method

Design

This experiment had a between-subjects design with collective angst as the

independent variable, with two conditions where participants were randomly assigned to

either the Threat or No threat conditions by the investigator; they did not know which

condition they were assigned to. Participants in the hypothetical threat condition were asked

to read an article ostensibly from the NY Times on how American Judaism was at risk of

decline. Participants in the No threat condition had to read an article ostensibly from the NY

Times on the history of bagel production. The dependant variable was distance estimation

from New York City to Jerusalem. Collective angst and more specifically the Threat

condition were expected to influence distance perception and therefore, in our study, distance

estimation. In addition we also looked whether there was a negative correlation between the

degree of collective identification and estimation of distance.

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Participants

In this study, we recruited 31 participants (17 women, 14 male, Mage = 23.3 years);

five were undergraduate psychology students who were recruited via the NYU Psychology

Department subject pool. They were selected based on their responses to questions on a

diverse battery of tests they took at the beginning of the academic year. Specifically, those

students who mentioned being affiliated and/or considered themselves as being Jewish or

having Jewish origins were contacted via email and invited to participate in the study for

course credit. The other 26 participants consisted of non-pool participants (either non-

psychology department or non-pool subjects) obtained via direct approach/contact on the

street. They did not receive any compensation.

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For all the participants, the inclusion criteria were the following: Self-report of

identification with Judaism, over 18 years old, and ability to read and speak English (even if

English was not their primary language). As we only recruited participants over 18 years old,

adult consent forms were provided. There were two types of consent forms: One for non-pool

participants (volunteers) and one for psychology department subject pool participants.

Consents were obtained prior to the beginning of each study session and a copy was given to

each participant. Deception was used in the Threat condition in the form of a fake article

ostensibly from the New York Times on how American Judaism was at risk of decline. The

purpose of such technique was to manipulate the effect of collective angst on distance

perception, which was the main focus of this study. Priming sometimes requires the use of

deception in order to create improbable situations, which can influence behavioral changes

and psychological responses (Bordens & Abbott, 2014).

Materials

Two different types of questionnaire, one for the Threat condition and one for the No

Threat condition were available; the only difference between the two was the choice of the

article. The degree to which one feels associated with Judaism (collective identification) was

measured with the Collective Identification Scale (CIS). The CIS is a 4-item self-report

measure where degree of identification with Jewish identity is assessed on 7-point scales, half

of the item being reverse scored. This scale was adapted from the Group Identification Scale

(Doosje, Ellemers, & Spears, 1995) to best fit our targeted population. For each item,

participants were asked to rate their agreement with statements on a scale from 1 (strongly

disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) and the item mean scores were then calculated. Higher scores

indicated higher degree of identification with Judaism. Construct validity consisted of a

Cronbach’s alpha of .83, derived from the Group Identification Scale, supporting the

Collective Identification Scale.

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Distance estimation from New York City to Jerusalem was assessed with a rating

scale: participants were asked, from their gut reaction, to place a dot on a designated line

representing 0 to 10’000 miles to indicate their estimated distance separating the two cities.

Distance was then measured with a ruler (1cm =1000 miles).

Procedure

Undergraduate participants recruited through the NYU psychology department subject

pool were asked to complete the questionnaire in a quiet room. Those participants were

provided with a chair and a desk. Non-pool participants were given the questionnaire in a

crowded environment such as a park or on the street.

The study was conducted by the Principal Investigator, Jay Van Bavel, Ph.D., one

doctoral candidate and two graduate research assistants.

Upon arrival/recruitment of participants and after signing required consent forms,

instructions were given verbally by a graduate research assistant. First, an explanation of the

nature of the study and role of the participant were provided. Participants were then asked to

read very carefully and understand each statement preceding item ratings and to pay close

attention to the provided article and read through it entirely. They were then asked to rate

their agreement with the statements as accurately as possible and given the possibility to ask

the graduate research assistant for more information on an item, if this one was not fully

understood. Participants were given 30 minutes to finish the questionnaire, although all of

them took approximately 15 minutes to complete it. They were also offered an additional 5

minutes of conversation time after completion of the questionnaire with the graduate research

assistant, to further explain the purpose of the study.

To ensure internal validity of the study, a manipulation check in the form of a 7-point

Collective Angst scale on five items assessing whether the participant felt anxious about the

future of American Judaism or not was added (Wohl & Branscombe, 2009). Participants in

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the Threat condition were expected to score higher on these items and therefore feeling more

anxious than those in the No Threat condition due to their reading of the article on how

American Judaism is at risk of decline. Also, there was no interruption between the reading

of the article and the assessment of distance perception, leaving no space for another variable

to influence the changes in distance estimation other than the Threat manipulation itself.

Results

Descriptive statistics for demographics showed that the mean for age for our 31

participants was 23.3 years old (SD=8.83), the subject pool consisting of 45.2% of male

(n=14) and 54.8% of female (n=17). The Threat condition (n=14) had a distance estimation

mean score of 65.93, representing 6’593 miles (SD=14.18) while the No Threat condition (n=

17) had a distance estimation mean score of 68.47, representing 6’847 miles (SD= 19.59).

Degree of collective identification with Jewish identity had a mean score of 5.56 (SD= 1.29).

Estimation of distance between New York City and Jerusalem had a mean score of 67.32,

representing 6’732 miles (SD= 17.14).

Use of a parametric approach was justified due to analysis of basic model assumptions

as follows. Skewness for collective identification with Jewish identity was -1.07 (SE= .42).

For distance estimation, the skewness was -.08 (SE= .42). Skewness for distance estimation

for the Threat condition was .08 (SE= .6) and -.22 (SE= .55) for the No Threat one. Distance

estimation by itself as well as for the Threat and No Threat conditions produced a normal

distribution while collective identification was negatively skewed. Sample group variances

were comparable as Levene’s Test for Equality of Variance indicated homogeneity of

variance for distance perception (F = 1.04, p = .315) and collective identification (F = 1.25, p

= .272) for the Threat and No Threat conditions.

Initial analyses of demographic variables by group showed no significant changes

with the inclusion of gender. An independent t-test indicated that scores were not

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significantly higher for women (M = 5.6, SD = 1.43) than for men (M = 5.5, SD = 1.15), t(29)

= .218, p = .829 (two-tailed) for the collective identification variable. Scores also failed to

reach significance for distance perception as scores were not significantly higher for women

(M = 67.18, SD = 18) as opposed to men (M = 67.5, SD = 16.7), t(29) = -.05, p = .959 (two-

tailed).

In order to address our first hypothesis that participants in the Threat condition

perceived distance from New York City to Jerusalem as being closer than participants in the

No Threat condition, which would indicate an effect of a hypothetical threat on distance

perception, an independent t-test was performed. The t-test examining the difference between

the two conditions (Threat and No Threat) in distance estimation failed to reach significance,

t(29) = -.41, p = .69 (two-tailed). Although we can attest for a difference in the means of the

two condition groups for distance perception, we found no significant effect of the

hypothetical threat on distance estimation. To address the second hypothesis that participants

with a high degree of identification with Judaism perceived the distance between New York

City and Jerusalem as being closer than participants with a low degree of identification,

showing a negative correlational effect between degrees of collective identification and

distance perception, a bivariate correlation (Pearson r) was performed. The correlation

analysis of distance estimation and degrees of collective identification with Jewish identity

showed that the correlation coefficient was not significant, r(31) = -.09, p = .62.

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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION 11


Discussion

Our first hypothesis, which aims to show a relationship between collective angst in the

form of a hypothetical threat of decline of American Judaism and distance perception, is that

participants in the Threat condition perceive the distance from New York City to Jerusalem

as being closer than those from the No Threat condition. The results of the t-test show no

significant effect of the hypothetical threat on distance estimation and therefore do not

support our hypothesis. However we can attest a difference in the means of distance

perception between the Threat and No Threat conditions, participants in the Threat condition

having a smaller estimation of the distance between New York City to Jerusalem. Perhaps

with a larger sample we would have found a significant effect, although for right now we

cannot suppose that a hypothetical threat as the same impact as a real physical threat on

distance perception.

Our second hypothesis, exploring the effects of the degree of collective identification

with Judaism on distance perception, is that participants with a high degree of identification

with Judaism perceive the distance between the two cities as being closer than those with a

low degree of identification (resulting in a negative correlation between the two). The results

of the correlation analysis show no significant negative correlation between collective

identification and distance estimation. The mean score for collective identification with

Judaism was 5.56, the highest score being 7; participants have on average a high degree of

identification with Judaism, which could prevent us from seeing a difference in distance

estimation. Again, with a larger sample we would see more variance in degrees of collective

identification, which could potentially result in a significant correlational effect showing that

the higher the degree of collective identification the shorter the estimation of distance.

Our findings did not address the gap in the literature; there still is no evidence that

when a threat comes from within one’s in-group, as opposed to coming from an out-group, it

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affects distance perception. Furthermore, as we did not see any effect of symbolic forms of

collective angst on distance perception, a real physical threat still remains one of the best

predictor for future biases in distance perception as opposed to a hypothetical one.

One of the limitations of this current study is the inclusion of the dimension of

religion. Indeed, variation in religious beliefs may affect participants’ degrees of agreement

with statements on collective identification with Judaism. This could perhaps account for the

high levels of collective identification that we find in our study. As already mentioned, the

small size of our sample is a limitation by itself. Furthermore, the use of self-reported

measures can result in several biases, including social desirability. Also, participants who

travel frequently from New York City to Jerusalem may have a better estimation of the

distance than participants who have never travelled there.

The strength of the study lies in the design itself; the use of an article to re-

create a collective angst situation minimizes deception, as no disturbing images or sound was

used. Also, measures of important phenomena such as collective angst, collective

identification and distance perception, are collected in a very short amount of time, the

questionnaire taking only 15 minutes to do which facilitate collection of data.

Future research could concentrate on trying to show how a hypothetical threat could

have the same impact as a real physical threat on distance perception and confirm this

hypothesis on different social groups (groups which won’t have this religious dimension).

Stronger manipulation tools to induce collective angst could be used, although this might

increase levels of deception in participants. Another experiment where threat on one’s social

group is not coming from an out-group would also have valuable repercussion on the study of

threat and generalization of theories.

Overall, this study is an attempt to answer the question of whether or not we should

distance and distinguish ourselves from our social groups in order to be more accurate in our

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distance estimations. Knowing the effects of identifying ourselves with a collective group

could make us less likely to be influenced by it, especially in the event of a threat on our

social group. A social group, which is more prone to be threatens either by an out-group or by

being at risk of decline, could have a significant impact on members of this group when it

comes to estimating how close is this threat from where members stand. Having a biased

estimate of the distance separating one’s initial location to where the threat comes from could

result in over-exaggerated feelings of threat and panic. Knowing that these feelings are a

result of collective identification with a social group could help individuals evaluate the

threat in a more rational way.

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