Research reveals how complexo de vira-lata shapes perceptions of corruption in Brazil, suggesting ingroup bias influences views compared to European and African countries.
The "Complexo de Vira-Lata" (CVL) is a unique, special, and extreme form of ingroup bias in which Brazilians behave as if they want to antithetically devalue their national ingroup. In this research, we investigate how the CVL contributes to understanding corruption perception among Brazilians. Across two studies (Study 1: n = 162; Study 2: n = 1200), we found that participants showed a CVL effect by consistently perceiving Brazil as more corrupt than European (Studies 1 and 2) and African countries (Study 2). Moreover, this effect was enhanced in participants who endorsed the "Brazilian jeitinho" (a behavioral strategy often used for social navigation) and diminished in participants with stronger national identification. These results suggest that CVL is relevant for understanding perceptions of corruption in Brazil.
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Modesto et al. (2025) studied this question.
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