Identification, Prejudice, and Aggression

Summary The present study was based on the assumption that within the broader Israeli society, “religious” and “secular” have come to constitute subcultural identification groups, having implications regarding intra-group prejudice and aggressive behavior. Specifically, it was hypothesized that, in a simulated shock-delivery paradigm in which Ss were asked to “shock” victims for errors on a series of questions: (a) secular Ss would give higher levels of shock to victims presented as “religious” than to those presented as “secular,” and vice-versa, and (b) religious Ss would give higher levels of shock for errors on questions related to religion, whereas, for secular Ss, question content would not differentiate. Ss were two groups of female students, 18–22 years of age, 20 of whom identified themselves as “religious” and 20 as “secular.” Results were in line with the predictions and thus support theories which emphasize the importance of central factors in personality, and provide evidence that both values and group-identification are important factors in aggressive behavior.