Colin Holbrook: UCLA

Humans are inclined to cherish their communities and derogate groups regarded as alien, particularly during times of threat. The capacity for threatening circumstances to exacerbate group prejudice holds both social relevance and theoretical interest, and has been widely discussed within psychology and evolutionary anthropology. Perhaps the most intensively studied experimental measure of group bias following threat has been worldview defense. Worldview defense is a psychological effect wherein subtle reminders of death, coalitional challenges (e.g., isolation) or other poignant threats magnify preferences for affirmations and against criticisms of cultural in-groups. Proponents of terror management theory and coalitional psychology postulate alternative interpretations of worldview defense as the output of adaptations evolved to (i) allay the fear of death or (ii) foster social support during times of trial. In contrast to both of these proposals, I will present evidence that worldview defense tokens a relatively domain-general capacity for unconscious vigilance. Unconscious vigilance is hypothesized as a state of accentuated reactivity to emotional targets (which need not relate to cultural worldviews) evoked upon detection of subtle alarm cues (which need not pertain to death or coalitional challenges). Consonant with the unconscious vigilance account of worldview defense, cross-cultural research conducted in Tibet, Northern Ireland, and the United States confirms that both death and isolation cues exaggerate ratings of affective targets unrelated to group attitudes, and, conversely, that threat manipulations unrelated to death or isolation evoke worldview defense. In addition to evidence for an unconscious vigilance pathway to worldview defense, I will introduce new results demonstrating that conscious feelings of positive affect induced by reward cues can also heighten group prejudice. These overall results will be discussed as they inform evolutionary interpretations of worldview defense.