Groups in conflict can act against one another in various ways, such as inflicting physical injury upon out-group members, actively expelling them from the social sphere or denying them basic rights. While intergroup conflict literature is mostly dedicated to identifying the psychological determinants of such overt, or active, forms of intergroup harm, less research has been dedicated to the psychological mechanisms that intensify intergroup harm inflicted through inaction, such as ignoring the out-group, withholding assistance, and avoiding mutual cooperation. The goal of the present research is to identify the distinct emotional determinant of “harmful inaction” in intergroup conflict across various socio-political contexts, focusing on the experience of group-based contempt. Across seven studies, using different methods, we find that support for harmful inaction towards the rival in conflict is uniquely associated with group-based contempt, compared to anger (Studies 1a-d, 2–3), hate (Studies 1b-d, 2), disgust (Studies 1b-d, 2, 4), and fear (Studies 1b-d, 2). These findings were consistent across different contexts of intergroup conflict, different specifications of harmful inaction, and different sets of controlled emotions. Taken together, our results suggest that group-based contempt has a unique contribution to fueling and maintaining intergroup conflicts by triggering a unique type of intergroup harm.

冲突中的群体可以通过多种方式相互对抗，例如对群体外成员造成身体伤害、积极将他们驱逐出社会领域或剥夺他们的基本权利。虽然群体间冲突文献主要致力于确定这种公开或积极的群体间伤害形式的心理决定因素，但很少有研究致力于通过不作为而加剧群体间伤害的心理机制比如不理会外，不提供帮助，避免相互合作。本研究的目的是确定不同社会政治背景下的群体间冲突中“有害的不作为”的独特情感决定因素，重点关注基于群体的蔑视体验。在七项研究中，我们使用不同的方法发现，与愤怒（研究 1a-d，2-3）、仇恨（研究 1b-d， 2）、厌恶（研究 1b-d、2、4）和恐惧（研究 1b-d、2）。这些发现在不同的群体间冲突背景、不同的有害不作为和不同的受控情绪背景下是一致的。综合起来，