The Effect of Perspective-Taking on Linguistic Intergroup Bias

Abstract

In this experiment, we examined the effect of perspective-taking—actively contemplating others’ psychological experiences—on linguistic intergroup bias. We asked some participants to adopt the perspective of a character (an Italian or a Maghrebian), while others did not receive similar instructions, and complete a short dialogue comprised of a series of vignettes, resulting in a 2 (perspective-taking: presence vs. control) × 2 (group: ingroup vs. outgroup) between-participants design. We analyzed the texts produced on the basis of the linguistic category model. As expected, participants were more likely to describe the outgroup member using less abstract terms when we asked them to take the perspective of a Maghrebian. Since the level of abstraction of the terms used to describe a person’s behavior is considered an index of stereotype use, one might describe Maghrebians less stereotypically when he or she can see the world from their perspective. The results extend previous findings on the role of perspective-taking as it relates to reducing intergroup stereotypes.