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Running head: EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
The Effects Of Collective Angst And Social Identification With Jewish Identity On Distance
Perception From New York City To Jerusalem
Lena Kahn
New York University
Author Note
Jay Van Bavel, New York University Department of Psychology, Social Perception
and Evaluation Lab, 6 Washington Place, (212) 992-9627, [email protected]
Yi (Jenny) Xiao, New York University Department of Psychology, Social Perception
and Evaluation Lab, 6 Washington Place, (212) 998-8408, [email protected]
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
Abstract
Collective identity and collective angst affect distance perception; the higher one’s degree of
identification with a social group, the closer this individual will perceive the social group’s
affiliated physical location especially in the presence of a threat. The purpose of this study
was to investigate if the addition of a hypothetical threat such as the risk of decline of the
Jewish collective group would be enough to create the same perceptual distance bias and
whether the degree of collective identification to Judaism would lead to greater biases.
Participants (N=31) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions representing the
absence or presence of collective angst: the Threat or No Threat condition. Participants then
completed a questionnaire where their self-reported measures were assessed with the help of
the Collective Identification Scale. Findings indicated that the participants in the Threat
condition did not significantly perceive the distance between New York City and Jerusalem
as being closer than participants in the No Threat condition (p = .69). Furthermore, results did
not show that the degree of identification with Judaism biased distance perception (p = .62).
The findings did not suggest that the presence of a hypothetical threat on one’s collective
identity creates a perceptual bias neither that the degree of collective identification affects
distance perception. Hypothetical threat therefore did not have the same impact as a real
physical threat on distance perception and degrees of collective identification were not
influencing biases in distance estimation.
Keywords: collective identification, collective angst, social identity, and distance perception
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
The Effects Of Collective Angst And Social Identification With Jewish Identity On Distance
Estimation From New York City To Jerusalem
Social identity and group affiliation have been shown to have an impact on distance
perception and mental representation of the physical world (Xiao & Van Bavel, 2012; Burris
& Branscombe, 2005). For example, a Red Sox fan, during a Red Sox versus Yankee game,
would be more likely to perceive Boston, where the team is based, as being closer than it is to
where he/she would be than a Yankee fan. Furthermore, when individuals perceive an
imminent threat on their collective identity (for example, identifying oneself as being a Red
Sox fan) and its related affiliated physical location (Boston), this expression of threat tends to
further bias their estimation of distance, as they will perceive the distance from them to the
group location as closer.
Social and collective identities can exert influence on distance estimation and
perception (Xiao & Van Bavel, 2012). Identifying oneself with a specific social group can
lead to exaggerated perception of physical distance when threat to one’s social identity, such
as the risk of decline of this social group, is perceived. Xiao and Van Bavel (2012) called this
phenomenon the threat hypothesis, postulating that reduction of perception of physical
distance is the consequence of threats on one’s collective identity by an out-group (such as
the Yankee fans in our example). In addition, research on identity threat has shown that the
degree to which one perceives and responds to a threat is dependent on the level of
identification with a specific collective group (Branscombe, Ellemers, Spears, & Doosje,
1999). Subsequently, distance perception effects were further explored and the findings show
that the actual physical presence of an in-group member (another Red Sox fan) can help
attenuate the distance perception effect and cause one to perceive an out-group (a Yankee
fan) as being further away than one would estimate in the absence of an in-group member
(Cesario & Navarrete, 2014). Collective angst, which is understood here as being a threat of
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
decline of one’s social group, was our main research focus; collective angst is “a group-based
emotion that stems from concern for the future vitality of one’s social group” (Wohl, Squires,
& Caouette, 2012, p. 379). There are some positive effects to collective angst; it enhances
group survival, as one will be more prone to actively support the in-group and attempt to
reduce threats. However this closeness to a specific group also triggers negative emotions
towards out-groups and can lead one to take aggressive actions (Wohl, Guigère, Branscombe,
& McVicar, 2011). A provided explanation for this behavior was that those who feel closely
related to their collective social group are more likely to base their self-concept on the group
and are, as a result, keener to respond aggressively to threats towards their group. Another
important variable in the exploration of distance perception and collective angst is the threat
of in-group extinction; such a threat promotes protective social behaviors such as the
reinforcement of one’s identification to a certain collective group (Wohl, Branscombe, &
Reysen, 2010).
The threat hypothesis and its impact on distance perception have been explored when
examining two different social groups; however, would our predictions remain the same if the
threat comes from within one’s in-group as opposed to coming from an out-group? Also,
what would be the magnitude of the effects of symbolic forms of collective angst (such as a
hypothetical threat that the social group is at risk of decline) on distance perception? To
answer these questions, we examined the influence of collective angst on distance perception
by looking specifically at one social group, Jewish individuals, and seeing if a hypothetical
threat on Jewish identity led to perceive the distance from New York City to Jerusalem as
being closer than it is. To do so, participants were randomly assigned to one of the two
conditions (Threat or No threat). We also explored how the degree to which one feels
affiliated with Judaism affected the distance estimation.
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
We hypothesized that the hypothetical threat would indeed bias distance perception,
which would result in smaller distance estimation. Participants in the Threat condition were
expected to perceive the distance from New York City to Jerusalem as being closer than
those from the No Threat condition leading to a statistically significant influential effect of
hypothetical threat on distance perception (Hypothesis 1). We also hypothesized that the
degree of collective identification would also negatively affect distance perception.
Participants with a high degree of identification with Judaism are expected to perceive the
distance between the two cities as being closer than those with a low degree of identification
(Hypothesis 2). We therefore predicted a negative correlation between collective
identification and distance perception.
Method
Design
This experiment had a between-subjects design with collective angst as the
independent variable, with two conditions where participants were randomly assigned to
either the Threat or No threat conditions by the investigator; they did not know which
condition they were assigned to. Participants in the hypothetical threat condition were asked
to read an article ostensibly from the NY Times on how American Judaism was at risk of
decline. Participants in the No threat condition had to read an article ostensibly from the NY
Times on the history of bagel production. The dependant variable was distance estimation
from New York City to Jerusalem. Collective angst and more specifically the Threat
condition were expected to influence distance perception and therefore, in our study, distance
estimation. In addition we also looked whether there was a negative correlation between the
degree of collective identification and estimation of distance.
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
Participants
In this study, we recruited 31 participants (17 women, 14 male, Mage = 23.3 years);
five were undergraduate psychology students who were recruited via the NYU Psychology
Department subject pool. They were selected based on their responses to questions on a
diverse battery of tests they took at the beginning of the academic year. Specifically, those
students who mentioned being affiliated and/or considered themselves as being Jewish or
having Jewish origins were contacted via email and invited to participate in the study for
course credit. The other 26 participants consisted of non-pool participants (either non-
psychology department or non-pool subjects) obtained via direct approach/contact on the
street. They did not receive any compensation.
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
For all the participants, the inclusion criteria were the following: Self-report of
identification with Judaism, over 18 years old, and ability to read and speak English (even if
English was not their primary language). As we only recruited participants over 18 years old,
adult consent forms were provided. There were two types of consent forms: One for non-pool
participants (volunteers) and one for psychology department subject pool participants.
Consents were obtained prior to the beginning of each study session and a copy was given to
each participant. Deception was used in the Threat condition in the form of a fake article
ostensibly from the New York Times on how American Judaism was at risk of decline. The
purpose of such technique was to manipulate the effect of collective angst on distance
perception, which was the main focus of this study. Priming sometimes requires the use of
deception in order to create improbable situations, which can influence behavioral changes
and psychological responses (Bordens & Abbott, 2014).
Materials
Two different types of questionnaire, one for the Threat condition and one for the No
Threat condition were available; the only difference between the two was the choice of the
article. The degree to which one feels associated with Judaism (collective identification) was
measured with the Collective Identification Scale (CIS). The CIS is a 4-item self-report
measure where degree of identification with Jewish identity is assessed on 7-point scales, half
of the item being reverse scored. This scale was adapted from the Group Identification Scale
(Doosje, Ellemers, & Spears, 1995) to best fit our targeted population. For each item,
participants were asked to rate their agreement with statements on a scale from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) and the item mean scores were then calculated. Higher scores
indicated higher degree of identification with Judaism. Construct validity consisted of a
Cronbach’s alpha of .83, derived from the Group Identification Scale, supporting the
Collective Identification Scale.
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
Distance estimation from New York City to Jerusalem was assessed with a rating
scale: participants were asked, from their gut reaction, to place a dot on a designated line
representing 0 to 10’000 miles to indicate their estimated distance separating the two cities.
Distance was then measured with a ruler (1cm =1000 miles).
Procedure
Undergraduate participants recruited through the NYU psychology department subject
pool were asked to complete the questionnaire in a quiet room. Those participants were
provided with a chair and a desk. Non-pool participants were given the questionnaire in a
crowded environment such as a park or on the street.
The study was conducted by the Principal Investigator, Jay Van Bavel, Ph.D., one
doctoral candidate and two graduate research assistants.
Upon arrival/recruitment of participants and after signing required consent forms,
instructions were given verbally by a graduate research assistant. First, an explanation of the
nature of the study and role of the participant were provided. Participants were then asked to
read very carefully and understand each statement preceding item ratings and to pay close
attention to the provided article and read through it entirely. They were then asked to rate
their agreement with the statements as accurately as possible and given the possibility to ask
the graduate research assistant for more information on an item, if this one was not fully
understood. Participants were given 30 minutes to finish the questionnaire, although all of
them took approximately 15 minutes to complete it. They were also offered an additional 5
minutes of conversation time after completion of the questionnaire with the graduate research
assistant, to further explain the purpose of the study.
To ensure internal validity of the study, a manipulation check in the form of a 7-point
Collective Angst scale on five items assessing whether the participant felt anxious about the
future of American Judaism or not was added (Wohl & Branscombe, 2009). Participants in
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
the Threat condition were expected to score higher on these items and therefore feeling more
anxious than those in the No Threat condition due to their reading of the article on how
American Judaism is at risk of decline. Also, there was no interruption between the reading
of the article and the assessment of distance perception, leaving no space for another variable
to influence the changes in distance estimation other than the Threat manipulation itself.
Results
Descriptive statistics for demographics showed that the mean for age for our 31
participants was 23.3 years old (SD=8.83), the subject pool consisting of 45.2% of male
(n=14) and 54.8% of female (n=17). The Threat condition (n=14) had a distance estimation
mean score of 65.93, representing 6’593 miles (SD=14.18) while the No Threat condition (n=
17) had a distance estimation mean score of 68.47, representing 6’847 miles (SD= 19.59).
Degree of collective identification with Jewish identity had a mean score of 5.56 (SD= 1.29).
Estimation of distance between New York City and Jerusalem had a mean score of 67.32,
representing 6’732 miles (SD= 17.14).
Use of a parametric approach was justified due to analysis of basic model assumptions
as follows. Skewness for collective identification with Jewish identity was -1.07 (SE= .42).
For distance estimation, the skewness was -.08 (SE= .42). Skewness for distance estimation
for the Threat condition was .08 (SE= .6) and -.22 (SE= .55) for the No Threat one. Distance
estimation by itself as well as for the Threat and No Threat conditions produced a normal
distribution while collective identification was negatively skewed. Sample group variances
were comparable as Levene’s Test for Equality of Variance indicated homogeneity of
variance for distance perception (F = 1.04, p = .315) and collective identification (F = 1.25, p
= .272) for the Threat and No Threat conditions.
Initial analyses of demographic variables by group showed no significant changes
with the inclusion of gender. An independent t-test indicated that scores were not
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
significantly higher for women (M = 5.6, SD = 1.43) than for men (M = 5.5, SD = 1.15), t(29)
= .218, p = .829 (two-tailed) for the collective identification variable. Scores also failed to
reach significance for distance perception as scores were not significantly higher for women
(M = 67.18, SD = 18) as opposed to men (M = 67.5, SD = 16.7), t(29) = -.05, p = .959 (two-
tailed).
In order to address our first hypothesis that participants in the Threat condition
perceived distance from New York City to Jerusalem as being closer than participants in the
No Threat condition, which would indicate an effect of a hypothetical threat on distance
perception, an independent t-test was performed. The t-test examining the difference between
the two conditions (Threat and No Threat) in distance estimation failed to reach significance,
t(29) = -.41, p = .69 (two-tailed). Although we can attest for a difference in the means of the
two condition groups for distance perception, we found no significant effect of the
hypothetical threat on distance estimation. To address the second hypothesis that participants
with a high degree of identification with Judaism perceived the distance between New York
City and Jerusalem as being closer than participants with a low degree of identification,
showing a negative correlational effect between degrees of collective identification and
distance perception, a bivariate correlation (Pearson r) was performed. The correlation
analysis of distance estimation and degrees of collective identification with Jewish identity
showed that the correlation coefficient was not significant, r(31) = -.09, p = .62.
10
EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION 11
EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
Discussion
Our first hypothesis, which aims to show a relationship between collective angst in the
form of a hypothetical threat of decline of American Judaism and distance perception, is that
participants in the Threat condition perceive the distance from New York City to Jerusalem
as being closer than those from the No Threat condition. The results of the t-test show no
significant effect of the hypothetical threat on distance estimation and therefore do not
support our hypothesis. However we can attest a difference in the means of distance
perception between the Threat and No Threat conditions, participants in the Threat condition
having a smaller estimation of the distance between New York City to Jerusalem. Perhaps
with a larger sample we would have found a significant effect, although for right now we
cannot suppose that a hypothetical threat as the same impact as a real physical threat on
distance perception.
Our second hypothesis, exploring the effects of the degree of collective identification
with Judaism on distance perception, is that participants with a high degree of identification
with Judaism perceive the distance between the two cities as being closer than those with a
low degree of identification (resulting in a negative correlation between the two). The results
of the correlation analysis show no significant negative correlation between collective
identification and distance estimation. The mean score for collective identification with
Judaism was 5.56, the highest score being 7; participants have on average a high degree of
identification with Judaism, which could prevent us from seeing a difference in distance
estimation. Again, with a larger sample we would see more variance in degrees of collective
identification, which could potentially result in a significant correlational effect showing that
the higher the degree of collective identification the shorter the estimation of distance.
Our findings did not address the gap in the literature; there still is no evidence that
when a threat comes from within one’s in-group, as opposed to coming from an out-group, it
12
EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
affects distance perception. Furthermore, as we did not see any effect of symbolic forms of
collective angst on distance perception, a real physical threat still remains one of the best
predictor for future biases in distance perception as opposed to a hypothetical one.
One of the limitations of this current study is the inclusion of the dimension of
religion. Indeed, variation in religious beliefs may affect participants’ degrees of agreement
with statements on collective identification with Judaism. This could perhaps account for the
high levels of collective identification that we find in our study. As already mentioned, the
small size of our sample is a limitation by itself. Furthermore, the use of self-reported
measures can result in several biases, including social desirability. Also, participants who
travel frequently from New York City to Jerusalem may have a better estimation of the
distance than participants who have never travelled there.
The strength of the study lies in the design itself; the use of an article to re-
create a collective angst situation minimizes deception, as no disturbing images or sound was
used. Also, measures of important phenomena such as collective angst, collective
identification and distance perception, are collected in a very short amount of time, the
questionnaire taking only 15 minutes to do which facilitate collection of data.
Future research could concentrate on trying to show how a hypothetical threat could
have the same impact as a real physical threat on distance perception and confirm this
hypothesis on different social groups (groups which won’t have this religious dimension).
Stronger manipulation tools to induce collective angst could be used, although this might
increase levels of deception in participants. Another experiment where threat on one’s social
group is not coming from an out-group would also have valuable repercussion on the study of
threat and generalization of theories.
Overall, this study is an attempt to answer the question of whether or not we should
distance and distinguish ourselves from our social groups in order to be more accurate in our
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
distance estimations. Knowing the effects of identifying ourselves with a collective group
could make us less likely to be influenced by it, especially in the event of a threat on our
social group. A social group, which is more prone to be threatens either by an out-group or by
being at risk of decline, could have a significant impact on members of this group when it
comes to estimating how close is this threat from where members stand. Having a biased
estimate of the distance separating one’s initial location to where the threat comes from could
result in over-exaggerated feelings of threat and panic. Knowing that these feelings are a
result of collective identification with a social group could help individuals evaluate the
threat in a more rational way.
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EFFECTS OF COLLECTIVE ANGST ON DISTANCE PERCEPTION
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