Identification with all humanity and the rating of social groups living in Germany

Past research on identification with all humanity (IWAH) has shown that this concept relates to higher levels of concern and supportive behavior toward the disadvantaged. The stereotype content model (SCM) says that warmth and competence are fundamental dimensions of social judgment. In the present study we assessed, if IWAH influences the rating of social groups in a sample of young German adults (N=364). Relevant social groups in Germany were identified in a Pilot study (N=27). We randomly assigned participants to two conditions: In line with SCM we asked participants to judge the social groups as a typical German would (control condition) and under the experimental condition to rate the groups as they personally would. The results indicate significant differences in the ratings between the two conditions. IWAH did not affect the stereotypical judgements, but significant differences were found for the personal judgements, especially for warmth ratings of disadvantaged groups.