ABSTRACT
Although the role of morality in social life has been at the center of the psychological investigation from the discipline origins, the importance of moral character in shaping group perception has received less attention. This chapter reviews recent research showing the dominant role of moral contents in group evaluation. Thus, moral traits are more relevant than non-moral traits (i.e., sociability and competence) when people gather information and form global impressions of ingroup and outgroup targets. Such a primacy relates to the link between morality and the perception of threat. Indeed, moral information is key to establishing whether the group members have beneficial or harmful intentions and whether they pose a threat to the individual and the group’s life. The chapter also reviews work showing that morality is key in shaping the group self-concept and self-enchantment. We conclude by outlining a trajectory for future research.
