intergroup relations
Definition
Intergroup relations refers to the psychological dynamics and social interactions between distinct groups competing for public support, resources, or claims of belonging within shared spaces. These relations are shaped by mechanisms including perceived violations of solidarity expectations, differential claims to territorial and epistemic ownership, and strategic deployment of collective action tactics that may produce counterintuitive public responses. The field examines how members of competing groups—whether social movements and counter-movements, marginalized groups expecting mutual solidarity, or national majorities and immigrant minorities—negotiate legitimacy, rights, and responsibility through confrontation, betrayal, and competing narratives about collective identity and belonging.
Sources: Selvanathan et al. (2026), Shackleford et al. (2026), Szebeni et al. (2025)
Related Terms
Applications
Intergroup Relations and Collective Action Tactics
The strategic choices made by groups engaged in intergroup conflict significantly shape public perception and support for competing claims. Counter-protests disrupting social change movements can produce counterintuitive public responses.
Sources: Selvanathan et al. (2026)
Intergroup Relations and Solidarity Expectations
Members of marginalized groups develop expectations for cross-group solidarity and cooperation. When these expectations are violated, the resulting sense of betrayal reduces trust and cooperation, with implications for resistance to broader social challenges.
Sources: Shackleford et al. (2026)
Intergroup Relations and Ownership Claims
Groups competing for belonging and recognition within a nation construct both territorial ownership claims and epistemic ownership claims. These distinct dimensions of collective psychological ownership serve different functions for majority groups and immigrant minorities in negotiating claims to national belonging.
Sources: Szebeni et al. (2025)
