Cognitive and Affective Processes in Intergroup Perception: The Developing Interface

Abstract

This chapter discusses the evolving trends in psychology and their manifestations. During the period of cognitive preeminence, the study of affective factors—emotion, motivation, mood states, arousal, and the like—and their role in social psychological processes continued; however, quietly and without the prominence it had historically enjoyed. Research on these topics may have been a part of the ground, but it surely was not the figure on the social psychological landscape. However, there has been a resurgence of interest in affective processes, including increased study of their role in intergroup contexts. There are probably several reasons for this resurgence. The cognitively focused research of the past decade has, in many regard, transformed the way one thinks about the nature and the functioning of stereotypes. The renewed activity concerning affective processes promises to generate additional insights that the cognitive focus has overlooked. Thus, each of the developments, as a separate approach, is generating new excitement for the social psychology of intergroup relations.