The intragroup level: Moral character in group perception

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. • Morality drives the impressions that we form and the evaluations that we make of group members. • Morality is the most important quality for feeling good about one's ingroup. • Given that morality is a central part of the self- concept and ingroup image, people are very sensitive to moral threats and reproach. • Morality is key in group perception because it establishes whether ingroup and outgroup members are beneficial or harmful.