Group Based Resiliency: Contrasting the Negative Effects of Threat to the Ingroup

The research focused on Group Based Resiliency (GBR), the perception of ingroup’s ability to positively deal with contextual threats. Based on the uncertainty reduction theory, we advanced that GBR contributes to prevent negative effects of threats to the ingroup. We successfully tested a SEM in which when the ingroup is presented as resilient a contextual threat elicits a stronger perception of ingroup entitativity, which in turn produces a stronger ingroup identification. This identification increases life-satisfaction also in terms of better perspectives for the future. When the ingroup was presented as not resilient, perceived threat did not lead to such a positive outcome. Implications for threat management are discussed.