ICPS

2023 International Convention of Psychological Science · 2023

Affective Prediction Errors in Intergroup Aggression

Brussels, Belgium · March 2023

poster · Social Psychology

  • Marius Vollberg
    University of Geneva
  • Marius Vollberg
    Swiss Center for Affective Science
  • Marius Vollberg
    Harvard University
  • Mina Cikara
    Harvard University

Abstract

How do people learn to overcome harm aversion in order to aggress? Models of learning emphasize reward prediction errors—deviations from expected reward—but aggression may be fueled also by affective prediction errors—deviations from expected feelings. Three pre-registered studies (N=2764) document links between affective prediction errors and intergroup aggression.

Aggression