Ingroup Identification, Outgroup Infrahumanization, and Intention to Mobilize in Land Use Conflicts

Based on the application of a social psychology intergroup perspective to the analysis of people-place relationships, we conducted an experimental study in the context of a land use conflict revolving around the construction of a bridge over the Messina Channel (Italy). We aimed to analyze the relations between the salience of the identification with the ingroup defined by being pro- versus antibridge, outgroup infrahumanization, and the intention to mobilize in the conflict. In two community samples, from Reggio Calabria, where the structure should be placed (n = 107), and from Sciacca, which is more than 200 kilometers away from it (n = 100), the salience of ingroup identification influenced the intention to mobilize via the partial mediation of outgroup infrahumanization. The attitude toward the bridge and the distance from it did not moderate the paths that we have analyzed. Strengths, limitations, and implications for environmental psychology research are discussed.