The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds

Objective Anger in crowds can be dangerous and lead to violence. Accurately assessing anger in crowds can be difficult, and people tend to overestimate the average intensity of a crowd’s anger relative to an individual’s anger (i.e. the crowd emotion amplification effect).Method Across three experim...

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Main Authors: Elizabeth Summerell, Liberty Shuttleworth, Carmen Lin, Thomas F. Denson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Australian Journal of Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00049530.2024.2426661
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author Elizabeth Summerell
Liberty Shuttleworth
Carmen Lin
Thomas F. Denson
author_facet Elizabeth Summerell
Liberty Shuttleworth
Carmen Lin
Thomas F. Denson
author_sort Elizabeth Summerell
collection DOAJ
description Objective Anger in crowds can be dangerous and lead to violence. Accurately assessing anger in crowds can be difficult, and people tend to overestimate the average intensity of a crowd’s anger relative to an individual’s anger (i.e. the crowd emotion amplification effect).Method Across three experiments, we investigated the emotion amplification effect in crowds (versus individuals) displaying angry facial expressions. We also investigated the influence of gender, race, and alcohol cues as influences on this effect.Results In two of the three experiments, we replicated the emotion amplification effect and found an interaction with race. Participants overestimated anger in White crowds more so than anger in Black crowds, but overestimated anger to a greater extent for Black individuals more than White individuals. There was also a main effect such that participants overestimated anger for men relative to women in both individuals and crowds and in both races.Conclusions These findings highlight the bias to overestimate anger in White crowds, men, and Black individuals. These findings may affect policies around policing and crowd control.
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spelling doaj-art-e23e36f485fb4d1581b35d551126adad2025-01-20T01:32:12ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAustralian Journal of Psychology0004-95301742-95362025-12-0177110.1080/00049530.2024.2426661The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowdsElizabeth Summerell0Liberty Shuttleworth1Carmen Lin2Thomas F. Denson3School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaSchool of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaObjective Anger in crowds can be dangerous and lead to violence. Accurately assessing anger in crowds can be difficult, and people tend to overestimate the average intensity of a crowd’s anger relative to an individual’s anger (i.e. the crowd emotion amplification effect).Method Across three experiments, we investigated the emotion amplification effect in crowds (versus individuals) displaying angry facial expressions. We also investigated the influence of gender, race, and alcohol cues as influences on this effect.Results In two of the three experiments, we replicated the emotion amplification effect and found an interaction with race. Participants overestimated anger in White crowds more so than anger in Black crowds, but overestimated anger to a greater extent for Black individuals more than White individuals. There was also a main effect such that participants overestimated anger for men relative to women in both individuals and crowds and in both races.Conclusions These findings highlight the bias to overestimate anger in White crowds, men, and Black individuals. These findings may affect policies around policing and crowd control.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00049530.2024.2426661Angeremotion recognitioncrowdsracealcohol
spellingShingle Elizabeth Summerell
Liberty Shuttleworth
Carmen Lin
Thomas F. Denson
The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
Australian Journal of Psychology
Anger
emotion recognition
crowds
race
alcohol
title The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
title_full The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
title_fullStr The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
title_full_unstemmed The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
title_short The effects of race, gender, and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
title_sort effects of race gender and alcohol cues on anger perception in crowds
topic Anger
emotion recognition
crowds
race
alcohol
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/00049530.2024.2426661
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