When we were kings: The role of appraisals of African history in in-group engagement and intergroup relations

Abstract

The research in this thesis investigates the role of appraisals of African history in social identity processes and intergroup relations. Historical processes are an established theme in the field of social identity and intergroup relations, but our focus will be on post-colonial settings, specifically the African context. This is important for several reasons. First, Africa is a region that suffers from the adverse impact of problematic depictions or misrepresentations of its collective history which may hamper the positive self-definition and self-determination of Africans in dealing with contemporary problems facing Africa. Second, most of the empirical work that investigates historical processes in social psychology has been conducted mainly in WEIRD (Western Educated Industrialised Rich Democratic) contexts. Hence, an examination of historical processes and social identity-related approaches in non-WEIRD contexts is essential to move the field forward. Last, focussing on African identity and history allows investigation of how historical processes are relevant to progressive intergroup relations by challenging problematic appraisals of African history that were functional in the West for a long time (and may still be functional today) as they serve to legitimise status relations between Africa and the West and to justify colonialism. Altogether, this thesis investigates the role that historical representations of African identity play in social identity processes and intergroup relations by examining (1) Africans' appraisals of their collective history and how that may shape Africans' engagement with African identity; and (2) White British peoples’ appraisals of African history and how that may impact intergroup beliefs, emotions, and behaviours towards Africans. The overall contribution of the thesis is to investigate the relevance of how collective history is appraised in social identity processes and intergroup relations and cross-culturally examine these historical processes in a non-WEIRD, post-colonial context: Africa.