Citation

Shayegh J, Drury J, Stevenson C. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 2016; 56(1): 181-196.

Affiliation

Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Wiley Blackwell)

DOI

10.1111/bjso.12175

PMID

27859404

Abstract

Recent research suggests that sound appraisal can be moderated by social identity. We validate this finding, and also extend it, by examining the extent to which sound can also be understood as instrumental in intergroup relations. We interviewed nine members of a Catholic enclave in predominantly Protestant East Belfast about their experiences of an outgroup (Orange Order) parade, where intrusive sound was a feature. Participants reported experiencing the sounds as a manifestation of the Orange Order identity and said that it made them feel threatened and anxious because they felt it was targeted at them by the outgroup (e.g., through aggressive volume increases). There was also evidence that the sounds produced community disempowerment, which interviewees explicitly linked to the invasiveness of the music. Some interviewees described organizing to collectively 'drown out' the bands' sounds, an activity which appeared to be uplifting. These findings develop the elaborated social identity model of empowerment, by showing that intergroup struggle and collective self-objectification can operate through sound as well as through physical actions.

© 2016 The British Psychological Society.

Language: en