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We tested the hypothesis that discriminatory behaviors against religious or ethnic minorities are largely governed by culturally specific intergroup norms that are tied to a given social context. In Study 1 (N = 733), we compared participants from five countries and identified "new secularism" as the culture-specific norm predominant in the target country, France. In Study 2 (N = 296) and Study 3 (N = 135) conducted in France between November 2014 and January 2016, we assessed the effects of several distinct normative contexts on discriminatory behavior under high or low time pressure, and examined for the first time, the effect of a deadly terrorist attack on anti-Muslim discrimination. As predicted based on Study 1, the experimentally induced new secularism ("nouvelle laïcité" in French) normative context had a major effect on discrimination on its own, and in interaction with the terrorist attack, whereas no effect was found for the three normative contexts (assimilation, multiculturalism, and colorblindness) that have been the focus of research in social psychology over the last 40 years. These results support the claim that intergroup behaviors are highly sensitive to variations in the social context and that culture-specific intergroup norm play a causal role in the emergence of discrimination. The implications of the findings for the scientific value of exact versus conceptual replications in social psychology are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the emotional reactions and behavioral tendencies of people when they are told that their action deviates from current social norms. Of particular interest is the extent to which these reactions differ depending on the social controller's group membership. First- and second-generation North African immigrants in France (i.e., Maghrebians) were asked to imagine a situation in which they produced a counter-normative act and received disapproval from another Maghrebians immigrant or a member of the host community. They appraised the legitimacy of social control and the perception of being discriminated by this act of social control and rated their emotional and behavioral reaction to social control. First-generation immigrants reported less anger, more moral emotions, and a greater desire to repair their transgression when the social controller was presented as a member of the host society rather than a Maghrebian social controller. The results were reversed for second-generation immigrants. This asymmetry between first- and second-generation immigrants was mainly due to a mediating effect of the perceived legitimacy of social control, whereas perceived discrimination was not a significant mediator. This research demonstrates that the perceived legitimacy of social control based on the ethnic group membership of the social controller has profound effects on emotions and behaviors intended by the deviant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]