From “Love Your Neighbor: How Psychology Can Enliven Faith and Transform Community” by Katherine M. Douglass and Brittany M. Tausen
When a resource is limited (or there is a belief that there is not enough for everyone), animosity toward out-group members increases. Recognizing our tendency to deepen ties to in-groups and cast out-groups in a negative light during these times can help us ensure our sense of fear does not drown out our ability to love others well. How we think about others and the stereotypes we associate with them should be unfazed by what is and what is not available to us. Psychological research warns us, however, that this is not the case. If we aren’t careful, we can begin to villainize members of our out-groups. These negative thought patterns can eventually facilitate the just-world phenomenon, or the problematic mental justification that other people actually “deserve” to be less well off than we are or have fewer opportunities or rights than we do.