The Neuroscience of Intergroup Relations

This path-breaking book is the first collection to provide a scientific global overview on the social neuroscience of intergroup relations, and the neural mechanisms that drive processes such as prejudice, racism and dehumanisation.

Although intergroup behaviour has long been an important topic in psychology, attention to the underlying neural processes that influence it has often been neglected. If we truly want to understand the driving forces of social behaviours such as racism, bias and violence between groups, it is essential that we better understand the neuroscience behind these processes. Providing critical insights on these underpinnings, topics covered in the book include the neuroscience of ingroup bias, empathy, dehumanisation, competition, ideological bias and prejudice between groups. As well as explaining how genes and environment interact to create attitudes between groups and how this can lead to different cultures, later chapters also give practical solutions on how to reduce ingroup bias and support prosocial behaviour between groups through better neuroscientific understanding.

Featuring contributions from world-leading experts, this is fascinating reading for students and researchers in social psychology and neuroscience, and is ideal for anyone examining intergroup relations from a social neuroscientific perspective, or using social neuroscience methods for the first time.

Pascal Molenberghs is an Associate Professor and the Director of Academic Studies at the Institute for Social Neuroscience in Melbourne, Australia. His research focus is social neuroscience, aiming to understand our social brain. His research has been published in leading neuroscience journals and has also featured widely in the media.