RESUMO
Due to their response at the COVID-19 frontline, migrant essential workers became moral exemplars likely to boost emotions such as gratitude or admiration. We examined the effect of moral exemplars on outgroup attitudes, beliefs about the outgroup, intentions and behavior toward the outgroup, as well as the role of self-transcendent emotions in this link. Participants of an online panel-based experimental study (N = 651) were randomly assigned to either watch a video clip with a story about migrant essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., the moral exemplars condition) or to watch a neutral video involving migrants (i.e., the control condition), and were invited to fill in a questionnaire and donate money to an association fighting for immigrants' rights. Compared to the control condition, participants in the moral exemplars condition manifested more positive outgroup attitudes, beliefs about the outgroup, and were more willing to help the outgroup, also via self-transcendent emotions. The exposure to the moral exemplars narrative was linked with more helping behavior (a donation to an NGO) only indirectly via self-transcendent emotions. Moral exemplars proved useful in promoting positive attitudes and prosociality toward immigrants. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)