International Journal of Intercultural Relations 45 (2015) 1–10 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Intercultural Relations journal h om epa ge: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijintrel Immigrants’ generational status affects emotional reactions to informal social control : The role of perceived legitimacy of the source of control Marlène Oppin a , Armelle Nugier a,* , Peggy Chekroun b , Serge Guimond a a Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (CNRS-UMR 6024), Clermont Université et Université Blaise Pascal, France b Département de Psychologie et Laboratoire Parisien de Psychologie Sociale (EA4386), Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 29 March 2013 Received in revised form 8 September 2014 Accepted 21 December 2014 Keywords: Social control Group membership Legitimacy Emotions Discrimination a b s t r a c t 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 member- ship. 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 dis- criminated 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. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In France, as in many other countries, the intake and settlement of migrants have been relatively important issues in recent years. With five million immigrants in 2008, representing 8% of the total population (INSEE, 2012), France is extremely diverse, and the likelihood of having an interaction with an individual of another ethnic identity is rather high. How well these interactions work out has become a central concern in many contemporary societies. Inter-group contact theory (see Pettigrew, Tropp, Wagner, & Christ, 2011) taught us that prejudice toward out-groups and inter-group harmony are highly determined by the quality of the contact experienced by individuals. It is thus crucial to understand the circumstances under which, in day-to-day life, intercultural contact can turn out positively (or at least not a major source of problematic behavior). * Corresponding author at: Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (LAPSCO-CNRS-UMR 6024), 34 av. Carnot, 63034 Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France. Tel.: +33 473 406 478. E-mail address: armelle.nugier@univ-bpclermont.fr (A. Nugier). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2014.12.008 0147-1767/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.