Overview
This lecture explores the psychological principles and research underlying ingroup favoritism, its causes, outcomes, and the roles of personality and culture in shaping group-based preferences and prejudice.
Causes and Nature of Ingroup Favoritism
- Ingroup favoritism is the tendency to prefer and treat one's own group more positively than outgroups.
- It is rooted in evolutionary history where distinguishing "us" from "them" increased safety and reduced disease risk.
- Social categorization, self-concern, and the desire for positive social identity are primary drivers.
- Even trivial or arbitrary group assignments lead to ingroup favoritism, as shown in Tajfel's minimal group experiments.
Outcomes and Manifestations of Ingroup Favoritism
- Ingroup favoritism emerges early in childhood and influences behavior and trait ratings.
- Positive behaviors of ingroup members are seen as group characteristics, while negative ones are attributed to individuals.
- The group-serving bias is the tendency to attribute positive actions to ingroup traits and negative actions to outgroup traits.
- Ingroup favoritism leads to collective self-esteem, contributes to identity, and surfaces especially when the ingroup feels threatened.
When Ingroup Favoritism Declines or Reverses
- Ingroup favoritism is less likely when the ingroup's status is clearly inferior on important dimensions.
- Members may show outgroup favoritism or criticize ingroup members who threaten the group's image (the "black sheep effect").
Personality and Cultural Influences
- Those with high collective self-esteem express stronger ingroup favoritism.
- Authoritarianism (preference for simplicity, tradition) and social dominance orientation (SDO; acceptance of group inequality) predict higher ingroup favoritism and prejudice.
- Those valuing fairness and controlling personal prejudice show less ingroup favoritism.
- Cultures vary: collectivistic cultures (like China) exhibit greater group-based stereotyping than individualistic ones (like the U.S.).
Key Terms & Definitions
- Ingroup Favoritism — Responding more positively to members of one's own group than to outgroup members.
- Group-Serving Bias — Attributing positive behaviors to ingroup traits and negative ones to outgroup traits.
- Social Identity — The positive self-esteem derived from group memberships.
- Black Sheep Effect — Strong devaluation of ingroup members who threaten the group's positive identity.
- Authoritarianism — Personality trait favoring simplicity, tradition, and conventional values.
- Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) — Personality trait that favors and accepts group-based inequality.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Complete one of Harvard's Implicit Association Tests and write a brief reflection.
- Describe a personal experience involving group identity and the black sheep effect, explaining the outcome.