The link between identification and in-group favouritism: effects of threat to social identity and trust-related emotions.
The relation between identification and in-group favouritism was analysed across two studies, in which the relevance of three intervening factors was demonstrated: (a) the moderating role of social identity threat, (b) the mediating role of trust-related emotions experienced towards in-group and out-group members, and (c) the importance of the distinction between in-group and out-group evaluations. When the in-group was not threatened, the link between identification and in-group bias was unreliable. The effect of in-group identification on in-group bias was stronger when either the value or the distinctiveness of the in-group were threatened. A value threat strengthened the influence of identification on in-group evaluation and, via out-group distrust, on out-group derogation. Under a distinctiveness threat, identification affected out-group evaluation and intergroup differentiation. These results demonstrate that the relation between identification and in-group favouritism is reliable only in a clear intergroup context. Moreover, they show that the role and the strength of in-group and out-group trust are altered by the type of social identity threat introduced. Finally, they clarify that in-group love and out-group hate phenomena are not zero-sum, and that their presence may be simultaneous when the value of the in-group is threatened by out-group members.
Voci
Alberto
A
Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, University of Padova, Italy. alberto.voci@unipd.it
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D012933:Social Identification; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035502:Trust