The importance of being we: human nature and intergroup relations.
The author discusses the nature of in-group bias and the social motives that underlie ethnocentric attachment to one's own membership groups. Two common assumptions about in-group bias are challenged: that in-group positivity necessitates out-group derogation and that in-group bias is motivated by self-enhancement. A review of relevant theory and research on intergroup relations provides evidence for 3 alternative principles: (a) in-group attachment and positivity are primary and independent of out-groups, (b) security motives (belonging and distinctiveness) underlie universal in-group favoritism, and (c) attitudes toward out-groups vary as a function of intergroup relationships and associated threats to belonging and distinctiveness
Brewer
Marilynn B
MB
Department of Psychology, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA. brewer.64@osu.edu
D001363:Awards and Prizes; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D040821:Human Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D011287:Prejudice; D011584:Psychology / Q000266:history*; D012919:Social Behavior; D012933:Social Identification; D014481:United States