Towards tolerance: Representations of superordinate categories and perceived ingroup prototypicality

According to Mummendey and Wenzel (1999), group members tend to perceive their ingroup, relative to an outgroup, as more prototypical of the superordinate category encompassing both groups. Hence, they tend to regard the outgroup as deviating from the norms of the superordinate category. Factors that inhibit perception of relative ingroup prototypicality should thus promote intergroup tolerance. In two experiments, the representation of the superordinate category was manipulated. Both an undefinable prototype (Experiment 1; N=63) and a complex representation (Experiment 2; N=88) led to a decrease in relative ingroup prototypicality. Dual identification with the ingroup and the superordinate category increased relative ingroup prototypicality, which was negatively correlated with positive attitudes towards the outgroup. The findings supported Mummendey and Wenzel’s assumptions about the conditions that lead to intergroup tolerance.     

Social categorization and group‐motivated interindividual–intergroup discontinuity

Research on the interindividual–intergroup discontinuity effect has demonstrated that intergroup relations are often less cooperative than interindividual relations. The aim of the present paper is to test whether mere social categorization suffices to create a group‐motivated discontinuity effect. In two experiments, we manipulated actors' personal versus social identity salience, whereas controlling for actors' outcome independence (1 : 1) versus interdependence (3 : 3). Making actors' social identity salient using a minimal group treatment was sufficient to increase defection in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game, irrespective of whether this was in an interindividual or intergroup interaction (Experiment 1). Using a Mutual Fate Control matrix in Experiment 2, results indicate that this effect can be attributed to actors' increased motivation to maximize relative differences to outgroup opponents under social identity salience. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Status differenttals and intergroup behaviour

This study investigated the independent effects of status differential on intergroup behaviour. Using a variant of the minimal group paradigm (Tueland Turner, 1979), subjects were categorized into groups of differing status (high, equal, low) with two levels of category salience (high, low). Using Tajfel's matrices subjects rated the creativity of products ostensibly produced by ingroup and outgroup members. Own group identification, intergroup perceptions and self-reported strategies on the matrices constituted the other dependent measures. Results indicated a main effect for group status but none for salience. Equal status groups discriminated against each other thus replicating the minimal intergroup discrimination effect. High and equal status group members were more discriminatory against outgroups and more positive about their own group membership than were low status group members. In contrast, low status group members engaged in significant amounts of outgroup favouritism. Results also showed that social categorization per se was sufficient to elicit more ingroup than outgroup liking amongst all group members regardless of status differentials between groups. Overall, the results illustrate important aspects of the interplay between group status, social identity, prejudice and discrimination.     

Social categorization and power differentials in group relations

This study investigated the independent effects of power differentials on intergroup behaviour. Using a variant of Tajfel's minimal group paradigm (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), subjects were arbitrarily categorized into groups of differing power (0-100 per cent) at two levels of salience. Subjects were asked to distribute resources to ingroup and outgroup others using Tajfel's matrices. Intergroup perceptions, group identifications and self-reported strategies constituted our other dependent measures. Minimal group results, replicated in equal power conditions, were systematically eliminated in unequal power conditions on the matrix measures but not on the intergroup perception measures. Dominant group members were more discriminatory, felt more comfortable and satisfied than subordinate group members. Though consistent with Social Identity Theory (Tajfel and Turner, 1979), results suggest we may also have identified boundary conditions for minimal group discrimination. Without power, social categorization does not lead to effective discrimination.     

Imagining intergroup contact promotes projection to outgroups

Three studies investigated the conditions under which imagining intergroup contact would lead to greater projection of positive traits to outgroups. In Experiment 1 (Mexico) imagined contact predicted greater self-outgroup positive trait overlap for majority but not minority ethnic groups. In Experiment 2 (UK) imagined contact led to greater projection of positive traits to the outgroup for lower compared to higher identifiers. In Experiment 3 (UK) imagined contact led to greater projection of positive traits to the outgroup when the self was salient compared to when the outgroup was salient. These findings suggest that the social cognitive consequences of imagined contact are most favorable for intergroup relations when the personal self, but not social self, is salient. We discuss the implications of these findings for a developing model of imagined contact effects.     

Explaining Gender‐Based Language Use: Effects of Gender Identity Salience on References to Emotion and Tentative Language in Intra‐ and Intergroup Contexts

An experiment tested hypotheses derived from self‐categorization theory’s explanation for gender‐based language use. Under high or low conditions of gender salience, men and women sent e‐mail to an ostensible male or female recipient yielding either an intra‐ or an intergroup setting. Gender salience was manipulated so that the stereotypically feminine characteristic of supportiveness was the sole attribute that defined the prototype of intergender relations. Messages were examined for references to emotion and tentative language. Women referenced emotion significantly more than men in the high gender salience condition, but this gender difference was reduced when salience was low. Moreover, women with high gender salience in an intergroup context referenced emotion more than women with high salience in an intragroup setting or men with high salience in either an intra‐ or an intergroup context. Tentative language use, however, was similar across all conditions as anticipated.     

Social Identity Theory and the Crisis of Confidence in Social Psychology: A Commentary, and Some Research on Uncertainty Reduction

The role played by social identity theory in responding to the crisis of confidence in social psychology is described. It is a theory that addresses group processes and intergroup relations by separating and articulating different levels of explanation. Social categorization depersonalizes perception, cognition, affect and conduct in terms of relevant ingroup or outgroup prototypes, and social categorization of self, in conjunction with beliefs about the nature of intergroup relations, is responsible for specific manifestations of group behavior. Social identity theory continues to develop. In this article we focus on the motivational role of subjective uncertainty reduction in social identification – a model is outlined (Hogg & Mullin, 1999), and data from a 2 × 2 minimal group experiment in which categorization and uncertainty were orthogonally manipulated ( N = 151) are presented. As predicted, categorization produced discrimination, elevated identification, and reduced uncertainty, but only, or more markedly, under conditions where subjective uncertainty was relatively high.     

Social Categorization in Intergroup Contexts: Three Kinds of Self‐Categorization

In reviewing self‐categorization theory and the literature upon which it is based, we conclude that individuals' attempts to form social categories could lead to three kinds of self‐categorization. We label them intergroup categorization, ingroup categorization, and outgroup categorization. We review literature supporting these three types and argue that they can help to explain and organize the existing evidence. Moreover, we conclude that distinguishing these three kinds of self‐categorization lead to novel predictions regarding social identity, social cognition, and groups. We offer some of those predictions by discussing their potential causes (building from optimal distinctiveness and security seeking literatures) and implications (on topics including prototype complexity, self‐stereotyping, stereotype formation, intergroup behavior, dual identity, conformity, and the psychological implications of perceiving uncategorized collections of people). This paper offers a platform from which to build theoretical and empirical advances in social identity, social cognition, and intergroup relations.     

Retributive justice and social categorizations: the perceived fairness of punishment depends on intergroup status

In the current research, the authors investigate the influence of intergroup status and social categorizations on retributive justice judgments, that is, the extent to which observers perceive punishment as fair. Building on social identity theory and the model of subjective group dynamics, it is predicted that when the ingroup has higher status than the outgroup, people are relatively less concerned about punishment of an outgroup offender than when the ingroup has lower status than the outgroup. Two experiments revealed that participants are more punitive towards an ingroup than an outgroup offender when ingroup status is high but not when ingroup status is low. Furthermore, in correspondence with our line of reasoning, this finding emerged because participants were less punitive towards outgroup offenders when ingroup status is high than when ingroup status was low. It is concluded that the perceived fairness of punishment depends on the offender's social categorization and intergroup status. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Positive and extensive intergroup contact in the past buffers against the disproportionate impact of negative contact in the present

Negative (vs positive) intergroup contact may have a disproportionately large impact on intergroup relations because of valence‐salience effects, whereby negative contact causes higher category salience (Paolini, Harwood, & Rubin, 2010). One correlational and three experimental studies in three conflict areas (Northern Ireland, Arizona's border area, and Cyprus; Ns = 405, 83, 76, and 91) tested the moderation of these valence‐salience effects by individuals' histories of outgroup contact. Consistent with a perceived fit principle valence‐salience effects of face‐to‐face, television‐mediated, and imagined contact held among individuals with negative or limited histories of outgroup contact; these effects were significantly reduced or nonsignificant among individuals with positive or extensive past outgroup contact. These moderation effects suggest that positive and diverse intergroup contact in the past buffers against the harmful effects of negative contact experiences in the present, thus limiting the potential for negative spiralling of intergroup relations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Treatment of Relevant and Irrelevant Outgroups in Minimal Group Situations With Crossed Categorizations

Abstract

Among a sample of Belgian high school boys, the author attempted to determine on the basis of social identity theory (H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner, 1979) whether an outgroup's relevancy in intergroup comparisons influences the amount of intergroup discrimination. Relevancy was manipulated by the use of 2 trivial categorization dimensions that were orthogonally crossed. In 1 of the crossed categorization conditions, this procedure resulted in the formation of 4 groups, whereas in the 2nd condition, only 2 of these groups were effectively formed. Nevertheless, the participants in both conditions were instructed to evaluate 4 groups–either 4 actual groups (1st condition) or 2 actual and 2 hypothetical groups (2nd condition). In both conditions, the intergroup evaluations exhibited the same pattern–that is, they did not differentiate their ingroups from the partly overlapping groups but were clearly biased against the double outgroup.     

Interpreting references to group membership in context: feelings about intergroup contact depending on who says what to whom

Contact research often manipulates the salience of group membership, with little consideration of how such manipulations affect feelings toward intergroup contact, and how contextual features may moderate its effects. We propose that feelings toward intergroup contact may not depend solely on the degree to which group membership appears to be salient, but on how references to group membership are interpreted in the intergroup context. Two experimental studies examined how references to group membership may be interpreted differently depending on their source (ingroup or outgroup) and the recipient (minority or majority), and how these interpretations predict feelings toward cross‐group interactions. In Study 1, references to group membership were interpreted more negatively from an outgroup source among majority participants, yet a reverse pattern was observed for minority participants. Similar effects were obtained in Study 2, yet participants tended to respond negatively when an outgroup member referred specifically to their group. Moreover, feelings about cross‐group interactions were predicted only (Study 1) and strongly (Study 2) by the degree to which outgroup members' references were interpreted negatively, beyond what was predicted by participants' general awareness of group membership. Implications of these findings for future research on contact and salience are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Conversation as a resource for influence: evidence for prototypical arguments and social identification processes

Members of eight single‐sex groups each consisting of three pro‐ and three anti‐capital punishment adherents discussed their views for 30 minutes, and afterwards individually rated ingroup and outgroup members on social influence ranking, prototypicality, and social attractiveness. From the intragroup hypothesis that speaking turns are a resource for influence (Ng & Bradac, 1993), we predicted and found that turns were correlated strongly with influence in the intergroup context. Further, using self‐categorization theory (SCT; Turner, 1985), we hypothesized that social identity processes would interact with turns, especially with turns obtained through interruptions. Interruptions encoded in prototypical utterances were more strongly correlated with social influence and prototypicality, but not social attraction, than interruptions encoded in non‐prototypical utterances. Further, interruption attempts enacted in prototypical utterances were found to be more likely to be successful than unsuccessful in obtaining turns, while those enacted in non‐prototypical utterances were more likely to be unsuccessful than successful. Additionally, interruption turns were longer when enacted in prototypical over non‐prototypical utterances. Overall, the findings suggest that the power/influence of language is interactively organized and constructed around salient self‐categorizations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The treatment of relevant and irrelevant outgroups in minimal group situations with crossed categorizations

Among a sample of Belgian high school boys, the author attempted to determine on the basis of social identity theory (H. Tajfel & J. C. Turner, 1979) whether an outgroup's relevancy in intergroup comparisons influences the amount of intergroup discrimination. Relevancy was manipulated by the use of 2 trivial categorization dimensions that were orthogonally crossed. In 1 of the crossed categorization conditions, this procedure resulted in the formation of 4 groups, whereas in the 2nd condition, only 2 of these groups were effectively formed. Nevertheless, the participants in both conditions were instructed to evaluate 4 groups--either 4 actual groups (1st condition) or 2 actual and 2 hypothetical groups (2nd condition). In both conditions, the intergroup evaluations exhibited the same pattern--that is, they did not differentiate their ingroups from the partly overlapping groups but were clearly biased against the double outgroup.     

The crossed-categorization hypothesis: Evidence of reductions in the strength of categorization, but not intergroup bias

Deschamps and Doise’s (1978) classic crossed categorization hypothesis states that both category differentiation and intergroup bias should be reduced in crossed conditions (e.g., race × gender groups comprised of Asian females, Asian males, White females, and White males) compared to simple conditions, where people vary on just one social category. Although there has been extensive work testing this hypothesis, we suggest that conclusions from this work are limited because (1) almost none of it has examined category differentiation outcomes, (2) several studies that have examined intergroup bias effects have not directly tested the classic hypothesis, and (3) no studies have examined both categorization and bias outcomes simultaneously. We conducted two experiments to overcome these limitations. In Experiment 1, target race (Asian or White) and gender were manipulated. In Experiment 2, target relationship status (single or significant other) and hometown size (big town or little town) were manipulated. In both experiments, categorization was weaker in crossed than simple conditions, but there was no evidence of reduced intergroup bias in crossed contexts.     

The nature and structure of infant form categories

The nature of form categories in 3 to 4-month infants was studied using the visual preference for novelty in the familiarization-novelty paradigm. Novelty preference indicates habituation to and recognition of the familiar. In a series of experiments employing three form categories composed of dot patterns, generalized habituation to new category members was used to assess categorization behavior in the recognition of visual forms. At 3 to 4 months of age, infants did not initially show any systematic preferences for “good” or symmetrical examples of a category relative to “distorted” examples (Experiment 1) and this was true for all three form categories used (i.e., square, triangle, and diamond). Evidence for categorization was seen in the recognition performance of 3- to 4-month infants (Experiment 2). Infants showed generalized habituation to the previously unseen category prototypes following exposure to six exemplars within each of the three form categories. Given evidence that infants could discriminate between the prototype and other category members (Experiment 3), “inability to discriminate” was ruled out as an explanation for this form categorization or generalized habituation effect. Four subsequent experiments were conducted to determine whether infants exhibit a prototypicality structure for their remembered categories and whether certain conditions which have been shown to enhance prototypicality effects with adults have similar effects with infants. No evidence of a prototypicality structure was found for the form categories of infants when the number of exemplars during familiarization was limited to 6 and the test for form recognition followed immediately (Experiment 4). However, a prototypicality structure for the remembered form categories was found when a 3-min delay was introduced between familiarization and tests for form recognition (Experiment 5), when 12 exemplars were presented during familiarization (Experiment 7), or when the prototype was included as one of the six exemplars during the familiarization period (Experiment 6).     

The prioritization of perceptual processing in categorization

In three experiments, the effects of selective attention on perceptual processes in a complex multidimensional object categorization task were investigated. In each experiment, participants completed a perceptual-matching task to gain estimates of the perceptual salience of each stimulus dimension, then a categorization task using the same stimuli. In Experiments 1 and 2, the perceptual processing of stimulus dimensions was faster when dimensions were more diagnostic of category membership, regardless of their perceptual salience. Experiment 3 demonstrated that this prioritization of perceptual processing was evident even when stimuli were presented in unpredictable locations during categorization, indicating that the physical characteristics of the stimulus guide selective attention to diagnostic stimulus dimensions.     

Perceived legitimacy of intergroup status differences: its prediction by relative ingroup prototypicality

Research demonstrates that the perceived legitimacy of intergroup status differences has profound effects on intergroup attitudes, emotions and behavior. However, there has only been little intergroup research that predicts the perception of legitimacy. We hypothesize that the perception of legitimate or illegitime status relations depends upon the perceived relative prototypicality of the ingroup for the inclusive category. Since the prototype of the inclusive category provides a normative comparison standard for subgroup evaluation, similarity to this standard (i.e. prototypicality) should be positively evaluated and used to justify high status. A first study in a natural intergroup context (N = 67) offered correlational data in support of the predicted relationship. The second study (N = 60), using Germans as ingroup with Poles as outgroup and Europe as inclusive category, demonstrated that the link between prototypicality and legitimacy is contingent upon the valence of the inclusive category. In order to elucidate the causal direction, the third study manipulated relative prototypicality in an artificial intergroup context (N = 94) and introduced status as a moderator variable. Overall, we found strong support for the hypothesis that legitimacy is related to prototypicality and that this relation is moderated by ingroup status and valence of the inclusive category. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social categorization and intergroup behaviour

The aim of the studies was to assess the effefcs of social categorization on intergroup behaviour when, in the intergroup situation, neither calculations of individual interest nor previously existing attitudes of hostility could have been said to have determined discriminative behaviour against an outgroup. These conditions were satisfied in the experimental design. In the first series of experiments, it was found that the subjects favoured their own group in the distribution of real rewards and penalities in a situation in which nothing but the variable of fairly irrelevant classification distinguished between the ingroup and the outgroup. In the second series of experiments it was found that: 1) maximum joint profit independent of group membership did not affect significantly the manner in which the subjects divided real pecuniary rewards; 2) maximum profit for own group did affect the distribution of rewards; 3) the clearest effect on the distribution of rewards was due to the subjects' attempt to achieve a maximum difference between the ingroup and the outgroup even at the price of sacrificing other ‘objective’ advantages. The design and the results of the study are theoretically discussed within the framework of social norms and expectations and particularly in relation to a ‘generic’ norm of outgroup behaviour prevalent in some societies.