en
Scientific article
Open access
English

Playing to the gallery: Investigating the normative explanation of ingroup favoritism by testing the impact of imagined audience

Published inSelf and Identity
Publication date2021
Abstract

The present research examined the role of social norms as a determining source of ingroup favoritism in minimal groups. Across three studies (total N = 814), results showed that ingroup favoritism was reduced when participants imagined the reaction of an external (and egalitarian) entity, as compared to a control condition or a condition in which they were explicitly asked to imagine the reaction of ingroup members. In line with the prediction that the desire to appear as a good group member drives conformity to the ingroup norm, the findings also revealed that favoring the ingroup resulted in higher self-esteem (Study 2). This was however limited to situations where the ingroup norm was inferred or induced to be pro-discriminatory, but not when it was antidiscriminatory (Study 3). The proposed explanation is discussed in the light of dominant explanations of ingroup favoritism.

Keywords
  • Ingroup favoritism
  • Norms
  • Imagined audience
  • Minimal groups
  • Self-esteem
Citation (ISO format)
IACOVIELLO, Vincenzo, SPEARS, Russell. Playing to the gallery: Investigating the normative explanation of ingroup favoritism by testing the impact of imagined audience. In: Self and Identity, 2021. doi: 10.1080/15298868.2021.1933582
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
ISSN of the journal1529-8868
110views
44downloads

Technical informations

Creation09/17/2021 3:38:00 PM
First validation09/17/2021 3:38:00 PM
Update time03/16/2023 1:23:16 AM
Status update03/16/2023 1:23:15 AM
Last indexation01/17/2024 2:21:07 PM
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack