In-group bias is the preferential treatment people give to those whom they perceive to be members of their own groups.
Experiments in psychology have shown that group members will award one another higher pay-offs even when the "group" they share seems random and arbitrary, such as having the same birthday, having the same final digit in their U.S. Social Security Number, or even being assigned to the same flip of a coin.
Ingroup effects appear to be stronger, however, when the group is smaller relative to another high-power group.
This cognitive bias has been studied extensively by Henri Tajfel. It is considered a group-serving bias, as opposed to an out-group homogeneity bias.
See also
References
- Tajfel, H. (1970). Experiments in intergroup discrimination. Scientific American, 223, 96-102.
- Brewer, M. B. (1979). Ingroup bias in the minimal intergroup situations: A cognitive motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 307-324.
- Tajfel, H. (1982). Social identity and intergroup relations. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press
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