ABILITY AND OUTCOME EVALUATIONS AS A FUNCTION OF PERSONAL AND COLLECTIVE (DIS)ADVANTAGE - A GROUP ESCAPE FROM INDIVIDUAL BIAS

Just as reactions to resentment are related to whether people feel dis advantaged as single actors or as group representatives, viewing onese lf as an individual actor or a group representative can influence eval uations of personal ability and outcomes in inequitable situations. An experimental study investigated the influence of individual versus gr oup identity salience on evaluations of task ability and the attractiv eness of rewards based on performance. It was predicted that when indi vidual identity was made salient, participants' evaluations would refl ect their likely personal outcomes in such a way as to rationalize the ir personal (dis)advantage. In contrast, it was predicted that the sal ience of group identity would release participants from this tendency to justify these disparities in personal terms. The results support th is hypothesis and suggest the importance of group identity in protecti ng against the biased individual rationalization of personal outcomes, especially under conditions of collective disadvantage.