IN-GROUP IDENTIFICATION, SOCIAL-DOMINANCE ORIENTATION, AND DIFFERENTIAL INTERGROUP SOCIAL ALLOCATION

Three varieties of differential intergroup social allocation were exam ined in a sample of American students as a function of degree of in-gr oup legitimacy, self-esteem, sex, and social dominance orientation wit hin a standard minimal-groups experimental paradigm. The results are c onsistent with both social identity theory and much previous research in this area: The greater the in-group identification, the greater the allocation of social value in favor of the in-group. The results are also consistent with the expectations of social dominance theory and s how that, even after the effects of gender, self-esteem, and in-group identification were considered, the greater the social dominance orien tation, the greater the allocation of social value in favor of the in- group. For two of the three indexes of social value, there was a stati stically significant interaction between in-group identification and s ocial dominance orientation. Subjects showing strong acceptance of the ir in-group classification and who had relatively high levels of socia l dominance orientation displayed greater in-group bias.