DEFINING DIMENSIONS OF DISTINCTIVENESS - GROUP VARIABILITY MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO DIFFERENTIATION

We tested the prediction, derived from an integration of social identi ty and self-categorization principles, that the relation between in-gr oup distinctiveness and positive differentiation is curvilinear. Moder ate distinctiveness is argued to provide the critical combination of i ntergroup difference (self-categorization theory) and intergroup simil arity (social identity theory) to elicit intergroup differentiation. I ntergroup distance (differences in group central tendencies) and group variability were manipulated orthogonally, resulting in different lev els of intergroup distinctiveness (low, intermediate, and high). In li ne with predictions, in-group bias and positive differentiation were g reatest, for both minimal and natural groups, when the combination of group variability and intergroup distance produced intermediate levels of group distinctiveness. The potential of this integrative model to account for disparate Findings is discussed.