INGROUP BIAS AND DIMENSIONAL RELEVANCE

According to social identity theory, ingroup bias follows from the joi nt process of social categorization and a need for positive social ide ntity. In two experiments, participants were divided into small groups and accomplished a collective task. Then, they judged the ingroup pro duct and an outgroup product on a set of sixteen dimensions. Results d emonstrated that the ingroup bias varied as a function of the dimensio nal relevance, i.e. the extent to which the dimensions were related to the task. This not only meant that individuals used specific dimensio ns to establish or to preserve a positive social identity, it also sho wed that they tried to anchor ingroup superiority in salient norms and values. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the impact of the dimensional relevance depended on intergroup antagonism.