Values and intergroup perceptions of East Germans and West Germans in 1998

The studies reported here focus on similarities and dissimilarities between the terminal value hierarchies (Rokrach, 1973) ascribed to different group s (Schwartz & Struch, 1990). In Study 1, n = 65 East Germans and fi = 110 W est Germans mutually assess the respective ingroup and outgroup. In this in tra-German comparison the West Germans, with a mean intraindividual correla tion of rho = 0.609, perceive a significantly greater East-West similarity between the group-related value hierarchies than the East Germans, with a m ean rho = 0.400. Study 2 gives East German subjects either a Swiss (n = 58) or Polish (n = 59) frame of reference in the comparison between the catego ries German and East German. Whereas the Swiss frame of reference should ar ouse a need for uniqueness, the Polish frame of reference should arouse a n eed for similarity. In accordance with expectations, the Swiss frame of ref erence significantly reduces the correlative similarity between German and East German from a mean rho = 0,703 in a control group (n = 59) to a mean r ho = 0.518 in the experimental group. Contrary to expectations, the Polish frame of reference does not lead to an increase in perceived similarity (me an rho = 0.712).