The link between identification and in‐group favouritism: Effects of threat to social identity and trust‐related emotions

Abstract

The relation between identification and in‐group favouritism was analysed across two studies, in which the relevance of three intervening factors was demonstrated: (a) the moderating role of social identity threat, (b) the mediating role of trust‐related emotions experienced towards in‐group and out‐group members, and (c) the importance of the distinction between in‐group and out‐group evaluations. When the in‐group was not threatened, the link between identification and in‐group bias was unreliable. The effect of in‐group identification on in‐group bias was stronger when either the value or the distinctiveness of the in‐group were threatened. A value threat strengthened the influence of identification on in‐group evaluation and, via out‐group distrust, on out‐group derogation. Under a distinctiveness threat, identification affected out‐group evaluation and intergroup differentiation. These results demonstrate that the relation between identification and in‐group favouritism is reliable only in a clear intergroup context. Moreover, they show that the role and the strength of in‐group and out‐group trust are altered by the type of social identity threat introduced. Finally, they clarify that in‐group love and out‐group hate phenomena are not zero‐sum, and that their presence may be simultaneous when the value of the in‐group is threatened by out‐group members.