Ingroup favoritism : a test of Social Identity Theory, Complexity Extremity Effect, and Attitude Polarization Model

Abstract

Ingroup favoritism was examined by Social Identity Theory (i.e., group membership), Complexity Extremity Effect (i.e., orthogonal knowledge), and Attitude Polarization Model (i.e., correlated knowledge) in two experiments. Both experiments examined participants' ratings of ingroup, relevant negative outgroup, or relatively neutral outgroup targets. Results indicate no support for Complexity Extremity Effect. There is some evidence for Social Identity Theory and Attitude Polarization Model. That is, ingroup favoritism is determined by both targets and participants knowledge of or familiarity with ingroup targets. In addition to participants' liking of relevant negative outgroup targets, participants' knowledge of or familiarity with the group independently predicted ingroup favoritism. The present findings were discussed in light of group membership versus group identity and cognitive complexity of the ingroup and outgroups.