When shared group membership signifies shared subjective experience: I-sharing and the minimal group paradigm

ABSTRACT

Ingroup favoritism is pervasive. It emerges even in the minimal group paradigm, where participants are assigned to novel groups based on seemingly insignificant characteristics. Yet many of the grouping schemes used in minimal group research may imply something significant: namely, that ingroup members will share in-the-moment subjective experience, or I-share. Two studies examine the role of inferred I-sharing in the minimal group paradigm. We found that (1) people inferred that they would I-share with ingroup members more than outgroup members; (2) inferred I-sharing increased ingroup favoritism; and (3) inferred I-sharing accounted for this ingroup favoritism. Moreover, expecting to I-share with the outgroup improved participants’ attitudes toward the outgroup. These results converge with other research suggesting that people favor ingroup members, in part, because they expect to I-share with them.

KEYWORDS:

• I-sharing
• minimal group paradigm
• prejudice reduction

Funding

National Institute of Mental Health grant R01MH067823-02, as well as National Science Foundation grant BCS 1148847, funded portions of this research.

Notes

^1. Open materials for this article can be accessed at the following link: https://osf.io/5kmx9/ (Long, 2016).

^2. Although no participants got this manipulation check wrong, two did not follow the instructions to write their preferred artist on their questionnaire packet. Removing them from the database did not affect the results, so we elected to retain their data.

^3. No participant guessed the hypothesis of the study, but 20 expressed some suspicion that the study was concerned with groups or similarity. Removing them from the database did not affect the results, so we elected to retain their data.

^4. We also observed a main effect of Diagnosticity, F (3, 192) = 13.84, p < .001.

^5. Our measure of assumed I-sharing included (a) assumed similarity in responses to inkblots and (b) assumed similarity on three items assessing shared views, common interests, and “getting” each other. When we examine these measures separately, we observe the same pattern of mediation.

^6. As for Study 1, we examined separately our measures of (a) assumed similarity in responses to inkblots and (b) assumed similarity on three items assessing shared views, common interests, and “getting” each other, and we observed the same pattern of mediation for each of these measures.

Additional information

Funding

National Institute of Mental Health grant R01MH067823-02, as well as National Science Foundation grant BCS 1148847, funded portions of this research.

Notes on contributors

Anson E. Long

Anson E. Long, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She studies the self in the context of relationships, with a special interest in topics that help people connect with one another, such as subjective similarity, forgiveness, and attributions of humanity. Elizabeth C. Pinel, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at the University of Vermont. She studies topics concerning the self and other, including self-motives, stigmatization, interpersonal relationships, and existential isolation. Geneva C. Yawger is currently a graduate student at the University of Vermont, studying to receive her PhD in Social Psychology under the mentorship of Elizabeth C. Pinel.

Elizabeth C. Pinel

Anson E. Long, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She studies the self in the context of relationships, with a special interest in topics that help people connect with one another, such as subjective similarity, forgiveness, and attributions of humanity. Elizabeth C. Pinel, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at the University of Vermont. She studies topics concerning the self and other, including self-motives, stigmatization, interpersonal relationships, and existential isolation. Geneva C. Yawger is currently a graduate student at the University of Vermont, studying to receive her PhD in Social Psychology under the mentorship of Elizabeth C. Pinel.

Geneva C. Yawger

Anson E. Long, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She studies the self in the context of relationships, with a special interest in topics that help people connect with one another, such as subjective similarity, forgiveness, and attributions of humanity. Elizabeth C. Pinel, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at the University of Vermont. She studies topics concerning the self and other, including self-motives, stigmatization, interpersonal relationships, and existential isolation. Geneva C. Yawger is currently a graduate student at the University of Vermont, studying to receive her PhD in Social Psychology under the mentorship of Elizabeth C. Pinel.