When the outgroup becomes ingroup and when the ingroup becomes outgroup: Xenophobia and social categorization in a resource allocation task

• Published in: European journal of social psychology Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 417 - 423
• Main Authors: Sanchez-Mazas, Margarita, Roux, Patricia, Mugny, Gabriel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.05.1994; Wiley
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Discrimination; Factors; Foreigners; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Group Decision Making; Group Dynamics; Ingroup-Outgroup differentiation; Intergroup Relations; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Resource Allocation; Social attribution, perception and cognition; Social categorization; Social participation; Social psychology; Switzerland; Task Oriented Groups; Xenophobia; Human; Attitude; Social group; Resource allocation; Adult; Stereotype; Categorization; Racism; Intergroup relation; Social cognition
• ISSN: 0046-2772; 1099-0992
• DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2420240309

Subjects classified as more or less xenophobic allocated resources to SWISS nationals (ingroup) and foreign residents (outgroup) in three intergroup judgement modes: negative interdependence, independence and positive interdependence. When both groups were assessed together as a single beneficiary (positive interdependence) they were allocated more resources than those provided to the outgroup under negative interdependence or independence. More xenophobic subjects, however gave less resources to both groups together under positive interdependence than to the ingroup under independence. In contrast, less xenophobic subjects allocated to both groups together a similar amount as to the ingroup under independence. These results suggest that, depending on their initial attitudes towards the outgroup, individuals will categorize a superordinate entity either more as an ingroup or more as an outgroup.