Social comparison and group interest in ingroup favouritism

Abstract Studied the effects of reward magnitude and comparability of the outgroup on minimal intergroup discrimination where self‐interest was related to ingroup profit. Favouritism towards own group is hypothesized to arise from intergroup comparisons to enhance self‐esteem as well as instrumental rivalry for group and self‐interest. Sixty‐two fourteen to fifteen years' old school‐boys and girls were randomly assigned to a high or low reward condition in which they distributed monetary rewards, via choice‐matrices, to the ingroup and a relevant comparison outgroup, and the ingroup and an irrelevant comparison outgroup. Monetary self‐interest was explicitly and directly linked to ingroup's absolute profit. Ss sacrificed group and personal gain to achieve intergroup differences in monetary outcomes favouring the ingroup; and were less fair and more discriminatory towards the relevant than irrelevant outgroup. especially with High Rewards.