Abstract
Social categorization is the differentiation between the self and others and between one’s own group and other groups and it is such a natural and spontaneous process that often we are not aware of it. The way in which the brain organizes social categorization remains an unresolved issue. We present three experiments investigating the hypothesis that social categories are mentally ordered from left to right on an ingroup–outgroup continuum when membership is salient. To substantiate our hypothesis, we consider empirical evidence from two areas of psychology: research on differences in processing of ingroups and outgroups and research on the effects of spatial biases on processing of quantitative information (e.g., time; numbers) which appears to be arranged from left to right on a small–large continuum, an effect known as the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC). In Experiments 1 and 2 we tested the hypothesis that when membership of a social category is activated, people implicitly locate ingroup categories to the left of a mental line whereas outgroup categories are located on the far right of the same mental line. This spatial organization persists even when stimuli are presented on one of the two sides of the screen and their (explicit) position is spatially incompatible with the implicit mental spatial organization of social categories (Experiment 3). Overall the results indicate that ingroups and outgroups are processed differently. The results are discussed with respect to social categorization theory, spatial agency bias, i.e., the effect observed in Western cultures whereby the agent of an action is mentally represented on the left and the recipient on the right, and the SNARC effect.
Highlights
Social categorization involves the classification of oneself and others, often unconsciously or without intention, as members of social groups on the basis of shared attributes such as ethnicity, physical features, or even psychological traits (Stangor et al, 1992; Kunda and Spencer, 2003; Abrams, 2012)
A simple effects analysis showed that the difference between ingroup and outgroup was significant both when we consider the left-hand responses [F(1,39) = 7.11, p = 0.011, η2p = 0.154] with faster mean reaction times (RTs) when the left-key response was associated with the ingroup (M = 487, MSE = 16) than when it was associated with the outgroup (M = 513, MSE = 18), and when we consider the right-hand responses [F(1,39) = 4.37, p = 0.043, η2p = 0.101] with faster RTs when the right key was associated with the outgroup (M = 475, MSE = 14) than when it was associated with the ingroup (M = 497, MSE = 17)
Studies of spatial bias in various areas of psychology have consistently shown that in Western cultures people tend to order quantity from left to right
Summary
Social categorization involves the classification of oneself and others, often unconsciously or without intention, as members of social groups on the basis of shared attributes such as ethnicity, physical features, or even psychological traits (Stangor et al, 1992; Kunda and Spencer, 2003; Abrams, 2012). When categorized as a group member, people are generally motivated to strive to maintain a positive ingroup identity and to perceive their own group as morally superior to other groups (Tajfel and Turner, 1979; Oakes and Turner, 1980; Ellemers et al, 2008) or having more positive attributes and better social status (Sachdev and Bourhis, 1987, 1991; Spears and Manstead, 1989; Jost and Banaji, 1994). Both SCT and SIT (Tajfel and Turner, 1979; Turner, 1982; Turner et al, 1987) suggest that the simple act of categorizing people as ingroup or outgroup is sufficient to generate ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation (Doise and Sinclair, 1973; Brewer, 1979, 1999; Turner et al, 1979)
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