The effect of the perception of group members’ identity diversity on intragroup trust

Abstract

In a specific group, each group member has multiple social identities, such as gender, nationality, ethnicity, and religion. Individuals may perceive their group members’ identity diversity at different levels. Four studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between the perception of group members’ identity diversity and intragroup trust. Studies 1 to 3 revealed that if participants perceived that group members differed in a wide range of social identities (a higher level of perceived identity diversity among group members), they exhibited a lower level of intragroup trust. Study 4 revealed that when participants were motivated to distrust their group members, they were more likely to perceive differences between group members’ social identities and perceive the group members’ identity diversity at a higher level. The results indicate that the relationship between the perception of group members’ identity diversity and intragroup trust is bidirectional.