When one’s group is beneficial: The effect of group-affirmation and subjective group identification on prejudice

Abstract

In three experiments, we examined whether group-affirmation reduces prejudice against outgroups. In Experiments 1 and 2, White participants completed a test of abilities then were assigned to one of three affirmation conditions. Participants either received positive feedback about their ingroup’s performance, positive feedback about their personal performance, or no feedback. Participants then provided judgments toward Blacks. Across both experiments, participants who received the ingroup performance feedback expressed the lowest levels of anti-Black prejudice, but Experiment 2 indicated this effect was limited to strongly White-identified participants. In Experiment 3, we used a different group-affirmation procedure (writing about American values) and outgroup target (Middle Easterners). Among strongly American-identified participants, those who explained why a value was important for Americans expressed lower levels of prejudice against Middle Easterners compared to those in a control condition. We suggest that affirming one’s group—or social identity—can serve as a beneficial resource in the domain of prejudice.