Ingroup favoritism versus black sheep effects in observations of informal conversations

Abstract

This research was designed to gain further insight into the psychological mechanisms underlying the "black sheep effect" (e.g., Marques, Yzerbyt, & Leyens, 1988) using a paradigm that allowed us to address 2 potential limitations of previous research in this area. First, unlike earlier work, this research varied the group membership of the observer in combination with that of the target (i.e., an Observer × Target design), which is necessary to provide a strict test of the black sheep effect. Second, we relied on a manipulation of group membership that was more subtle than that employed by previous research. This allowed us to test whether participants would spontaneously (i.e., without prompting by the experimenter) use group membership as a basis for derogating dislikeable members of the ingroup. These issues were explored using a "get acquainted paradigm" in which male or female participants read transcripts; of a conversation between 2 students whose apparent gender was manipulated by varying only their first names (e.g., Jim vs. Ann). The existence of both ingroup favoritism and black sheep effects was successfully demonstrated in this paradigm, although the magnitude of these effects was stronger for female than for male participants. Implications of these results for a theoretical framework presented by Marques and his colleagues as well as recent models of assimilation and contrast are discussed.