INGROUP FAVORITISM AND SOCIAL SELF-ESTEEM IN MINIMAL GROUPS: CHANGING A SOCIAL CATEGORIZATION INTO A SOCIAL IDENTITY

One corollary of social identity theory's self-esteem hypothesis proposes that intergroup bias enhances social identity, which in turn leads to enhanced self-esteem (the enhanced esteem hypothesis). There is mixed evidence for this corollary, due in part to methodological and measurement issues (Rubin & Hewstone, 1998). The present study carefully addressed these issues to test whether intergroup bias elevates social esteem. Participants were placed into minimal groups of high or low status, rated the ingroup and the outgroup, and completed measures of social esteem and social identity. Results indicated that intergroup bias overall (ingroup evaluation minus outgroup evaluation) did not elevate social esteem, only ingroup favoritism did. Further, ingroup favoritism did not lead directly to an enhanced social identity. The effects of favoritism on social identity were mediated by increased social esteem. These results in general support the enhanced esteem hypothesis, but suggest some caveats. The results also suggest that a social identity may emerge from a social categorization due to elevated social esteem following ingroup favoritism.