In psychology, ingroup bias is defined as the tendency to view and treat members of one’s own group more favourably than members of other groups. This special treatment of one’s own group leads to alienation of others, leading to discrimination, stereotyping, and societal conflicts.
Example
Imagine a university where students are divided into groups based on their departments. A professor, who previously studied in the Business department, subconsciously gives more attention, encouragement, and opportunities to business students during class discussion and projects.
Even when students from other departments perform equally well, the professor tends to view the business students as more capable and motivated.
This happens not because of objective evidence, but because the professor feels a stronger sense of connection and identity with their own group.
When we only see people who are not part of our group, we tend to form misconceptions about them that might not reflect reality. That’s why understanding ingroup bias is important, so we can avoid it and be more inclusive in our real lives.
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What is Ingroup Bias?
In-group bias, also known as in-group favouritism, is a type of cognitive bias that causes people to prefer, support, and positively evaluate people who belong to the same group as they do over those who do not (the outgroup).
These groups can be based on:
- Nationality or ethnicity
- Religion or culture
- Political views
- Profession or workplace teams
- Hobbies or sports fandom
- Even random group assignments
Remarkably, research shows that people demonstrate ingroup bias even when groups are created arbitrarily, such as being labelled “Group A” or “Group B” with no real meaning attached. In simple terms, we like “us” more than “them”.
Ingroup bias influences how we judge, trust, and treat others, shaping everything from friendships and workplace decisions to politics and social harmony. It significantly shapes perceptions, behaviours, and attitudes, often operating automatically and unconsciously.
Why do humans show ingroup bias?
Ingroup bias is deeply rooted in human psychology and evolution. Early humans survived by forming tight-knit groups for protection and cooperation. Favouring one’s own group increased chances of survival. Today, while threats are less about predators, the same psychological wiring still influences our social behaviours.
What Are the Causes of Ingroup Bias?
Here are some key causes of ingroup bias:
1. Social categorisation
Ingroup and outgroup biases are natural. Humans automatically classify and divide others into groups based on traits such as ethnicity, nationality, or affiliation. This process is known as social categorisation.
This classification leads to a bias favouring the ingroup by fostering a sense of identity and belongingness to one’s own group.
2. Self-esteem and identification
People frequently get a sense of self-worth and identification from their group memberships. Favourable judgments of the ingroup can raise people’s self-worth and self-esteem, which results in a favourable bias towards their own group.
3. Norms of the ingroup
People are used to socialising according to their ingroup’s norms, values, and beliefs from a very young age. Respecting these standards encourages ingroup loyalty and harmony, which assist in the emergence of ingroup prejudice. It is the most common cause of ingroup bias.
4. Similarity and comfort
Comfort is an essential factor in establishing groups. Whether in terms of physical characteristics, culture, language, or shared experiences, people tend to feel more at ease with others who meet their own standards.
This resemblance and familiarity attract people to work to foster the ingroups, either at school or in the office.
5. Social identity theory
In social identity theory, people try to preserve a positive social identity by positively distinguishing their ingroups from outgroups. This urge to elevate the status and value of one’s group might lead to ingroup bias.
6. Competition between groups
When there is rivalry or conflict between several groups, people tend to be more devoted to and supportive of their group. Race, nationality, religion, politics, social class, and any other group affiliation are the factors that cause ingroup bias.
Because of increased rivalry between groups, people may become more inwardly biased, seeing other groups as competitors for resources or social prestige.
7. Cognitive processes
Cognitive biases, such as conformity and implicit bias, can influence the perception and evaluation of information related to ingroups and outgroups.
People selectively attend to or interpret information that confirms their positive views of the ingroup and negative views of outgroups, further reinforcing ingroup bias.
What are the key causes of ingroup bias?
Ingroup bias results from social categorisation, self-esteem and identification, ingroup norms, similarity and comfort, social identity theory, competition between groups, and cognitive processes.
Ingroup vs. Outgroup Bias
Here are the key differences between ingroup and outgroup bias:
| Ingroup Bias | Outgroup Bias |
|---|---|
| Favouring members of one’s own group | Holding negative views about other groups |
| It leads to preferential treatment. | It leads to discrimination or hostility. |
| Focuses on “us” | Focuses on “them” |
| Enhances group bonding | Increases social division |
| Often unconscious | Often unconscious |
Impacts of Ingroup Bias on Daily Life
Ingroup bias can have both positive and negative effects. The following are some of the most prominent impacts of ingroup bias on our daily lives:
A. Discrimination
One of the most prominent impacts of ingroup bias is discrimination. Ingroup bias causes prejudice and discriminatory attitudes toward outgroup members. As a result, people are subjected to unjust treatment, prejudice, and stereotypes based on ethnicity, nationality, religion, or social class.
B. Stereotyping
Ingroup prejudice can support and maintain negative stereotypes about people who belong to other groups. These stereotypes are often incorrect generalisations, resulting in partial understanding, unfair treatment of members of different groups, and biased judgements.
C. Interpersonal relationships
Ingroup bias impacts how we establish and preserve connections with others. Multiple experiments have been carried out to check this behaviour.
People who are part of our ingroup may make us feel more at ease and trustworthy, which could lead to possible exclusion or mistrust of people who are part of other groups.
D. Societal solidarity and conflicts
Ingroup bias can help maintain societal solidarity by creating cohesion and cooperation within communities or among group members. However, it can also result in intergroup conflict, opposition, and discrimination, particularly when rivalry or a sense of threat exists among groups.
E. Lack of justice in decision-making
Ingroup prejudice can impact decision-making processes at the individual or social level. When distributing resources and employment, people unconsciously favour their clan or group, which can result in unfairness and inequality.
F. Acceptance of selective information
People are likely to accept information that supports their group’s viewpoints or beliefs instead of information that does not resonate with their ideas. This can lead us to accept selective information from media sources that are in accordance with our views, resulting in polarisation.
G. Spoils the social fabric
Our social fabric can be spoiled by ingroup bias, which leads people to discriminate at the workplace, schools, and community events just to favour people from the same group or ethnicity. This bias can spoil everything, from our norms to our culture.
What are the impacts of ingroup bias on our daily lives?
Ingroup bias leads to discrimination and stereotyping, affects interpersonal relationships, causes societal conflicts, undermines justice in decision-making, and spoils the social fabric.
Is ingroup bias always bad?
Not necessarily. Ingroup bias can:
- Strengthen group cohesion
- Increase cooperation within teams
- Build trust and loyalty
However, when it leads to unfairness, exclusion, or conflict, it becomes harmful. The goal is balance, which is valuing your group without devaluing others.
Ingroup Bias Examples
Let’s explore some examples of ingroup bias to understand this concept better.
Example 1: Same Passion Sharing
People often prefer to socialise with people who have the same passion or interest as they do. Sports fans prefer to communicate with people supporting the same team as they do due to a sense of connection based on common interests or passions.
It can help to foster positive feelings towards fellow fans and people supporting the same political party.
Example 2: Same Age Group
Individuals try to communicate or socialise with people of the same age group to share a sense of relatedness with each other. It can lead to in-group bias between people, resulting in the exclusion of others who fall outside the age group.
Example 3: Intelligence Bias
We may perceive individuals from our clan or group as more intelligent than others because of shared beliefs or ideas. This can create an illusion of superiority in our minds and limit our ability to learn the diverse perspectives of outgroup members.
Example 4: Preferential Treatment
Have you ever experienced the cues in which people allow others to cut in line to favour them? If you carefully observe them, then you will understand why they do so.
They give preferential treatment to others because the people are wearing political slogans of their choice to show a sense of connection and solidarity with others who hold similar views.
Example 5: Fraternity Favouritism
It is the most common example, seen in several workplaces, where the hiring manager prefers candidates from the same school or ethnic group over others because of this cognitive bias.
Sometimes, this leads to overlooking more qualified candidates from other groups and hiring underqualified candidates from the same group in companies.
Why does ingroup bias matter today?
In a globalised world, where people from diverse cultures work and live together, unchecked ingroup bias can:
- Deepen social divides
- Fuel discrimination
- Undermine equality and justice
Understanding this bias helps create more inclusive workplaces, schools, and communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ingroup bias is the tendency to favour a specific group of people over others simply because of their similarities in beliefs, ideas, ethnicity, religion, culture, and so on.
Ingroup bias is the act of favouring people from the same group, and outgroup bias is the act of showing negative attitudes toward people from other groups based on ethnicity, race, colour, religion, social class, etc.
Ingroup bias in psychology is termed as a cognitive effect that drives people to show favourable attitudes either in school or office or at any place towards people with whom they relate or feel a sense of collective identity.
A simple example is supporting your favourite sports team while criticising rival teams more harshly, even when their actions are similar.
People develop ingroup bias due to social categorisation, desire for belonging, self-esteem needs, and evolutionary survival instincts.
Ingroup bias focuses on favouritism toward one’s group, while prejudice involves negative attitudes toward other groups. They often occur together but are not identical.
In-group bias can be reduced by promoting diversity, using objective decision criteria, encouraging collaboration across teams, and increasing awareness of unconscious biases.
