The ingroup bias – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

Are strangers just enemies we have not yet met? The ingroup bias and intergroup relationships

In this week’s article we are going to focus on a bias that affects us in many different contexts: the ingroup bias. In many societies and environments, people tend to favor members of their group over others. However, especially in non-competitive environments, or without salient group identities, most people are able to care positively and genuinely about the well-being of others. Cooperation between in- and out-groups is primarily driven by expectations of future reciprocity, which supports the view that cooperation between in-group individuals shapes their group identity. ….[READ]