Bisogno di distintività ed effetto di sovraesclusione dal proprio gruppo

The ingroup overexclusion effect concerns the categorical inclusion processes of unknown people: We are more willing to include these people in the outgroup than in the ingroup; the consequence is that exemplars, which are actually its members, are excluded from the ingroup. The effect is explained as a consequence of the need for protecting ingroup value and its distinctiveness (social identity theory). In this study, the hypothesis that the effect may depend on the need to protect ingroup distinctiveness was tested. The relationship between Southern Italians and Northern Italians was considered; participants were Northern students. As stimulus-material, 28 faces were used: four typical of Southerners, four typical of Northerners, 20 were fusions of the typical faces. For each face, participants had to state whether it was Northern or Southern. The experimental design was defined by two conditions: MD, threat to ingroup distinctiveness, and C, control condition. Contrary to the hypothesis, the enhanced need for distinctiveness did not produce significant effects, that is, the ingroup overexclusion effect was not stronger in MD compared to C. However, in MD reaction times were longer: Perception of one's distinctiveness as threatened made people more cautious in the decisional process.