In-Group/Out-Group: Relationships and Attitudes

Video Transcription

Hi, I'm Julie Tietz, and welcome to Conflict Resolution-- Putting the Pieces Together. Today, we're going to talk about in-groups and out-groups and how that really affects our perceptions towards others with our relationships and attitudes.

So when we form a group, and after this develops, we have this in-group/out-group dynamic going on. And so our in group is the group that we are a part of. We see those members as being more similar to us than people outside of our group. And the out-group, as you probably have already gathered, are people that are not associated with our group, so members outside of our group. And we see these people as more dissimilar to us and our group members.

Let's talk a little bit about attribution bias now and how this relates to what we're talking about. So again, after we form our group membership and develop these in-group/out-group dynamics, attribution bias comes into play. Attribution bias says that we will view people that are in our group as more positive and less negative.

So we like to look at our members as having more positive attributions and maybe downplaying some of the negative aspects that we may possess. And this is because we want to have really high self-esteem. And we want to think that people that are in our in-group are like us, and we want to think positively of ourselves.

On the other side of attribution bias, we view the out groups more negatively and with less positive attributions. So we see the out-group in a more negative light. So we highlight a lot of maybe not so great aspects of the group. And we downplay more of those positive aspects because, again, we want to make sure that we are building up our own groups and its members because they are like us.

And we don't want to feel like we are missing out on something or we are not in a good group, because we want to have our personal self-esteem being built when we ascribe to specific group memberships.

So let's use the example of big city versus small town. Let's say people in the big city think that the small town is so dull, so boring. There is nothing to do. People are small minded. And they don't know anything about anything.

Whereas maybe people that live in small towns view cities as people who don't have a care about their neighbors, people who are always running around and are not stopping to smell the roses. People who are too into themselves. And they don't know what the beauty is to wake up in the morning and smell some fresh air.

So those would be two examples of how attribution bias can come into play. So we want to build our group up and downplay or think more negatively about the out-group.

So another aspect of attribution bias is this notion that the stronger we identify with a specific group, the stronger identification we will have then against the out-group. So let's look at some examples here.

One could be a political party identification. So in the United States, we have two major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. And on both sides there are people who are entrenched in their specific political positions and ideals and have a real disdain for the other party, whether that's the Democrat or the Republican.

Another example could be armed conflict. Let's say two nation states are having a conflict over specific border and water rights. And each side becomes more and more stronger or closer to their specific national identity, which then can create this disdain and this hatred towards the other national identity and could lead to armed conflict and war and violence.

So that last example that we touched on on armed conflict is a really nice segue into this last piece on how this relates to conflict. When we have those strong identifications with our specific groups, and the stronger we are than against those out-groups, and we have those negative attributions, this is how conflict starts. It starts with those negative attributions towards the out-group.

So we need to be aware that, yes, of course, we want to think the best and the greatest things about ourselves and our in-group. But we have to be careful on how we perceive the out-group and really try and steer away from some of those negative attributions that can lead to a conflict.

So now let's go over key points here quick before we go on-- in-group and out-group attitudes and relationships. So our in-group are our groups that we are a part of. And we see the members as being very similar to us. Whereas the out-group are those members that are not in the same group as us. And we see those members as more dissimilar to us.

And when we have this in-group and out-group dynamic, attribution bias comes into play, where we want to think more positively of ourselves and give less positive and even negative attributions to those out-groups. And when this happens this can create and escalate a conflict. So we need to be aware of the attribution bias when we are in our group dynamics and how that plays in with the in-group and out-group.

Well, here are your key terms here before we go. Feel free to pause and look at them a little closer.

Thank you so much for taking the time out. I really hope that you've learned something. And I can't wait to catch you again next time.