Ingroup Bias

British psychologist Henri Tajfel and John Turner proposed social identity theory in the 1970s, positing that individuals derive self-concept from group membership and are inclined to favor their ingroup to maintain positive self-esteem. Tajfel introduced the minimal group paradigm in the early 1970s to explore minimal conditions for intergroup biases. Even under flimsy, baseless categorization with neither intra-group nor inter-group interaction, ingroup favoritism and outgroup derogation occurred in resource distribution. Social identity theory attributes ingroup favoritism to a psychological need for positive distinctiveness, with the bias occurring based on perceived group status, legitimacy, stability, and permeability.