Social identification and / or perception of similarity
An approach to differential effects on ingroup and outgroup essentialism
Keywords:
Social psychology, Essentialism, Social identityAbstract
The present study deals with the causal relation among two processes associated to essentialism (believing
in the existence of a common essence for the members of a group): social identification and similarity. By means of a crosscorrelational study, 200 participants (non-random sampling) were measured on both variables and on essentialism (ingroup/outgroup). The results indicate that the effects of both variables are not similar according to whether they belong to ingroup or outgroup essentialism. Ingroup essentialism is mainly explained by identification with the ingroup, and, especially for selfcategorization and group commitment. The outgroup essentialism, meanwhile, is explained by self-categorization (identification)
and the perception of intragroup homogeneity (similarity). These results are discussed in relation to their implications for intergroup relations.
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