Attitude (in)congruence in group interactions predicts social identification and favouritism behaviour

Addressing widespread polarisation requires understanding how attitudes relate to identification and ingroup favouritism. Two studies employ interactive paradigms to examine whether attitude congruence produces behavioural consequences in addition to identification. In Study 1, participants (N = 375) responded to four novel attitude statements in groups of five and were randomised to either see the responses of the other participants, or to be blind. Ingroup favouritism was measured by token allocation. In Study 2, N = 413 participants in groups of six observed responses to one of three statements supporting an ethnic group before completing collective action measures. Findings illustrated that observing attitudes in small group contexts can foster identification. Participants demonstrated favouritism to those with whom they aligned on three neutral attitudes (Study 1) and showed greater support for the target group when others’ attitudes aligned (Study 2). This illustrates how identification and intergroup dynamics can emerge in online contexts.