Is in-group bias culture-dependent? A meta-analysis across 18 societies

AbstractWe report a meta-analysis on the relationship between in-group bias and culture. Our focus is on whether broad macro-contextual variables influence the extent to which individuals favour their in-group. Data from 21,266 participants from 18 societies included in experimental and survey studies were available. Using Hofstede’s (1980) and Schwartz (2006) culture-level predictors in a 3-level mixed-effects meta-analysis, we found strong support for the uncertainty-reduction hypothesis. An interaction between Autonomy and real vs artificial groups suggested that in low autonomy contexts, individuals show greater in-group bias for real groups. Implications for social identity theory and intergroup conflict are outlined.

• Publication year

  2016

• Venue

  SpringerPlus

• Publication date

  2016-01-22

• Fields of study

  Sociology, Computer Science, Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1186/s40064-015-1663-6PMID 26839763PMCID 4723375
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Individualism and Collectivism

  2018cited by this paper
• Belonging, Status, or Self-Protection? Examining Justice Motives in a Three-Level Cultural Meta-Analysis of Organizational Justice Effects

  2013cited by this paper
• Examining the impact of Culture's consequences: a three-decade, multilevel, meta-analytic review of Hofstede's cultural value dimensions.

  2010cited by this paper
• Genetic Evidence for Multiple Biological Mechanisms Underlying In-Group Favoritism

  2010cited by this paper
• Individualism-collectivism as Descriptive Norms

  2009cited by this paper
• How ideological attitudes predict host society members' attitudes toward immigrants: Exploring cross-national differences

  2009cited by this paper
• A Meta-Analysis

  2009cited by this paper
• The Social Psychology of intergroup relations

  2009influential reference
• Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation as predictors of host society members' attitudes toward immigrants: Exploring cross-national differences

  2009cited by this paper
• Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation

  2009cited by this paper
• Commitment across cultures: A meta-analytical approach

  2009cited by this paper
• Anti-Muslim prejudice in Europe: A multilevel analysis of survey data from 30 countries

  2008influential reference
• A Theory Of Cultural Value Orientations: Explication And Applications

  2006cited by this paper
• Understanding Social Psychology Across Cultures: Engaging with Others in a Changing World

  2006cited by this paper
• Understanding social psychology across cultures: Living and working in a changing world.

  2006cited by this paper
• Social Projection to Ingroups and Outgroups: A Review and Meta-Analysis

  2005cited by this paper
• The Sage handbook of quantitative methodology for the social sciences

  2004cited by this paper
• Multilevel Meta-Analysis: A Comparison with Traditional Meta-Analytical Procedures

  2003cited by this paper
• The Problems in Using Fixed-Effects Models of Meta-Analysis on Real-World Data

  2003cited by this paper
• Multilevel Modeling : Methodological Advances, Issues, and Applications

  2003cited by this paper
• Intergroup bias.

  2002influential reference
• Uncertainty management: the influence of uncertainty salience on reactions to perceived procedural fairness.

  2001influential reference
• Status differences and in-group bias: a meta-analytic examination of the effects of status stability, status legitimacy, and group permeability.

  2001cited by this paper
• Culture′s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations

  2001cited by this paper
• Multilevel models for meta-analysis

  2001cited by this paper
• Practical Meta-Analysis

  2000cited by this paper
• Social identity theory: past achievements, current problems and future challenges

  2000cited by this paper
• Subjective Uncertainty Reduction through Self-categorization: A Motivational Theory of Social Identity Processes

  2000influential reference
• Ingroup Bias and Self-Esteem: A Meta-Analysis

  2000cited by this paper
• Individualism, collectivism and social identity theory

  2000cited by this paper
• An Integrated Threat Theory of Prejudice

  2000cited by this paper
• Positive-Negative Asymmetry in Social Discriniination: Meta-Analytical Evidence

  1999cited by this paper
• Subjective Uncertainty and Intergroup Discrimination in the Minimal Group Situation

  1999cited by this paper
• A Dictionary of Statistics for Psychologists

  1999cited by this paper
• Motivations for group membership : The role of subjective importance and uncertainty reduction

  1999cited by this paper
• Social psychology: Across cultures, 2nd ed.

  1999cited by this paper
• In-group bias and culture of collectivism*

  1998influential reference
• Beyond individualism/collectivism: New cultural dimensions of values.

  1994influential reference
• Social Psychology Across Cultures

  1993cited by this paper
• Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries

  1992cited by this paper
• Ingroup bias as a function of salience, relevance, and status: An integration

  1992cited by this paper
• Recognizing group diversity: Individualist‐collectivist and autonomous‐relational social orientations and their implications for intergroup processes

  1992cited by this paper
• Social Identifications: A Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations and Group Processes

  1991influential reference
• Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values

  1980cited by this paper
• In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis.

  1979influential reference
• An integrative theory of intergroup conflict.

  1979influential reference
• Social Categorisation and Intergroup Behaviour.

  1978influential reference
• Social categorization and intergroup behaviour

  1971cited by this paper
• Experiments in intergroup discrimination.

  1970cited by this paper

• Regional Differences in Intergroup Trust Between Northern and Southern China.

  2026cites this paper
• Biases in cultural transmission of information about a minimal ingroup

  2026cites this paper
• Rape Myths in China: A Systematic Review.

  2026cites this paper
• Beyond National Averages: A Person-Centered Latent Profile Analysis of a Multicultural Society in a Globalized World

  2025cites this paper
• Conspiracies, Cover-Ups, Compartmentalization, and Containment: The Complex, Secrecy-Related Information Dynamics of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena

  2025cites this paper
• National representations in digital heritage exposure: exploring young people’s in-group/out-group categorisation on cultural artefact visuals and related evaluations

  2025cites this paper
• Intergroup Attitudes in Children Aged 3–5 Years: Evidence from a Ubiquitous Effect

  2025cites this paper
• Cognitive processes of ingroup favoritism across 20 countries: An eye-tracking investigation of culture, behavior, and cognition

  2025cites this paper
• Helping Across Boundaries: Collectivism and Hierarchy in the Ultra-Orthodox Context

  2025cites this paper
• Artificial intelligence and human decision making: Exploring similarities in cognitive bias

  2025cites this paper
• Moderating role of age in the relationship between ingroup range and intention to help during the COVID-19 pandemic

  2025cites this paper
• Effects of synchronous chanting and identity fusion on perceived ingroup formidability, outgroup threat, and parochial altruism among soccer fans

  2025cites this paper
• A mixed-methods study examining the ripple effect of inclusive employment on reducing stigma toward autistic people in South Korea

  2025cites this paper
• Pretty Privilege vs. Ingroup Bias in Decision Making

  2025cites this paper
• The Social Cure Properties of Groups Across Cultures: Groups Provide More Support but Have Stronger Norms and Are Less Curative in Relationally Immobile Societies

  2024cites this paper
• Individualism/Collectivism and charitable donations: An empirical analysis at the national, regional, and personal levels

  2024cites this paper
• “You aren’t one of us”: The costs of validation of our criticism on an in-group by out-group members

  2024cites this paper
• The role of group membership and culture in interpersonal distance regulation

  2024cites this paper
• Principles to guide research and policy on psychological well-being in remote island developing states in the South Pacific

  2024cites this paper
• Can I Still Trust You? Late Trust Violations Hinder Subsequent Cooperation

  2024cites this paper
• What makes us “we”? The positivity bias in essentialist beliefs about group attributes

  2024cites this paper
• Instrumental goals shape EU citizens' attitudes to the Russia-Ukraine war over time.

  2023cites this paper
• Growth patterns of ingroup and outgroup prosocial behavior in Colombian and Uruguayan adolescents: Examining gratitude and forgiveness as predictors of change.

  2023cites this paper
• Bias and Fairness in Chatbots: An Overview

  2023cites this paper
• Stavovi hrvatskih srednjoškolaca prema etničkim manjinama: uloga multikulturnosti, socijalnog identiteta i škole

  2023cites this paper
• Explicit stigma and implicit biases toward autism in South Korea versus the United States

  2022cites this paper
• Children’s group loyalty is related to parental in-group collectivism

  2022cites this paper
• Ingroup favoritism overrides fairness when resources are limited

  2022cites this paper
• Can Identity Buffer Against the Detrimental Effects of Threat? The Case of the Qatar Blockade

  2022cites this paper
• Are strangers just enemies you have not yet met? Group homogeneity, not intergroup relations, shapes ingroup bias in three natural groups

  2022cites this paper
• Perceiving ingroup and outgroup faces within and across nations.

  2022cites this paper
• Blame of Rape Victims and Perpetrators in China: The Role of Gender, Rape Myth Acceptance, and Situational Factors

  2022cites this paper
• Reconciling Conflicting Results of Cultural Diversity’s Effect on Project Team Performance: A Quasi-Experimental Examination

  2022cites this paper
• The Influence of Culture and Intercultural Contact on Neo-Racism and Ethnocentrism

  2022cites this paper
• The sense of belonging reduces ingroup favoritism in children

  2022cites this paper
• Discrepancy in ingroup bias among different self-construal individuals: The moderating role of group types.

  2022cites this paper
• Is autism stigma higher in South Korea than the United States? Examining cultural tightness, intergroup bias, and concerns about heredity as contributors to heightened autism stigma

  2021cites this paper
• Do Stereotypes Explain Discrimination Against Minority Candidates or Discrimination in Favor of Majority Candidates?

  2021cites this paper
• The psychological effects of perceived threat, national identity and self-esteem on the well-being of Qatari youth during the blockade

  2021cites this paper
• Cooperation in the cross-national context.

  2021cites this paper
• Social Categorization Based on Language and Facial Recognition

  2021cites this paper
• National pride, social trust, and cultural nativism: Findings from East and Southeast Asia

  2021cites this paper
• Are Immigrant-Origin Candidates Penalized Due to Ingroup Favoritism or Outgroup Hostility?

  2021cites this paper
• Consumer Response to Patriotic Ads for Domestic Versus Foreign Brands in Contexts of International Sporting Events: The Role of National Identity Activation and Group Emotion

  2021cites this paper
• Working with Colleagues and Staff

  2021cites this paper
• SOCIAL INFLUENCE IN MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE: INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CULTURAL ORIENTATION, SOCIAL GROUP IDENTITY, COPING STYLE, AND SOCIAL CONFORMITY

  2021cites this paper
• The application of meta-analytic (multi-level) models with multiple random effects: A systematic review

  2020cites this paper
• Pathogens and Intergroup Relations. How Evolutionary Approaches Can Inform Social Neuroscience

  2020cites this paper
• Implications of Reciprocity in the Evolution of Ethnocentrism and Cooperation

  2020cites this paper
• Pathogens and Intergroup Relations. How Evolutionary Approaches Can Inform Social Neuroscience

  2020cites this paper
• A gentle reminder that mean does not imply modal behavior: Few are in-group biased in minimal groups.

  2020cites this paper
• Communal Quirks and Circlejerks: A Taxonomy of Processes Contributing to Insularity in Online Communities

  2020cites this paper
• Interpreters’ perceived characteristics and perception of quality in interpreting

  2020cites this paper
• Ingroup Love or Outgroup Hate (or Both)? Mapping Distinct Bias Profiles in the Population

  2020influential citation
• Individual Cultural Values and Consumer Animosity: Chinese Consumers’ Attitude Toward American Products

  2019cites this paper
• We Want a Team Player: A Formative Cross-Cultural Investigation in the United States, China, and South Korea

  2019cites this paper
• Evaluating Stakeholder Bias in Stakeholder Analysis In Social Media

  2019influential citation
• Political Bias in Hiring People Consider Political Opponents as Less Hireable Than Others Without Weighting Criteria to Justify why

  2019cites this paper
• Culturally appropriate face strategies in cooperative learning with insight from cultural neuroscience

  2018cites this paper
• Racism By Design: The Role of Race and Ethnicity in the Design of International Trade Agreements

  2018cites this paper
• Biased, Therefore Unhappy: Disentangling the Collectivism-Happiness Relationship Globally

  2018cites this paper
• Cross-national in-group favoritism in prosocial behavior: Evidence from Latin and North America

  2018cites this paper
• A Cultural Perspective on Gender Inequity in STEM: The Japanese Context

  2018cites this paper
• User Ethnicity and Gender as Predictors of Attitudes to Ethnic Groups in Social Media Texts

  2018cites this paper
• Media judgment of entrepreneurial failure - implications for founders

  2018cites this paper
• The Experiences and Perceptions of Microaggressions Against American Assistant Language Teachers Living in Japan

  2017cites this paper
• Strong identities and endorsement of human rights: Conflictive or complementary?

  2017cites this paper
• Social interaktion i den minimala gruppsituationen leder inte till mer särbehandling

  2017cites this paper
• High task interdependence: job rotation and other approaches for overcoming ingroup favoritism

  2017cites this paper
• The Developmental Origins of Dehumanisation

  2017cites this paper
• Integration of ethnic minorities during group-work for vocational teachers-in-training in health studies

  2017cites this paper
• Young Children Are More Likely to Spontaneously Attribute Mental States to Members of Their Own Group

  2017cites this paper