| Title | Conflicting identities and cooperation between groups: experimental evidence from a mentoring programme |
|---|---|
| Authors | Espin, Antonio M. , Espinosa, Maria Paz , VÁZQUEZ DE FRANCISCO, MARÍA JOSÉ, BRAÑAS GARZA, PABLO ERNESTO |
| External publication | No |
| Means | Proc Biol Sci |
| Scope | Article |
| Nature | Científica |
| JCR Quartile | 1 |
| SJR Quartile | 1 |
| Publication date | 06/08/2025 |
| ISI | 001544247800006 |
| DOI | 10.1098/rspb.2025.1363 |
| Abstract | Well-functioning human societies require the integration of vulnerable minorities, yet leading scientific theories conflict on how easily diverse groups cooperate. We experimentally investigate cooperation in 14 centres of a mentoring programme where participants have two possible natural identities-individuals raised under legal guardianship, suffering a negative stereotype (G; n = 112) and users without such a social stigma (NG; n = 82). Participants played a prisoners\' dilemma game with an anonymous partner from the same centre (centre-ingroup) and from another centre (centre-outgroup). For individuals without a history within-centre interaction, we find centre-outgroup favouritism among G and centre-ingroup favouritism among NG. However, the longer G individuals have been in the centre the more centre-ingroup favouritism they display, while the opposite is true for NG. Regardless of within-centre history, both G and NG individuals cooperate less with the centre-ingroup (versus outgroup) as the probability that the centre-ingroup is G increases. Thus, we observe patterns of centre-outgroup and natural-outgroup favouritism among G which challenge theoretical frameworks exclusively focusing on ingroup favouritism. Our findings highlight the roles of system-justification and stereotypes in intergroup cooperation and have implications for the integration of vulnerable groups and the optimization of social policy programmes. |
| Keywords | group diversity; natural identities; negative stereotypes; social integration; stigmatization; outgroup favouritism |
| Universidad Loyola members |