Defining oneself through multiple social categories yields more positive out-group evaluation

Evidence

Theory and research on multiple categorization rest on the premise that individuals are able to categorize self and others in terms of multiple social categories. It is assumed that multiple categories may become salient at the same time, whereby individuals are able to attend to and make use of these multiple categories simultaneously. The logical consequence of this fact is that individuals are afforded the cognitive capacity to perceive others in a more differentiated manner, and more often than not self-definition in terms of such multiple social categories is associated with more positive evaluation of out-groups (see Brewer, Ho, Lee, & Miller, 1987; see Crisp & Hewstone, 2007, for a detailed review). — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 519

Categorization

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