Deploying an in-group frame alone may shift moral priorities, even without moral content.

Evidence

These preliminary findings may also be seen as caused by the in-group-prime that is inherent in the in-group-perpetrator condition. That is, enhanced loyalty and authority may simply increase as a consequence of priming the in-group (at present we are conducting further studies to disentangle this possibility). If this were to be the case, then it could be that morality principles can switch even in the absence of a clear moral dimension to the situation, and that we are predisposed to reconfigure our morality system, likely along with other systems, when we are processing information relative to, and as a member of, an in-group. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2140

Categorization

• QUESTION: Unresolved alternative explanation the authors flag themselves — worth tracking whether later studies disentangle prime-threat as causes.
• XREF: Directly invites self-categorization theory and the Allport thread’s question of when mere in-group framing suffices to trigger exclusionary cognition. — connects to: Group affiliation alone can override moral condemnation of cheating. — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 102
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2140