In-group bias mostly reflects positive self-regard, not hostility toward outsiders

Evidence

In “normal” populations, in-group bias is primarily a function of in-group positivity rather than out-group negativity (Brewer, 1979, 1999, 2001). Certain circumstances can lead to derogation of outgroups, such as threat to the in-group (Judd & Park, 1988; Stephan & Stephan, 2000), but most groups engage in in-group favoritism far more than out-group derogation. Moreover, contrary to the idea that in-group positivity is reciprocally related to out-group negativity (e.g., Sumner, 1906), in-group favoritism tends to be independent of out-group derogation. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 987

Categorization

• XREF: Directly speaks to the reader’s Allport reassessment thread — Allport’s account of prejudice as primarily out-group hostility vs. Brewer’s claim that it is primarily in-group enhancement. This is a key corroboration/complication data point.
• DEFINE: Distinguishes in-group enhancement from out-group derogation as independent mechanisms — the load-bearing conceptual split in prejudice research.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 987