Recategorization can backfire by making subgroups vie to embody the shared identity.

Evidence

According to Mummendy and Wenzel (1999), group members project the attributes of their subgroup onto the superordinate identity, resulting in members of each subgroup perceiving themselves as more typical of the superordinate group than members of the other subgroup. This leads to perceiving members of the other subgroup as norm violators and poor exemplars of the superordinate category, which results in elevated levels of bias … Thus, future research should seek to balance the potential gains of recategorization with the potential risks. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup Attitudes, 176

Categorization

• QUESTION: Ingroup projection as threat — does the imagined-community stick actually reach into the MOC’s threat construct, or is distinctiveness threat orthogonal enough to be its own node?
• XREF: connects to: Recategorization into a common identity can backfire and increase subgroup bias via distinctiveness loss. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 176; A shared superordinate identity can backfire by fueling subgroup in-group projection. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 176; Excessive group inclusion triggers subgroup formation rather than full individuation — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 847

Broader Connections

• A shared superordinate identity can backfire by fueling subgroup in-group projection. #expands (0.95) — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup Attitudes, 176
• Recategorization into a common identity can backfire and increase subgroup bias via distinctiveness loss. #corroborates (0.92) — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup Attitudes, 176
• Excessive group inclusion triggers subgroup formation rather than full individuation #qualifies (0.78) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 847