Status effects on ingroup bias reverse between lab and field settings

Evidence

The meta-analytic results of Mullen et al (1992) clarify these disparities. They noted that ingroup bias increased with relative status in laboratory groups but decreased in field research with real groups. — Thomas F. Pettigrew, Intergroup Contact Theory, 10

Categorization

• QUESTION: Why would relative status push ingroup bias in opposite directions in lab versus field settings — artifact of minimal groups, or something real about stakes?
• DEEPTHINKING: A genuine paradox in the empirical base: the same variable flips sign depending on whether groups are manufactured or lived, which complicates any simple model of status and prejudice.
• XREF: connects to: Superordinate identities reduce in-group bias in the lab but fail at societal scale. — Chen-Bo Zhong, Adam D. Galinsky, and Miguel M. Unzueta, Negational racial identity and…, 9