Trivial group assignments produce substantial discrimination in reward allocation.

Evidence

In this paradigm, participants choose between options that are designed to have little evaluative implication: “Which do you prefer, the Kandinsky or the Klee? Still or sparkling? Catsup or mayo?” Based on choices of this type, respondents are categorized into one of two groups, and then typically are tasked with allocating rewards to the groupcategorized members. Although these differentiations are trivial, the reinforcements allocated to in-group and out-group members often differ substantially. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 1376

Categorization

• XREF: The classic minimal group paradigm from Tajfel — connects to social identity theory and Sherif’s Robbers Cave work.
• DEFINE: Defines the minimal group paradigm as the core experimental technique used to study in-group favoritism.