Discrepancy in ingroup bias among different self‐construal individuals: The moderating role of group types

Although ingroup bias is well confirmed in various groups, the extent of the bias is affected by culture. Using a point‐assignment task and implicit association task (IAT) paradigm, we conducted research to explore the influence of independent/interdependent self‐construal ingroup bias in live and minimal group situations from both explicit and implicit aspects. The results showed that no matter which construal style was used (independent or interdependent self‐construal), participants showed ingroup bias in both live and minimal groups. In the minimal group condition, the ingroup bias of individuals with independent self‐construal was significantly higher than that of individuals with interdependent self‐construal. Conversely, in the live group condition, the ingroup bias of individuals with interdependent self‐construal was significantly higher than that of individuals with independent self‐construal. This study showed the influence of independent/interdependent self‐construal on ingroup bias and group type is a moderating variable. Results indicate that group categorization may play an essential role in ingroup bias of different group types.