Project leader: Kirsty Klipp
Full title: The effects of identifiability, accountability and reputation on ingroup favouritism, fairness and selfishness in evolving interaction networks
Identifiability to an audience is an integral part of social life. It has powerful effects on behaviour, arguably due to moral and reputational considerations. Some authors have argued that “deindividuation”, or a lowered sense of personal identifiability results in a loss of control over individual behaviour in a group situation (see review by Postmes & Spears, 1997). However, this has been contested. The Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) argues that the salience of personal versus social identity – and therefore the salience of different sets of norms or standards – govern social behaviour (Klein, Spears & Reicher, 2007). We used VIAPPL (see www.viappl.org) to investigate the effects of various conditions of identifiability on ingroup favouritism, outgroup giving and selfishness in an interactive, virtual environment. Results showed that identifiability, X2(5, n=480) = 27.475, p = 0.001 and group status (equality vs inequality), X2(2, n=480) = 15.330, p = 0.001, were both main effects for ingroup favouritism, with no significant interactions. Self-giving is still under analysis.
Klein, O., Spears, R., & Reicher, S. (2007). Social identity performance: Extending the strategic side of SIDE. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11, 28-45.
Postmes, T. & Spears, R. (1997). Deindividuation and Antinormative Behaviour: A Meta-Analysis. Psychological Bulletin,123(3), 238-259.
