What is Outgroup Bias – Causes & Examples
Published by at July 5th, 2023 , Revised On August 28, 2024
It’s normal for humans to form groups based on traits like ethnicity, religion, or gender in our diverse society. But occasionally, we end up biased against groups other than our own.
Outgroup bias is the term for this. It influences how we see and interact with people, and it may impact how we behave at work, at school, and even in the medical field.
Let’s understand outgroup bias in more detail.
What is Outgroup Bias?
The tendency of people to have unfavourable attitudes, stereotypes, or discriminatory behaviours towards members of groups they see as distinct from their own, is known as outgroup bias or outgroup discrimination.
Outgroup bias frequently entails considering the outgroup members to be less desirable, less capable, or even a threat. It can cause societal divisions, prejudice, and discrimination and obstruct intergroup understanding and cooperation.
Both the terms ingroup vs outgroup bias are related. While ingroup bias focuses on favouring and positively valuing one’s group, outgroup bias involves negative attitudes and stereotypes towards members of other groups. Both biases can have significant social implications and impact interactions between different groups.
What Causes Outgroup Bias?
The emergence of outgroup bias is attributed to several variables. Here are a few major causes:
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Social Categorisation
Humans naturally divide people into groups based on traits like race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or social class. This classification may cause people to see an “us versus them” division where they identify more with their ingroup and perceive those who belong to other groups as outsiders or “the other.”
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Ingroup Favouritism
Another important cause is ingroup favouritism. People naturally favour those in their group (the ingroup) over those in other groups (the outgroup). This discrimination may be motivated by feelings of allegiance, self-identity, or a need to defend and advance one’s community.
Favouritism towards the ingroup can lead to unfavourable attitudes and actions towards the outgroup.
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Stereotyping and Discrimination
Stereotyping is when group members are given special treatment because of their affiliation with that group. Prejudice is the term for predetermined, unfavourable attitudes or ideas held towards certain people or groups because of their affiliation with those organisations.
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Intergroup Conflict and Competition
Outgroup bias tends to be more pronounced when there is perceived rivalry or conflict between groups. Several things, including a lack of resources, old conflicts, irrational opposition, or power imbalances, may cause this.
Competition between groups can make people’s animosity towards the other group more pronounced as they try to advance the interests of their group.
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Cultural and Societal Influences
Cultural norms, values, and socialisation significantly influence outgroup-related attitudes and behaviour. Cultural narratives, historical events, media portrayals, and social conventions reinforce stereotypes, prejudices, and outgroup bias.
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Is Outgroup Bias a Problem?
Outgroup bias is an issue because of its potential harm to individuals and society. Several factors make outgroup bias problematic, including the following:
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Prioritisation and Discrimination
Discrimination and prejudice towards members of various groups are frequently caused by outgroup bias. Based on disparities between groups, including racial, ethnic, religious, or national origin, may lead to unfair treatment, social exclusion, or even violence. It worsens social cohesiveness and maintains inequality.
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Stereotypes
Outgroup bias involves the usage of stereotypes, which are oversimplified and generalised views about members of a certain group. Stereotyping also involves making unfavourable judgements.
Stereotypes can cause people to be judged negatively, unfairly evaluated, and assumed to be members of a particular group without considering their distinctive traits and skills.
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Conflict and Hatred Between Groups
Discrimination against members of the minority group is a factor in these issues. It strengthens divisions and encourages an “us versus them” mentality, which prevents cooperation and understanding between various groups and can obstruct efforts to overcome common problems, collaboration, and social progress.
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Reduced Empathy and Compassion
Outgroup bias frequently results in diminished empathy and sympathy for outgroup members. There is less support for their rights and well-being as it becomes harder to comprehend and relate to their experiences.
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Inaccurate Judgments and Decision-Making
Decision-making and judgment processes can be affected by outgroup prejudice. Outgroup members may experience unfair policies, unequal opportunities, and restricted resource access when prejudiced ideas and attitudes inform decision-making.
Outgroup VS Ingroup Bias
Both are cognitive biases serving different purposes in our lives. One causes us to favour people with whom we identify ourselves, or the other causes us to show dislike towards members of groups with whom we don’t identify ourselves.
One is opposite to another, let’s have a look at them briefly.
| Outgroup Bias | Ingroup Bias |
|---|---|
| Outgroup bias is a kind of cognitive bias that tends humans to show dislike or negative behaviour towards people from other groups like from the social class, race, religion etc. | Ingroup bias is a kind of cognitive bias that tends humans to favour people by giving priority to them on the base of the same group like social class, race, religion, etc. |
| For example, while watching a football match, a spectator tends to show a disrespectful attitude towards the spectators of the opposing team. | For example, if you are watching a football match and you have an extra pass, you will most likely offer that pass to the fans of your team, not to the opposing team. |
Examples of Outgroup Bias
Outgroup bias influences our actions, from our day-to-day activities to once-in-a-while activities like deciding about the car or smartphone to buy. Most of the time, we are unaware that the decision we are making is not based on rational thinking or logic but on a bias named outgroup.
Let’s look at different examples to understand how it works in our lives.
Daily Life
Our day-to-day actions are full of examples reflecting the effect of outgroup bias on our psychology. We usually buy the clothes worn by members of our group, not by others, like buying a suit, because most of the people from our social class do so.
Choosing Restaurant
A person who is a member of the elite class of society doesn’t prefer to buy food from street vendors but instead goes to a fine-dining restaurant. He does so because he doesn’t want to mingle with people of the lower class and share the same space with common people because he dislikes people who don’t belong to his group.
So we choose a restaurant to eat at, mostly not because of the taste but because we want to feel privileged.
Education
People from Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc, become the victim of outgroup bias while making decisions about the education of their children. They prefer to educate their children in institutions that only cater to their class so that their children don’t have to mingle with people from other groups.
Choosing School
At the time of the children’s admission to the school, parents try to get their children admitted to the schools of their class like people from the elite class get their children admitted to the schools of the elite class not only because of the quality of education. But mainly because of the hatred towards the lower classes of society.
Healthcare
If a person gets sick, he prefers to go to the hospital where he knows the people from his group come. People do so because of their bias towards people or things associated with them.
Choosing Hospital
If a billionaire gets sick, he prefers a hospital mostly treating business tycoons so that he feels privileged and gets the premium treatment that his group members are getting. He can go to any public hospital, but he can’t go there because he dislikes the people of other groups.
Finance
Outgroup bias causes disparity in the wages of employees working in the same positions but from different groups. It also restricts access to more opportunities for financial success by segregating between kinds of people.
Deciding Wages
For example, a company has hired two people for the same position but with different wage scales. One is from the black group, and the other is from the white group.
Suppose the person hiring is from the white group. In that case, he will give more benefits and chances to the employee of his group and show a discriminatory attitude towards the employee from the group because of the outgroup bias.
Frequently Asked Questions
The tendency of people to have unfavourable attitudes, stereotypes, or discriminatory behaviours towards members of groups they see as distinct from their own, is known as outgroup bias or outgroup discrimination.
Cognitive processes like social identity formation, intergroup rivalry and conflicts, a lack of exposure to different viewpoints, cultural or societal norms reinforcing stereotypes, and individual differences in attitudes and beliefs can all contribute to outgroup bias.
Yes, outgroup bias is an issue because of its potential harm to individuals and society.
Outgroup bias in educational institutes can lead to social exclusion, reduced academic performance due to stereotype threat, unequal distribution of resources, limited interactions between students from different backgrounds, and discriminatory treatment.
