Self-anchoring as predictor of in-group favoritism: Is it applicable to real group contexts?

There is firm evidence that egocentric projection from the individual self to the in-group can account for in-group favoritism (Cadinu & Rothbart, 1996). It has been shown that ratings of the personal, uncategorized self significantly predicted the favorability of in-group ratings (Often & Wentura, 2001). Moreover, varying the accessibility of the personal self prior to in-group ratings affected in-group bias. So far, however, self-anchoring has only been investigated for minimal groups. Does this process also account for variance in in-group bias in real group contexts? The present study investigated this option in a study involving high school students who rated themselves as an individual, students (in-group), and teachers (out-group). Evidence for self-in-group similarity and for its link to in-group favoritism was found. In sum, the findings suggest that the impact of self-anchoring on intergroup judgments is not limited to minimal groups. The implications of these results and further possibilities to disentangle self-anchoring and self-stereotyping as relevant processes underlying in-group favoritism are discussed.