Individualism, collectivism and social identity theory

The studies presented in this chapter concern social identity theory and the model proposed by Hinkle and Brown (1990). To test the model, the hypothesis that the relation between identification and ingroup bias is valid only for allocentrics with relational orientation was translated into the hypothesis of an interaction, namely a multiplicative relationship, between the three determinants of favouritism: collectivism, identification, relational orientation. Multiple regression was used. In both the superior and the inferior group the above interaction was not significant. The most general result is the reliability of the interaction collectivism by identification. It was found, that is, that there was a reliable correlation between identification and ingroup bias for idiocentrics but not for allocentrics. Moreover, in the superior group, relational orientation has a negative relation with the measures of ingroup bias. Therefore, the results are quite contrary to the Hinkle-Brown model.