INGROUP OUTGROUP BALANCE AND INTERDEPENDENT INTERETHNIC BEHAVIOR

The effects of ingroup/outgroup balance and situational interdependence on interethnic competitive behavior of Anglos and Hispanics were examined. Equal numbers of male and female Anglo and Hispanic subjects (N = 240) were exposed to either cooperative or competitive interdependent feedback in six-person, same-sex groups. Ingroup/outgroup balance was manipulated by varying the ratio of Anglos to Hispanics from 1:5 through 6:0 (in both ethnic directions). With the single exception of the solo (1:5) condition in which Anglos cooperated and Hispanics competed with equal levels of intensity, the response patterns of the two ethnic groups were strikingly similar under the competitive interdependence condition. However, ingroup/outgroup balance had a drastic impact on the behavior of Hispanics under a cooperative feedback condition. Hispanics engaged in intense intergroup competition (sought relative gain) in both the solo and the minority condition (2:4), but they cooperated (sought absolute gain) when their ingroup/outgroup balance was equal, majority, extreme majority, and exclusive. In contrast, the behavior of Anglos exposed to the same cooperative feedback condition was minimally affected by changes in ingroup/outgroup balance. These results are discussed in terms of Social Identity Theory and its limitations within the context of Anglo-Hispanic relations in the United States. © 1991.