COLLECTIVE SELF-ESTEEM AND INGROUP BIAS

In addition to personal self-esteem, we propose that there is a second type of self-esteem, collective self-esteem. People who are high in trait collective self-esteem should be more likely to react to threats to collective self-esteem by derogating outgroups and enhancing the ingroup. In a study using the minimal intergroup paradigm, trait personal and collective self-esteem were measured, and subjects received information about the average performance of their group. Subjects high in collective self-esteem varied their ratings of above-average and below-average scorers on the test in an ingroup-enhancing fashion, whereas those low in collective self-esteem did not. Analyses based on personal self-esteem did not show this interaction. We conclude that collective self-esteem is an individual difference variable that may moderate the attempt to maintain a positive social identity. The relation between collective and personal self-esteem is discussed.