“Ins and outs”: Ethnic identity, the need to belong, and responses to inclusion and exclusion in inclusive common ingroups

Abstract

An often overlooked aspect of intergroup relations is how people react to inclusion in a beneficial superordinate category. To examine this issue, we conducted four studies ( N = 1,686) in Kosovo about the European Union (EU), using adult (Studies 1, 3, 4) and adolescent (Study 2) samples. We employed experimental designs (Studies 1, 3, 4) and a two-wave longitudinal design (Study 2). In Studies 1–3, we assessed ethnic identification before exposing participants to one of three experimental conditions: inclusion in the superordinate category, exclusion, or a control. Results showed that individuals with low ethnic identification perceived less discrimination (i.e., less unfair treatment), greater metahumanization (i.e., being seen as equal), and less collective victimhood (i.e., lower feelings of being unjustly targeted) in the inclusion condition compared to exclusion or control conditions, whereas those with high ethnic identification exhibited the opposite reactions regardless of condition. In Study 4, we assessed the need to belong to the EU and ethnic identification before exposing participants to similar conditions. Results showed that individuals with a high need to belong to the EU perceived less discrimination, greater metahumanization, and lower collective victimhood in the inclusion condition compared to other conditions, regardless of ethnic identification. This pattern also held for those with a low need to belong to the EU and low ethnic identification. However, it did not appear for those with a low need to belong to the EU and high ethnic identification, whose reactions to inclusion differed from those of participants in other conditions. These effects were mediated by collective victimhood.