Beyond Colors: Communication and Social Identity in Natural Groups

Giovanni Di Bartolomeo (), Stefano Papa () and Alessandra Pelloni ()
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Giovanni Di Bartolomeo: Università di Roma La Sapienza
Stefano Papa: DEF, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata", http://www.ceistorvergata.it
Alessandra Pelloni: DEF, Università di Roma "Tor Vergata", http://www.ceistorvergata.it

No 610, CEIS Research Paper from Tor Vergata University, CEIS

Abstract: This paper examines whether communication can mitigate in-group favoritism when group membership is based on a real-life trait (Italian vs. non-Italian citizenship among university students) rather than artificially induced, as in the minimal group paradigm. In our natural group setting, the identity effect is presumably stronger, making bias harder to counter. We do not find that communication significantly increases cooperation. Moreover, it does not reduce favoritism. However, the exchange of mutual promises increases cooperation and reduce in-group bias. A notable finding not found in previous studies is that gender differences also emerge: Italian males exhibit stronger in-group bias than females, whereas the opposite holds true among non-Italians. Overall, our findings confirm that not all groups are alike and that results from minimal group experiments may not always generalize to natural groups.

Keywords: In-group bias; promises; exogenous variation; natural groups; gender effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 C91 D03 D64 D90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2025-09-10, Revised 2025-09-10
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