Tajfel et al. (1971): Kandinsky vs Klee Experiment
1.
Aim
To investigate how minimal groups affect behavior
2.
Method
An experimental study consisting of 64 British School Boys
3.
Procedure
Participants were shown 12 slides portraying diffe4rent
paintings and asked to express their preferences; designed to create
"group identity"
Participants were then assigned
to two separate groups
Each participant was then presented
with a series of matrices to distribute points to two other
participants, one from his same group (in-group) and one from the
other group (out-group)
4.
Results
Participants showed in-group favoritism, preferring to allocate
more points to their in-groups instead of the out-group
In
addition, they showed positive distinctiveness since participants
would sacrifice gain for their in-group in order to maximize the
difference with the out-group
5.
Conclusion
Participants adopted a strategy of in-group favoritism and
positive distinctiveness which supports the predictions of the
social identity theory
Study demonstrates how social
categorization triggered discrimination and prejudice between
groups; supports formation of stereotyping by product of social
categorization.