goodenomics™

The evidence

In-group favouritism: your people first

How little does it take to favour your own side? In the classic experiments, a label was enough.

A scene from The Rescue, the journey where the game asks this question.
A scene from the game, as it is drawn: one handwritten line at a time.

In-group favouritism (the minimal group effect)

Favouring people who share a meaningless label with you over people who do not.

What the study found

In 1971, schoolboys sorted into groups by a trivial test, such as over- or under-estimating dots, divided real money between two other boys. They favoured the boy from their own group. In a second series they often chose to maximise the gap between the groups, even at the cost of other gains such as more money in total.

Source: Tajfel, H., Billig, M. G., Bundy, R. P., & Flament, C. (1971). Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology 1(2), 149-178. doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420010202

How to read this

These are the answers of particular people, asked in a particular way, at a particular time. A share of people is not a verdict: it tells you what they answered, not what is right.

Where the game asks it

The Rescue (Where does your circle end?), The Review (What would change your mind?). The game’s versions with family, age, consent and combined pressures are new comparisons written for it. They are not copies of the experiments, and no population percentages are claimed for them.

Play The Rescue Free. No account. Your place is saved on your device.

More evidence