Post #4092334
2026-06-13 16:24 UTC
Next, the researchers tell you that they've measured the preferences of *many* people, and you're going to represent the Kandinsky team in a series of games. Your team is up against the Klee team.
Crucially, you've never seen your fellow Kandinsky teammates face to face. You have no idea if you share common backgrounds or attitudes. How do you think you'd feel?
Would you fight hard for your team to win?
Would you think Kandinsky folks are smarter, kinder, and more handsome than Klee folks?
Replies (1)
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@grimalkina@mastodon.social 2026-06-13 16:25
The remarkable thing is that you probably would. This is a methodology developed by Henri Tafjel in the 1970s, and it came to be known as the "minimal groups paradigm." What’s remarkable is how much the minimal groups paradigm pulls a fast one on our social categorizing. People assigned to arbitrary groups immediately form strong allegiances, even though they haven’t been given any other psychologically meaningful cues about their group