Identity based decision makingHow our construal of group identity influences our behaviour

In the first condition of this experiment, participants (Manchester United supporters) were asked to fill out questionnaires about their interest in Manchester United and the degree to which they identified as being a fan

Please simply fill out your answers to the questions honestly

I love Man Utd – I just wish

Scholesy was still playing!

Participants were then asked to walk across campus to another room where they would watch a video about football teams

Along the way an accident was staged in which a runner tripped and fell

The runner was either wearing a Manchester United shirt, a Liverpool football shirt or a plain t-shirt

I really love Man U but I don’t think Van Gaal’s

up to the job

Turn left out the door and head straight across the road

Oh a fellow Man Utd supporter

Are you ok? Can I help?

I’m ok, thank you!

Aha - a Liverpool supporter… serves him

right!

I really do love Man U…

Participants were quicker and more likely to help the runner if they were wearing a Manchester United shirt than if they were wearing a Liverpool shirt or a plain t-shirt

In the second condition of this experiment, participants (still Manchester United supporters) were asked to fill out questionnaires about their interest in football and what they shared with other football fans

Please simply fill out your answers to the questions honestly

I love football – the

camaraderie is great!

Participants were again asked to walk across campus to another room where they would watch a video about football teams

Along the way they passed the same staged accident as in the first study

Again, the runner was either wearing a Manchester United shirt, a Liverpool shirt or a plain t-shirt

I really love football…

Turn left out the door and head straight across the road

Oh dear! A fellow football

supporter

Are you ok? Can I help?

Thank you!

Are you ok? Can I help?

I love football…

In this condition, participants were as likely to help the runner if they were wearing a Manchester United shirt or a Liverpool shirt

They remained less likely to help the runner in a plain t-shirt

Conclusions

1. Our social identity is malleable – we can be primed to think of ourselves as part of different groups

2. The degree to which we identify with other people at a moment in time, affects our behaviour towards them

ReferenceIdentity and Emergency Intervention: How Social Group Membership and Inclusiveness of Group Boundaries Shape Helping Behaviour Personal and Social Psychology Bulletin 2005, volume 31 by Mark Levine, Amy Prosser, David Evans and Stephen Reicher