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Beyond Colors: Communication and Social Identity in Natural Groups

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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.

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  • Giovanni Di Bartolomeo & Stefano Papa & Alessandra Pelloni, 2025. "Beyond Colors: Communication and Social Identity in Natural Groups," CEIS Research Paper 610, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 10 Sep 2025.
    • Handle: RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:610
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    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General

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