Overlap of Self, Ingroup, and Outgroup: Pictorial Measures of Self-Categorization

Everyday language suggests that spatial metaphors are used to describe one’s relation to a group and the relation between two groups. Building on previous work in the domain of interpersonal relations, three graphical items for the overlap of self and ingroup, self and outgroup, and ingroup and outgroup are proposed. Three survey studies with different types of groups show the convergent validity of these items. Assessments of subjective interpretations of the graphical scales corroborate the correlational evidence. Finally, an experimental study con®rms that the corre-lations between the three items are sensible indicators of self-categorization as determined by the intergroup context. For describing our relation to a group, we often use the language of spatial meta-phors: We enter or leave a group; we distance ourselves from a group or are in the inner circle. Finally, we can be simply in a group, which then becomes an ingroup: The interrelational constructs (Higgins Chaires, 1980) in and out denoting ingroup and outgroup are spatial metaphors. In many cases, this language ®ts the actual behavior in the social environment, where attitudes between social groups are expressed in spatial arrangements (Campbell, Kruskal, Wallace, 1966). However, social psychological concepts for one’s relation to a group, such as identi®cation and self-categorization, in general ignore the spatial dimension. The present research shows that one’s relation to a group and the perception of the intergroup context can be assessed with graphical measures that depict spatial relations. We will ®rst review previous approaches in this direction, and then propose a new scale. Convergent and discriminant validity of the scale is demonstrated in four validation studies and one experimental study.