In-n-out groups

In and out is not just for burgers, it is also for groups! Sociologists use the terms ingroup and outgroup to refer to groups that you are either a member of (ingroup) or not a member of (outgroup).

To illustrate this, today I separated the class into two different groups.   To put it another way, I created an ingroup and an outgroup for each student.  Each group made a list of reasons why the other group was wearing what they were wearing. Every time I do this lesson, the reasons break down into judgments against the other group.

For example:

In just a few minutes, I created an in-group and out-group.  Some years I divide students by who is wearing jeans, or who is wearing green and gold or who is wearing gym shoes.  Regardless, a similar result happens.   Students generalize about the other group and pass judgments.   This is a small example of what happens with ingroups and outgroups.  Imagine how much we are affected by the ingroups and outgroups that we experience from the time we are young.

In discussing the different groups that make up society, we see that there are in-groups and out-groups. Here are the important concepts you should understand about ingroups and outgroups:

Ingroups are groups that an individual is in. You have membership in it, and because of that, you feel aligned to the group and you have ownership in it.  It is easier for individuals to recognize the diversity within their ingroups.

Out-groups, by contrast, are the groups that one is not a part of.  People tend to not trust outgroups and judge them more.  This can result in people unnecessarily fearing outgroups and scapegoating problems on them.  They also tend to see outgroups as being less diverse and having less individuality/differences than those of an ingroup.  This is known as outgroup homogeneity.

As this semester goes on, be mindful of the groups that we talk about that you are not a part of. You must make a conscious effort to understand these groups. Try to become conscious of your unconscious judgments so that you can work against fears and judgments that are unfounded.  And be conscious of how you might view outgroups as inaccurately homogeneous.

Applying ingroup/outgroup dynamics to your research:

Think back to the research article that you found for this unit.  Was the research focused on an ingroup or outgroup for you?   How might your research shed light on this group to avoid viewing the group with outgroup homogeneity?

Here is a 2017 news article that explains how outgroup homogeneity and fear have a real impact 

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/psychology-hate-groups-what-drives-someone-join-one-n792941

Much of hate is based in fear, said Dr. A.J. Marsden, an assistant professor of psychology at Beacon College in Leesburg, Florida — "basically, fear of the unknown, fear of what might happen and fear of anything that's different than you or falls outside your definition of what's supposed to be normal."
"We establish ourselves as a tribe, and we say this is the group for which I have a love for, for which I identify with" Marsden cited Islamophobia as an example."There's a lot of hatred in the United States toward Muslims," she said. "One of the reasons is they don't understand the religion. ... There's a lot that they don't know, and that scares them, because there is a small part of Muslims who are violent, and that is what is driving the hate."
That concept is known as the "in-group/out-group theory" — the idea that people tend to define themselves in social groupings and are quick to degrade those who don't fit into those groups."

Outgroup homogeneity and terrorism in 2017 media coverage

http://www.wbur.org/npr/532963059/when-is-it-terrorism-how-the-media-covers-attacks-by-muslim-perpetrators

"New research from Erin Kearns and colleagues at Georgia State University shows that the president is right — sort of. There is a systematic bias in the way terrorism is covered — just not in the way the president thinks.
Kearns says the "terrorism" label is often only applied to cases where the perpetrator is Muslim. And, those cases also receive significantly more news coverage.
"When the perpetrator is Muslim, you can expect that attack to receive about four and a half times more media coverage than if the perpetrator was not Muslim," Kearns says. Put another way, "a perpetrator who is not Muslim would have to kill on average about seven more people to receive the same amount of coverage as a perpetrator who's Muslim."
Perhaps these findings are not all that surprising to you. But there are disturbing implications for the way Americans perceive Muslims, and the way Muslims perceive themselves."

Ingroups and transforming a white supremacist

And this episode of On Being demonstrates how creating an ingroup can also create empathy.

"We'd heard Derek Black, the former white power heir apparent, interviewed before about his past. But never about the friendships, with other people in their twenties, that changed him. After his ideology was outed at college, one of the only orthodox Jews on campus invited Derek to Shabbat dinner. What happened over the next two years is like a roadmap for transforming some of the hardest territory of our time."

Connecting research, ingroups-outgroups, mindfulness and the fear of guns v. terrorism

https://qz.com/898207/the-psychology-of-why-americans-are-more-scared-of-terrorism-than-guns-though-guns-are-3210-times-likelier-to-kill-them/

According to the New America Foundation, jihadists killed 94 people inside the United States between 2005 and 2015. During that same time period, 301,797 people in the US were shot dead, Politifact reports.  But... Americans are more afraid of terrorism than they are of guns, despite the fact that guns are 3,210 times more likely to kill them.
Chapman University has conducted a Survey of American Fears for more than three years. It asks 1,500 adults what they fear the most. It organizes the fears into categories that include personal fears, conspiracy theories, terrorism, natural disasters, paranormal fears, and more recently, fear of Muslims.
In 2016, Americans’ number-one fear was “corruption of government officials”—the same top fear as in 2015.  Terrorist attacks came second.  In fact, of the top five fears, two are terror-related.  And number five is not fear of guns but fear of government restrictions on guns.  Fear of a loved one dying—whether by gun violence or anything else—came next.
... after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, people began flying less and driving more. The result, estimated Gerd Gigerenzer, a German risk specialist, was that 1,595 more Americans died in road accidents during the 12 months after 9/11 than would have otherwise.  Michael Rothschild, then an emeritus professor at the University of Wisconsin, calculated some of the risks we face:
One in 6 million: Risk of dying in a plane hijacking, assuming you fly four times a month and hijackers destroy one plane every year. (Just to be clear, since 9/11, hijackers have not destroyed any flights in the US.)
One in 7,000: the risk of dying in a car accident in any given year
One in 600: the risk of dying from cancer in any given year
According to data compiled from the Centers for Disease Control, over 2005-2014, an average of 11,737 Americans a year were shot dead by another American (21 of them by toddlers), 737 were killed by falling out of bed, and nine were killed by Islamic jihadists—who in most cases were US citizens, not immigrants (Nearly twice as many Americans kill themselves with guns as kill each other).

In this example, the media and most Americans see terrorists as an outgroup and because some terrorists claimed to act in the name of Islam, Americans stereotype the category of Muslims into terrorist.  The fear, mistrust and stereotype result from most Americans seeing them as an outgroup.

For Student Discussion:

How does this article illustrate that sociology is more than common sense?
What types of research does the article use?
How might ingroup-outgroup mentality play a role in the article's conclusions?
How can we be mindful about our fears?

Outgroups, Stereotypes and Islam

Here is a link to a video called I am an American that shows the dangerous stereotypes that outgroup homogeneity can lead to.

In this case, Islam is the example, but it could be any religion, ethnicity or group. United States' history is littered with examples of groups that have been scapegoated and vilified. This is how  Muslims have been treated in many cases in post-911 America. But I have had so many Muslim students who prove that this is just a stereotype. And that is what this video is showing. There are caring, loving, neighborly Muslims all around us but extreme stereotypes lead us to only see the stereotype and ignore the reality.  Here is a link to a page hoping to end stereotypes about Muslims.

In fact, in the wake of 9/11, many Muslims were stereotyped as terrorists and some were victims of vengeful hate crimes.  But because of outgroup homogeneity, the first person murdered as a hateful vengeance for 9/11 was not even Muslim or Arab - he was Sikh.  His name is Balbir Singh Sodhi   Here is his story on NPR's Story Corps.   And 15 years later, Sikhs are still being victimized.  But Sodhi's brother has made it his mission to preach forgiveness.





Here is a Muslim former student of mine, Amina Amdeen on NPR's Story Corps who makes me so proud.

Here is NPR's coverage of the story.

The Creation of Ingroups and Empathy

http://www.pbs.org/program/american-creed/

Cubs Joe Maddon's "Hazelton Integration Project is a great example of how creating ingroups can help people bridge outgroups like race, immigration status and social class.  Essentially Coach Maddon did what I did in class: He created ingroups.  Except, he did it to create bonds between the group members so that they would no longer see each other through the outgroup lens creating mistrust, hate and stereotypes.

Ingroups and Middle School Cliques

Here is an ethnography by Patricia and Peter Adler about adolescent cliques and how they create ingroups/outgroups and stereotypes.

Ingroups and Jane Elliot's Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes

 Jane Elliot, a teacher in the 1960s conducted an experiment in her third grade classroom to show the power of ingroups and outgroups.  

You can watch the whole video on Frontline's website.

And there is an updated version of this. Jane Elliot returns to do the experiment with college kids. It is called Angry Eye. Here is the link to watch it on mediacast.

I think that the point of sociological mindfulness is becoming more aware of others and part of that awareness is an understanding of how we may have portrayed that group in our own minds. So understanding the idea of in-group/out-group dynamics is easy but applying it to ourselves is the challenging part. In this TED talk by Sam Richards, he explains how understanding outgroups might lead to a radical experiment in empathy. Check it out:



Now think about your own life.  What are your in groups?  What are the outgroups that you could become more aware of, more empathetic to?