Low status groups show in-group favoritism to compensate for their low status and to compete for higher status.

The present research investigated the intergroup allocation behavior of members of low-status groups. In two studies where status relations were either relatively illegitimate (Study 1, <em>N</em> = 139) or legitimate (Study 2, <em>N</em> = 114), undergraduate students completed a minimal group resource allocation task that took into account the intergroup status hierarchy. In both studies, members of low-status groups showed two forms of in-group favoritism. They selected resource allocation choices that (a) compensated for their low status and led to intergroup fairness (<em>compensatory favoritism</em>) and (b) competed with the out-group for status and led to positive distinctiveness for the in-group (<em>competitive favoritism</em>). These results suggest that members of low-status groups use in-group favoritism to make their group (a) <em>as good as</em> the high-status out-group and (b) <em>better than</em> the high-status out-group. The findings support the idea that in-group favoritism can serve different functions.本研究考察了低地位群体成员的群间资源分配行为。在两项地位关系分别为相对不合法（研究1，被试量N=139）与相对合法（研究2，N=114）的研究中，大学生被试完成了一项纳入群间地位层级的最小群体资源分配任务（minimal group resource allocation task）。两项研究均发现，低地位群体成员表现出两种形式的内群体偏好（in-group favoritism）：其一为补偿性偏好（compensatory favoritism），即选择能够弥补自身低地位、实现群间公平的资源分配方案；其二为竞争性偏好（competitive favoritism），即选择与外群体争夺地位、为内群体赢得积极独特性的资源分配方案。上述结果表明，低地位群体成员通过内群体偏好，可使自身群体（a）「媲美」高地位外群体，（b）「优于」高地位外群体。本研究结果支持了内群体偏好可发挥不同功能这一理论观点。