Welcome to The Simplify Your Life Podcast, where we talk about how to create a life you won’t need an escape from! I’m Coach Simona, author of the book “111 Ways to Simplify Your Life”, and I’m glad you decided to tune in!
Now, before we start discussing in-group favoritism and exploring some helpful examples when it comes to this cognitive distortion, I want to remind you that this is episode 13 of the Cognitive Biases series and there will be 2 more to come in the upcoming months, so stay tuned for that.
I’ve also created a special YouTube playlist, so you can listen to all the episodes on cognitive biases by visiting: youtube.com/coachsimona Now, before we explore in group favoritism in-depth, let’s clarify what a cognitive bias actually means. A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that affects the decisions and judgments that you make. Another popular term that has the exact same meaning as cognitive biases is cognitive distortion.
Now, as we mentioned, the cognitive bias we’re going to explore in-depth today is called in group favoritism. What does this cognitive distortion actually mean? In-group favoritism also known as in-group bias refers to having a pattern of favoring members of one's in-group over out-group members. For example, when two rival sports teams face off in a game, the team you support is the in-group, while the other team is the out-group.
Another example of in-group favoritism is having different views of the world when it comes to politics, religion, etc. In group favoritism is at play here. When you’re making the decision, you’re not viewing the situation objectively. You’re trying to feel like part of the group, and instead of challenging your assumptions, you prefer to relate to people who think exactly like you.
As with any other cognitive bias, in-group favoritism can be difficult to detect, so we need to be aware of its manifestations to be able to spot our error in thinking and choose a better, more objective view of the situation.
do we all struggle with in group favoritism or is that something that only happens to a handful of us? The answer is: probably yes. While we can’t confirm that that is the case for every single person on planet Earth, it’s definitely something that’s quite common for us, humans. We all have cognitive biases and blind spots, so although we may not struggle with in group favoritism per se, we’ll definitely have problems with
other cognitive biases. I’ve actually made a free downloadable cheat sheet with the top 15 cognitive biases that might be holding you back. So if you want to download it, just head over to: bit.ly/15biases Now, let’s go back to in group favoritism. Here are a few examples to illustrate this bias: In group favoritism can be spotted when someone is favoring only people from their own race, ethnicity, or nationality.
Another example of in group favoritism is the “we vs them” dynamic. It can take the form of being overly judgmental over another group in comparison to the group you belong to.
"We are so much smarter than them!" Dealing with in-group favoritism doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you or that you’re not being objective when it comes to other groups. This is a cognitive bias, which means it’s going to happen whether or not you want it to happen. So how can you change that? One thing you can do to become more aware of in group favoritism is to realize why it happens in the first place.
As humans, we tend to always try to belong to a group and feel like our beliefs are being validated by others. Realistic conflict theory suggests that ingroup bias arises due to competition between two or more groups for limited resources, such as jobs, money, or land. Whenever resources are at stake, people will favor their own group out of self-interest.
The more objective you are about your own cognitive biases, the easier it would be to spot in group favoritism next time you feel like you’re competing with another group for what you want to get out of life. As you can see, before we come to any conclusions, it would be beneficial to step back and assess the situation objectively. So, how can we do that? What can help a lot when it comes to spotting in group favoritism is to ask yourself the following questions: 1. Is this a fact?
2. What evidence can I collect to support this statement? 3. Am I being rational here, or is this a cognitive bias? 4. If this is a cognitive bias, which one is it? These questions will make even more sense as we go deeper into the Cognitive Biases series. If you’re curious to see what else we’re going to cover in the next few months, make sure to download your free cheat sheet by visiting: bit.ly/15biases
Thanks so much for tuning in! If you enjoyed this podcast episode, please like it, subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next one!