Effects of group membership, relative performance, and self-interest on the division of outcomes.

Each of 105 male undergraduates divided a fixed prize of $3 between 2 competitors. Three factors were varied: (a) group membership of Person 2 (in-group or out-group), (b) relative performance of Person 1 (higher or lower than Person 2, and (c) participation in the prize (Person 1 was self or another in-group member). Low-performing Ss allocated to high performers more than high-performing Ss allocated to themselves and more than nonparticipants allocated to high performers. The largest amount allocated to low performers occurred in the allocation by a nonparticipant to a low-performing in-group member who was competing against an out-group person. Results do not fit 2 existing theoretical analyses of group bias. Instead, results indicate the importance of impression management. The fixed prize induced a substantial number of winner-take-all allocations, rarely found when the prize is determined by the sum of the performances. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)