Social presence and isolation effects on intergroup bias: Task matters

Abstract

Abstract

This paper examines whether and how intergroup bias, typically studied in explicitly social contexts, extends to conditions of social isolation. Prior research has yielded mixed findings, varying both in how social contexts are operationalized and in how bias is assessed. Across two experiments, we compared intergroup bias under conditions of complete social isolation and co-action (social presence). Bias was measured using the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Experiment 1) and the Weapon Identification Task (WIT; Experiment 2). Results from both experiments demonstrated that intergroup bias reliably emerges even when individuals are socially isolated. However, partially replicating earlier findings, the IAT revealed lower levels of bias when participants were alone, whereas in the WIT, social isolation improved response control without reducing the magnitude of bias. These findings suggest that the expression of intergroup bias depends jointly on social context and task characteristics, pointing to distinct underlying cognitive mechanisms. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding how social presence and task demands shape intergroup cognition.