INGROUP IDENTIFICATION AND INGROUP PROJECTION IN FANFICTION AND STAR WARS FANS

Abstract

Ingroup projection is the tendency of ingroup members to project characteristics of their subgroup onto a larger superordinate category which can lead to bias favoring the ingroup over an outgroup. In the present research we examined ingroup projection as a mediator of the association between ingroup identification and ingroup bias in two fan communities. Fanfiction fans (Study 1) and Star Wars fans (Study 2) completed measures of group identification (subgroup and superordinate group), ingroup projection, and ingroup bias. The results showed that for members of both communities, subgroup identification predicted ingroup bias. Furthermore, the association was mediated by ingroup projection. The results provide new evidence supporting the increasingly-substantiated notion that the group processes driving fan communities are the same as those driving non-recreational and well-researched groups.