When the Black Sheep Is Not So «Black»: Social Comparison as a Standard for Ingroup Evaluation in Classrooms

Previous research (Marques & Levine, 2016) suggests that the black sheep effect refers to the tendency of people to evaluate ingroup deviants members more negatively than outgroup deviants members. School students (N = 60) evaluated negative and positive performances attributed respectively to ingroup and outgroup members (unfavorable comparison) and negative performances attributed to both ingroup and outgroup members (neutral comparison). Results show that negative performances from ingroup members are less devaluated in the unfavorable comparisons condition than in the neutral comparisons condition and this effect is moderated by identification with their own school. Moreover, results show that in the unfavorable comparison condition students perceived a greater threat to their social identity than in the neutral comparison condition. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the black sheep categorization and ingroup bias in a school context.