Research on common-ingroup identity has mainly focused on consequences and potential benefits of inclusive social categorizations. However, very little is yet known about processes and conditions that could facilitate such inclusive social categorizations. In this paper, with four studies (N = 582) set in a post-conflict context of Bosnia and Herzegovina and with members of two ethnic groups (Bosniaks and Serbs), we have demonstrated how perceptions of intergroup moral similarity can act as an important precursor of common-ingroup identity at the national level. We report both cross-sectional as well as experimental evidence demonstrating how perceptions of intergroup moral similarity boost common-ingroup identifications in socially relevant context using members of real adversary social groups. Moreover, we show that learning about outgroups' morally admirable behaviours can facilitate inclusive social categorizations.
Keywords: common-ingroup identity; groups' morality; intergroup conflict; intergroup perceptions; moral exemplars.
© 2023 The Authors. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.