An experimental paradigm to investigate the effect of motivated beliefs on information processing and social comparison
Our social identity and self-perception hinge on a web of beliefs about ourselves, our relationships and comparison with others, and the social structure in general. These beliefs serve the goals of self-categorization, self-enhancement (self-esteem and self-efficacy), and persuasion of others and are thus usually biased (overconfidence, self-serving bias, self-deception, better-than-average effect, intergroup bias, system justification). The motivation to preserve these self-enhancing beliefs affects our information search, processing and retainment as well as our social behaviour. Our goal is to explore the interaction between self-enhancing beliefs and social identity. An important moderating parameter in these phenomena is the existence of groups and group memberships, both achieved and inherited. However, developing meaningful groupings in controlled laboratory settings has remained elusive in most cases, with researchers settling either for laboratory experiments with minimal groups or for observational studies with already existing groups. In order to tackle this issue, we are developing a new experimental paradigm wheredifficulty of task, information provided, and reward schemes among different groups are manipulated. This design allows us to manipulate ingroup and intergroup competition as well as social mobility, that is, the possibility for participants to choose among groups, with the associated costs and benefits for such group membership choices and changes. Through this paradigm we will be able to investigate the effect of motivated beliefs on information processing, social comparison and prosocial behaviour.