On the nonconscious antecedents of social identification: Ingroup salience, outgroup salience, or both?

Recent research has demonstrated that the self is subject to a variety of subtle influences. To date, however, little research has examined nonconscious factors that influence one's social identity. Unlike most self-conceptions, a person's social identity can be determined not only by the presence of one's own group, but also by the presence of a relevant outgroup. Across two studies, we explored whether the nonconscious presence of ingroup and outgroup stimuli, presented alone and in combination, would lead to increases in conscious social identification with one's ingroup. Consistent with our predictions, we found that the highest level of ingroup identification resulted from the subliminal presentation of both ingroup and outgroup symbols, compared with presentation of either type of symbol in isolation. Results are discussed with respect to social identity perspectives and nonconscious influences on self-conceptions and behavior.