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Ingroup favoritism has been widely verified in the context of intergroup competition; however, how competition among ingroup members affects ingroup favoritism remains unclear. We hypothesized that competition among ingroup members may disrupt individuals’ ingroup-favoring behavior because of conflicts of interest; we tested this hypothesis in two studies. In Study 1, we manipulated competitive intragroup outcome interdependence (present vs. absent) and the manner in which results were presented (public vs. anonymous). We found that regardless of result presentation, when competitive intragroup outcome interdependence was present, ingroup members did not exhibit ingroup favoritism; when such interdependence was absent, they showed ingroup favoritism. In Study 2, we introduced the manipulation of social identification, and reverified the main result that individuals under competitive intragroup outcome interdependence do not exhibit ingroup favoritism. Even the degree of social identification—a vital factor for intergroup behavior—could not moderate the destructive effect of competitive intragroup outcome interdependence on ingroup favoritism. Together, these findings indicate that ingroup favoritism would indeed be damaged by competition among ingroup members.

We examined whether a sense of control affects the relationship between low status and aggression among Chinese undergraduate students. A sample of 195 undergraduates in Study 1 completed anonymous questionnaires regarding their sense of control and trait aggression. Results showed that a greater sense of control was associated with less trait aggression among low-status participants, whereas no significant relationship was observed between sense of control and trait aggression among high-status participants. In Study 2, we further tested the effect of predictive control on aggression among low-status undergraduates using an experimental manipulation of predictive control, and found that low-status participants in a condition that fostered predictive control behaved less aggressively than did low-status participants in a condition that did not foster predictive control. Our findings indicate that when low-status people perceive a greater sense of control, their inclination to behave aggressively is decreased to some extent.

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