Collective identity and intergroup prejudice among Jewish and Arab students in the United States

Relationships between indicators of collective identity (collective self-esteem, religious involvement, and involvement in ethnic organizations) and prejudice toward the other-group were examined in a sample of Jewish and Arab students in the United States. Contrary to expectations, collective identity variables were largely unrelated to prejudice among the Jewish students, although the Jewish students who expressed the least amount of anti-Arab sentiment were those who were the most religious. As expected, the Arab students who (a) had low public collective self-esteem and (b) were highly involved in religious and ethnic organizations tended to be the most prejudiced. The findings for Arab students, in particular, contradict findings obtained in the laboratory, using the minimal intergroup paradigm, and suggest that individuals who are highly involved in in-group activities but believe their group is not viewed favorably by others may derogate the members of a salient out-group in an attempt to acquire a more positive social identity.