When Strangers Divide: The Power of Small Differences

People often think that discrimination happens because of group differences. But what if it's not that simple? What if it's more about how we see ourselves compared to others, even when there are no clear groups? Researchers wanted to find out if people treat others differently based on tiny, random differences. They did seven experiments with over 1, 400 people. In these experiments, people were given a chance to divide resources between themselves and a stranger. The stranger was chosen based on random things like a coin flip, a number guess, or a painting choice. The results were surprising. People gave 43. 1% more money to those who were similar to them, even when the similarity was based on something as small as a coin flip. This means that people might be discriminating against others based on tiny, random differences, not just big group differences.This is a big deal. It shows that discrimination might be more common and more complicated than we thought. It's not just about big groups; it's about how we see ourselves compared to others, even when the differences are tiny. This research suggests that our brains might have a built-in way of treating differences more negatively than similarities. This could change how we think about discrimination and how we try to stop it. The study also opens up new questions. If people discriminate based on tiny differences, how can we change this? And what does this mean for how we treat each other in everyday life? This research is important because it shows that discrimination is not just about big groups. It's about how we see ourselves compared to others, even when the differences are tiny. This could change how we think about discrimination and how we try to stop it.