Concept · Cognitive Bias: Social and group biases
Minimal group paradigm effects
Origin: Tajfel et al., 1971
Biological Parallel
Ants from the same colony recognize nestmates through shared hydrocarbon profiles—a chemical badge acquired through contact, not genetics. Experiments show ants will accept foreign larvae if they acquire the colony odor, treating them as in-group despite zero genetic relationship. This minimal cue triggering maximum favoritism evolved because in ancestral environments, superficial markers reliably correlated with kinship—natural selection built fast heuristics, not perfect discrimination, making arbitrary group markers potent triggers for coalitional psychology.