Michael Billig

Michael Billig

Michael Billig is a social psychologist and first author, with Henri Tajfel, of Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour (European Journal of Social Psychology, 1973). The study assigned people to random categories and found own-category favouring once the idea of a group was introduced. He was also second author of the 1971 experiments that introduced the minimal group paradigm.

Who they are

Billig is a social psychologist whose published experiments on social categorization are cited in the article on in-group bias. This page is limited to that published work; a fuller biography has not been added.

Key papers

  • Billig and Tajfel (1973), Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour, European Journal of Social Psychology 3(1), 27-52. Participants placed in random categories with no real similarity among members favoured their own category once the concept of a group was introduced. The favouring was stronger than when groups were formed from similarities between individuals, and fairness also influenced decisions.
  • Tajfel, Billig, Bundy and Flament (1971), Social categorization and intergroup behaviour, European Journal of Social Psychology 1(2), 149-178. Groups formed on a trivial basis; participants divided rewards and penalties and favoured their own group.

Key ideas

The 1973 paper separates two possible sources of own-group favouring, the idea of a group and similarity among individuals, and reports the first as the stronger. The authors discuss the findings in relation to a social-cognitive theory of intergroup behaviour.

Sources

  1. Billig, M., & Tajfel, H. (1973). Social categorization and similarity in intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 3(1), 27-52. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420030103
  2. Tajfel, H., Billig, M. G., Bundy, R. P., & Flament, C. (1971). Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1(2), 149-178. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420010202