Research in social psychology attempts to explain problematic as well as harmonious relations between social groups. We examine the question how members of social groups perceive and react to differences between own and other groups, all included in a common superordinate group. The ingroup projection model (IPM) has been proposed as an explanation for this question. It assumes that social discrimination develops by the projection of ingroup attributes onto the common superordinate group which are then taken as normative standards for the evaluation of all included groups. Tolerant attitudes develop when a common superordinate group, e. g. the society is perceived as complex to which both ingroup and outgroup fit equally well. In the current work we examine assumptions of the IPM in a longitudinal study on the relations between migrants and members of the receiving society which has been conducted in Belgium, England, and Germany. The results generally support the IPM by revealing that the common society is described predominantly by ingroup attributes leading to a perceived higher prototypicality of the ingroup relative to an outgroup. This, in turn, leads to a more positive evaluation of the ingroup, to prejudices, and social competition.

Prejudice Ingroup projection model Majority-minority relation Social discrimination Acculturation

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