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out-group

Definition of Out-group

(noun) Any group or category that an individual does not belong to as a member and may even feel animosity toward or compete with.

Example of Out-group

  • The visiting team (opposed to the home team or in-group) including their fans during a game of football.

Out-group Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: out group

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /OUt-groop/
  • British English – /OUt-groop/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈaʊtˌɡrup/
  • British English – /ˈaʊtɡruːp/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: out-groups
  • An out-group is “them”, in “us versus them”.
  • Out-group homogeneity effect describes the tendency to think everyone in an out-group are nearly identical and any differences perceived as minor.
  • Out-group is the opposite of in-group. One’s person’s outgroup is another person’s ingroup.
  • Variant spellings:
    • out group
    • outgroup

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Additional Information

Related Terms

Works Consulted

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Cite the Definition of Out-group

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “out-group.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved May 1, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/out-group/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

out-group. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/out-group/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “out-group.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/out-group/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“out-group.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 1 May. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/out-group/>.