ingroup

plural ingroups

1. human sciencesThe social group that one belongs to.

   2 more examples

   You will learn a lot about formal and informal Japanese language throughout this book. In Japanese society a distinction is made between the 'in-group' (myself, my family, my work colleagues, my friends) and the 'out-group' (my seniors, people from other families and workplaces). Politeness is an important traditional aspect of Japanese life and this is reflected strongly in the language used when speaking to those in the out-group. More informal language is generally used within the in-group.

   2008, Helen Gilhooly, chapter 1, in Complete Japanese, →ISBN, page 12

   And because people derive personal esteem and meaning from their group memberships, they are naturally inclined to evaluate their ingroups positively in comparison to outgroups. When an ingroup’s dominant social position is secure or not contested by lower-status outgroups, intergroup harmony is expected to prevail. But when perceived as illegitimate and/or challenged by other groups, ingroup members can be expected to defend their group’s social position by engaging in pro-ingroup and/or anti-outgroup behaviors.

   2022 May 2, Zachary Goldberg, “Explaining Shifts in White Racial Liberalism: The Role of Collective Moral Emotions and Media Effects”, in Georgia State University, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025, page 40

   Antonyms: outgroup

2. systematicsIn cladistics, the monophyletic group that includes all taxa of interest to the current study.

   A cladistic analysis of 45 ingroup and two outgroup taxa was performed on the basis of 134 characters.

   2009 January 15, Martin D. Brazeau, “The braincase and jaws of a Devonian 'acanthodian' and modern gnathostome origins”, Nature Volume 457 No. 7227, doi:10.1038/nature07436

   Antonyms: outgroup

present singular third person ingroups · participle present ingrouping · participle past ingrouped · past ingrouped

1. To form an ingroup.