There is ample evidence demonstrating intergroup biases on cognition and emotion. However, it remains unclear how exactly group identification influences these processes, with issues of context sensitivity and goal dependence remaining open to scrutiny. Providing a range of interdisciplinary material, the current review attempts to inform understanding of these issues. Specifically, we provide evidence revealing that individuals show enhanced attention for stimuli associated with an ingroup compared to an outgroup. At the attentional level, such biases can be explained by the assignment of different levels of saliency to ingroup versus outgroup targets. Critically, however, salience assignment is not fixed but varies as a function of context and goal-directed behavior. We suggest that the network in the brain previously associated with social and emotional saliency and attention – notably the anterior insula, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – underpins these effects. Moreover, although attention typically favors ingroup targets, outgroup members can be prioritized on occasion. The implications of this viewpoint and future lines of investigation are considered.

有充分的证据表明群体间在认知和情感上存在偏见。然而，尚不清楚群体识别究竟如何影响这些过程，上下文敏感性和目标依赖问题仍有待审查。本综述提供了一系列跨学科材料，试图让人们了解这些问题。具体来说，我们提供的证据表明，与外群体相比，个体对与内群体相关的刺激表现出更高的注意力。在注意力层面，这种偏见可以通过将不同的显着性水平分配给内群体与外群体目标来解释。然而，关键的是，显着性分配不是固定的，而是随着上下文和目标导向的行为而变化。我们认为，之前与社会和情绪显着性和注意力相关的大脑网络——特别是前脑岛、后颞上沟和背外侧前额叶皮层——支持了这些影响。此外，尽管注意力通常有利于内群体目标，但有时也可以优先考虑外群体成员。考虑了这一观点的含义和未来的调查路线。