Open Borders, Restrained Change: How Group Permeability Shapes Intergroup Evaluations and Social Hierarchy

Building on Social Identity Theory (SIT), the dimensional compensation model (DCM) suggests that people rely on the Big Two dimensions of social evaluation to manage their group identity: members of low (high) status groups compensate their relative lower (higher) standing competence by stressing their higher (lower) level on warmth. Because SIT highlights permeability as an important structural variable that shapes people’s identity management strategies, we hypothesized that stronger permeability should induce less compensation, especially on warmth. In Studies 1a, 1b, and 2 (total N = 1,694), we measured permeability using a social ladder paradigm. In Study 3 ( N = 2,263), we manipulated permeability by relying on a fictitious company scenario. Our results confirm that judges were less inclined to compensate when permeability was high rather than low. These findings support the idea that permeability is an important structural variable that shapes the compensation effect for both high- and low-status perceivers.