Key points

We wrongly judge behavior depending on group membership.

We justify the dishonesty of friends yet vilify outsiders.

Tribal belonging fuels misinterpretation and misinformation.

When a rival lies or cheats, we demand justice. But when a friend does, we offer excuses. Equally, we believe our team plays by the rules while others bend them.

Yet honesty depends on the messenger.

When someone from our in-group bends the truth, we call it strategic, but when the out-group does it, we call it deceit.

In a modern era of algorithmic bubbles, deep fakes, and partisan feeds, the cost of this bias grows. When we assume the "other side" lies more, we stop fact-checking ourselves. This fuels misinformation and distrust.

A recent study of over 5,000 participants rated out-group member

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