Identifying dominant allocation strategies of individuals in the minimal group paradigm

I describe a simple method which makes it possible, on the basis of measured strategy pull scores in a given minimal group experiment, to identify and also visually display the dominant distribution strategies of individual participants. In a validation study (N = 32), I (1) compared these dominant strategies with the self-reported distribution strategies of the participants and (2) assessed their consistency across different Tajfel matrix types. As it turned out, the dominant strategies, particularly the consistent ones, were highly congruent with the participants' subjective strategies. I argue that dominant strategies are less ambivalent and psychologically more valid than pull scores, although they are derived from the latter, and that this type of analysis, with its focus on interindividual differences, has the potential to stimulate new, interesting research questions.