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Main Authors: Dong, Wenchao, Zhunis, Assem, Jeong, Dongyoung, Chin, Hyojin, Han, Jiyoung, Cha, Meeyoung
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.03843
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author Dong, Wenchao
Zhunis, Assem
Jeong, Dongyoung
Chin, Hyojin
Han, Jiyoung
Cha, Meeyoung
author_facet Dong, Wenchao
Zhunis, Assem
Jeong, Dongyoung
Chin, Hyojin
Han, Jiyoung
Cha, Meeyoung
contents Drawing parallels between human cognition and artificial intelligence, we explored how large language models (LLMs) internalize identities imposed by targeted prompts. Informed by Social Identity Theory, these identity assignments lead LLMs to distinguish between "we" (the ingroup) and "they" (the outgroup). This self-categorization generates both ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias. Nonetheless, existing literature has predominantly focused on ingroup favoritism, often overlooking outgroup bias, which is a fundamental source of intergroup prejudice and discrimination. Our experiment addresses this gap by demonstrating that outgroup bias manifests as strongly as ingroup favoritism. Furthermore, we successfully mitigated the inherent pro-liberal, anti-conservative bias in LLMs by guiding them to adopt the perspectives of the initially disfavored group. These results were replicated in the context of gender bias. Our findings highlight the potential to develop more equitable and balanced language models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2409_03843
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Persona Setting Pitfall: Persistent Outgroup Biases in Large Language Models Arising from Social Identity Adoption
Dong, Wenchao
Zhunis, Assem
Jeong, Dongyoung
Chin, Hyojin
Han, Jiyoung
Cha, Meeyoung
Computation and Language
Drawing parallels between human cognition and artificial intelligence, we explored how large language models (LLMs) internalize identities imposed by targeted prompts. Informed by Social Identity Theory, these identity assignments lead LLMs to distinguish between "we" (the ingroup) and "they" (the outgroup). This self-categorization generates both ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias. Nonetheless, existing literature has predominantly focused on ingroup favoritism, often overlooking outgroup bias, which is a fundamental source of intergroup prejudice and discrimination. Our experiment addresses this gap by demonstrating that outgroup bias manifests as strongly as ingroup favoritism. Furthermore, we successfully mitigated the inherent pro-liberal, anti-conservative bias in LLMs by guiding them to adopt the perspectives of the initially disfavored group. These results were replicated in the context of gender bias. Our findings highlight the potential to develop more equitable and balanced language models.
title Persona Setting Pitfall: Persistent Outgroup Biases in Large Language Models Arising from Social Identity Adoption
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.03843