Previous work on the Black Sheep Effect demonstrates that individuals distance themselves from ingroup members who have negative characteristics. What comprises as ingroup, however, depends upon which social identities are salient. Individuals simultaneously may hold multiple social identities, such as race and nationality. In the present study, White U.S. college students reviewed a well-written or sub-standard college admissions essay written by a fellow U.S. citizen or a foreign citizen. The writer either was white or latino. Participants' evaluations of the competent writer did not vary with nationality or ethnicity. However, evaluations of an incompetent white U.S. citizen were dramatically lower than evaluations of other incompetent writers (i.e., a black sheep effect).

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