Intergroup relations: insights from a theoretically integrative approach

How Social Norms Influence Purchasing Intention of Domestic Products: The Mediating Effects of Consumer Ethnocentrism and Domestic Product Judgments

Buying domestic products has become increasingly important in many countries. As a form of social influence, social norms affect people's domestic purchasing intentions and behavior. The current study aims to examine the mechanisms by which social norms influence domestic purchasing intentions through the lens of consumer ethnocentrism and domestic product judgments. The data were collected through an online survey in China, and a total of 346 valid responses were obtained. The results indicate that social norms influence domestic purchasing intention through four paths, namely, direct path, motivational path, cognitive path, and motivational-cognitive path. Consumer ethnocentrism and domestic product judgments, serving as the motivational and cognitive factors, respectively, play mediating and serial mediating roles in the relationship between social norms and domestic purchasing intention. In addition, consumer ethnocentrism has two dimensions, namely, pro-domestic and anti-foreign consumer ethnocentrism, and only the former plays a significant role in the model. The current study has theoretical contributions to research on domestic purchasing intention and practical implications for interventions in domestic purchasing behavior. Future studies are encouraged to conduct experiments, distinguish between different types of social norms, measure purchasing behavior, and verify the relationships in other countries.

Social Anhedonia and Intergroup Processes: A Multi-Study Investigation of Known and Novel Group Memberships

Introduction: Group memberships play an important role in promoting psychological well-being and supporting social functioning. However, studies suggest that individuals with social anhedonia, a characteristic defined by limited pleasure from social bonds, may show abnormalities in their desire to cultivate positive feelings, such as belongingness, from social groups. Still, these abnormalities have not been studied in the context of intergroup processes, leaving the relation between social anhedonia and subjective evaluations of group memberships unclear. Methods: Across three studies (Ns = 124-659), we examined associations between social anhedonia and affective and cognitive attitudes about different types of ingroups and outgroups using self-report and behavioral measures. Results: Taken together, results indicate that social anhedonia is associated with less positive and more negative feelings and beliefs about most ingroups and outgroups from everyday life, as well as negatively biased stereotyping of many prominent social groups. At the same time, individuals with either extremely high or low levels of social anhedonia did not report significantly different intergroup attitudes when group memberships were experimentally manipulated in a minimal group setting. Discussion: Overall, these findings suggest that social anhedonia is associated with less positive and more negative subjective evaluations of long-established, real-world ingroups, but not of a newly formed ingroup that requires little motivation or social engagement to maintain group membership. Aberrant feelings and attitudes toward one's ingroups are consistent with the theory that social anhedonia is related to anomalies in the need to belong within social groups from everyday life and could inform psychosocial interventions for related psychopathologies.

From Claiming to Creating Value: The Psychology of Negotiations on Common Resource Dilemmas

Current sustainability challenges often reflect common resource dilemmas where peoples’ short-term self-interests are at odds with collective interests in the present and future. In this article, we highlight the key role of joint decision-making processes in negotiations to facilitate the management of common resource dilemmas and to promote the transition toward sustainability. By reflecting on psychological drivers and barriers, we argue that the limited availability, the restricted accessibility, and the dynamic alterability of resources in negotiations on common resource dilemmas may cause a myopic mindset that fosters value claiming strategies and, ultimately, results in distributive-consumptive negotiation outcomes. To promote value creation in negotiations on common resource dilemmas, we argue that agents must perform a mindset shift with an inclusive social identity on a superordinate group level, an embracive prosocial motivation for other parties’ interests at and beyond the table, and a forward-looking cognitive orientation towards long-term consequences of their joint decisions. By shifting their mindset from a myopic towards a holistic cognitive orientation, agents may explore negotiation strategies to create value through increasing the availability, improving the accessibility, and using the alterability of resources. Applying these value creation strategies may help achieve integrative-transformative negotiation outcomes and promote sustainable agreements aimed at intersectional, interlocal, and intergenerational justice. We conclude by discussing additional psychological factors that play a pivotal role in negotiations on common resource dilemmas as well as further developments for future research.

WHAT DO WE HAVE IN-COMMON? OVERCOMING THE NOT-INVENTED-HERE SYNDROME THROUGH RECATEGORISATION

The not-invented-here (NIH) syndrome describes a negatively-shaped attitude of employees towards externally generated knowledge. Despite being cited as one of the largest barriers in the transfer of external knowledge, empirical evidence on interventions to overcome NIH remains scarce. To address this research gap, we design a brief and specific recategorisational-intervention on basis of the common in-group identity model in order to change employees’ attitudes towards external knowledge directly. Additionally, we take into account the effects of affirmations as a frequently mentioned countermeasure to NIH and also investigate the role of dual identities in recategorisation. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a large field experiment with a total of 1,097 employees within a multinational organisation. Results revealed that (I) organisational identification and status are positively related to higher levels of NIH, (II) a recategorisational-intervention completely removes the NIH bias and leads to a significant increase in the evaluation of external knowledge.

The Ties That Bind: University Nostalgia Fosters Relational and Collective University Engagement

Does nostalgia for one's time at university predict current intentions to engage with the university? In Study 1, United States participants' nostalgia for their university experience (university nostalgia) at a southern public university predicted stronger intentions to socialize with fellow alumni, attend a future reunion, volunteer for their university, and donate money to their university. Study 2 replicated these findings with alumni from a northeastern private university, and extended them by finding that the links between university nostalgia and university engagement emerged even when controlling for the positivity of university experience. In both studies, feelings of university belonging mediated most of the associations between university nostalgia and university engagement. In Study 2, the positivity of the university experience moderated the relation between university nostalgia and two indices of university engagement. Specifically, university nostalgia was more strongly associated with intentions to attend a reunion and donate money among those who had a relatively negative university experience. Nostalgia for one's university past predicts future engagement with the university as well as its members.

The transversal of nostalgia from psychology to marketing: what does it portend for future research?

Purpose

The use of nostalgia in the marketing domain has been popular around the world. Nostalgia has been considered a complex yet ambivalent emotion, which has ignited curiosity among marketing researchers and practitioners alike. In response to calls from marketing practitioners and scholars to understand nostalgia formation among consumers, this study tracks the evolution of nostalgia concepts in the domains of marketing and, more generally, business management. This study aims to highlight the development of a theoretical framework to integrate existing concepts and offer implications based on understanding nostalgia as a phenomenon among consumers as a tool for marketing practice.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is descriptive and inductive in nature. The manuscript is designed and positioned as a conceptual study exploring nostalgia’s journey from the domain of psychology to business management. The study synthesizes concepts of nostalgia from psychology, sociology and business management.

Findings

The study reveals that nostalgia in the business-management domain is not perceived in the same way as in psychology studies. It has journeyed through different schools of thought and is now used as an impactful marketing practice. The manuscript offers relevant information to marketing practitioners to improve their nostalgia marketing strategies, such as advertising and promotions, retro-branding, crowd-sourcing and culturally oriented practice. Subsequently, the manuscript offers pointers for understanding consumers across the generations and exploring nostalgia and consumption patterns for future research.

Research limitations/implications

The manuscript offers relevant information about nostalgia to marketing practitioners to improve their nostalgia marketing strategies and proposes avenues for future research to the domain scholars.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no comprehensive paper tracking the journey of nostalgia in business practices and providing directions for future research. This study extends existing literature both by suggesting future research directions and by drawing marketing practitioners’ attention to a conceptual framework for understanding the processes of and relationships with consumer nostalgia, including ways to use consumer nostalgia within marketing practices.

Moral preferences in helping dilemmas expressed by matching and forced choice

This paper asks whether moral preferences in eight medical dilemmas change as a function of how preferences are expressed, and how people choose when they are faced with two equally attractive help projects. In two large-scale studies, participants first read dilemmas where they “matched” two suggested helping projects (which varied on a single attribute) so that they became equally attractive. They did this by filling in a missing number (e.g., how many male patients must Project M save in order to be equally attractive as Project F which can save 100 female patients). Later, the same participants were asked to choose between the two equally attractive projects. We found robust evidence that people do not choose randomly, but instead tend to choose projects that help female (vs. male), children (vs. adult), innocent (vs. non-innocent), ingroup (vs. outgroup) and existing (vs. future) patients, and imply no (vs. some) risk of a harmful side-effect, even when these projects have been matched as equally attractive as, and save fewer patients than the contrasting project. We also found that some moral preferences are hidden when expressed with matching but apparent when expressed with forced choice. For example, 88–95% of the participants expressed that female and male patients are equally valuable when doing the matching task, but over 80% of them helped female patients in the choice task.

Regulating emotions under exposure to negative out-group-related news material results in increased acceptance of out-groups

Negative emotions affect the acceptance of out-groups. Here, we investigated whether modifying negative emotions would affect perceptions of out-groups. We experimentally manipulated the use of two emotion regulation strategies: suppression of emotional expression and cognitive reappraisal, the latter involving reframing a situation to mitigate its emotional impact. Using a population-based sample (N = 317), we conducted an online randomized controlled trial. Participants regulated their emotions while reading threatening news about out-groups. Not only reappraisal, but also suppression increased immediate acceptance of out-groups. The effect of reappraisal was partly mediated by decreased disgust, suggesting unique effects of reappraisal on this emotion. In the suppression condition acceptance decreased at high levels of habitual emotion regulation, whereas reappraisal showed an opposite tendency. Previous research may have underestimated the importance of different emotion regulation strategies on prejudice, and that relatively simple interventions can affect prejudice. The findings are of interest to prejudice prevention programs.

Discrimination in In-Patient Geriatric Care: A Qualitative Study on the Experiences of Employees with a Turkish Migration Background

In most studies, nurses with a migrant background report experiences of interpersonal discrimination. These often occur in interaction with those in need of care. However, in Germany this topic has remained largely unexplored, although a large proportion of the employees in geriatric care have a migration background. The aim of the study was to investigate whether care workers with Turkish migration background in in-patient geriatric care are exposed to discrimination from residents. Furthermore, the reasons for discrimination, handling of discrimination and recommendations for in-patient geriatric facilities to avoid/reduce discrimination were examined. In a qualitative, explorative study, 24 employees with Turkish migrant background working in in-patient geriatric care were interviewed in 2017. The semi-structured interviews were evaluated using a qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. The majority (N = 20) experienced or observed discrimination. This occurred mainly in the form of xenophobic insults and rejections. They perceived visible traits (dark hair and eye color, clothing) as potential reasons. To deal with the discrimination, most of them temporarily left the scene. They recommend that institutions should primarily make the diversity of the workforce transparent to avoid/reduce discrimination. More research is needed about discrimination against care workers with migration background because discrimination may have serious psychological effects that impact employee retention and the quality of care.

Athletes' Social Identities: Their Influence on Precompetitive Group-Based Emotions

This research studied the influence of multiple social identities on the emotions that athletes felt toward their teammates/partners and opponents. Athletes (N = 714) from individual and team-based sports reported their identification both as athletes of the sport and as athletes of their club before reporting their precompetitive emotions. The results showed that these multiple social identities influenced precompetitive emotions toward different targets, with higher levels of sport identification associated with increased positive and decreased negative emotions toward opponents and higher levels of club identification associated with increased positive and decreased negative emotions toward teammates/partners, although increased club identification was also associated with more positive emotions toward opponents. These findings extend intergroup emotions theory by showing its suitability and applicability to face-to-face task-oriented teams in sport. Particularly, they highlight the importance of investigating the simultaneous level of multiple social identities, rather than only a dichotomic self-categorization, on group-based emotions experienced toward multiple targets.

Emotions in Group Sports: A Narrative Review From a Social Identity Perspective

Recently, novel lines of research have developed to study the influence of identity processes in sport-related behaviors. Yet, whereas emotions in sport are the result of a complex psychosocial process, little attention has been paid to examining the mechanisms that underlie how group membership influences athletes' emotional experiences. The present narrative review aims at complementing the comprehensive review produced by Rees et al. (2015) on social identity in sport by reporting specific work on identity-based emotions in sport. To that end, we firstly overview the different terminology currently used in the field of emotions in groups to clarify the distinct nature of emotions that result from an individual's social identity. Secondly, we discuss key concepts of social identity to better understand the mechanisms underlying identity-based emotions. Thirdly, we address existing knowledge on identity-based emotions in sport. We close the present narrative review by suggesting future research perspectives based on existing meta-theories of social identity. Evidence from the social psychology literature is discussed alongside existing works from the sport literature to propose a crucial theoretical approach to better understand emotions in sport.

Emotional Reactions to Intergroup Norm Violations

The present study investigates emotional reactions that follow norm violations involving Hindus and Muslims in India. It also studies how in-group’s emotional reaction is predicted by the emotion that the group experiences in tandem with certain contextual factors, such as, fraternal relative deprivation (FRD), social identity, power to harm and resource power. Data were collected on 221 Hindus and 167 Muslims. Three different types of norm-violating situations were presented and subjects were asked to rate the extent to which they and their group will experience anger, fear or anxiety in such situations. Respondents were asked to choose between conciliation, retaliation and retribution as one of their preferred emotional reactions. Although, conciliation was the most preferred reaction for resolving conflicts for both, Hindus and Muslims, this preference changed from one situation to another. Across three situations, anger was the most intensely experienced emotion followed by the emotions of anxiety and fear. Anger evoked retaliatory reactions among Hindus while Muslims preferred a retributory reaction in situations involving strong norm violations. Multinomial logistic analysis showed that no emotion was consistently related with the preferred emotional reaction to norm violations across situations. For Hindus, fear in Situation 1 (personal humiliation of a group member) was associated with preference for retribution but with conciliation in Situation 3 (mocking of Gods and Goddesses). Similarly, anger enhanced the odds of Hindus for engaging in retaliation in Situation 2 (obstruction of in-group’s religious procession). As for Muslims, contextual factors, such as, resource power, power to harm in association with different negative emotions increased the odds for their preferred choices of emotional reaction.

Collective nostalgia is associated with stronger outgroup-directed anger and participation in ingroup-favoring collective action

Collective nostalgia refers to longing for the way society used to be. We tested whether collective nostalgia is associated with ingroup-favoring collective action and whether this association is mediated by outgroup-directed anger and outgroup-directed contempt. We conducted an online study of Hong Kong residents (N = 111) during a large-scale democratic social movement, the Umbrella Movement, that took place in Hong Kong in 2014 in response to proposed electoral reforms by the Chinese government in Mainland China. Reported collective nostalgia for Hong Kong’s past was high in our sample and collective nostalgia predicted stronger involvement in ingroup-favoring collective action, and it did so indirectly via higher intensity of outgroup-directed anger (but not through outgroup-directed contempt). We argue that collective nostalgia has implications for strengthening ingroup-serving collective action, and we highlight the importance of arousal of group-based emotions in this process.

Differential experiences of Mexican policing by people who inject drugs residing in Tijuana and San Diego

BACKGROUND

Research among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in the USA and Mexico has identified a range of adverse health impacts associated with policing of PWIDs. We employed a mixed methods design to investigate how PWIDs from San Diego and Mexico experienced policing in Tijuana, and how these interactions affect PWIDs behavior, stratifying by country of origin.

METHODS

In 2012-2014, 575 PWIDs in San Diego, 102 of whom had used drugs in Mexico in the past six months, were enrolled in the STAHR-II study, with qualitative interviews conducted with a subsample of 20 who had recently injected drugs in Mexico. During this period, 735 PWIDs in Tijuana were also enrolled in the El Cuete-IV study, with qualitative interviews conducted with a subsample of 20 recently stopped by police. We calculated descriptive statistics for quantitative variables and conducted thematic analysis of qualitative transcripts. Integration of these data involved comparing frequencies across cohorts and using qualitative themes to explain and explore findings.

RESULTS

Sixty-one percent of San Diego-based participants had been recently stopped by law enforcement officers (LEOs) in Mexico; 53% reported it was somewhat or very likely that they would be arrested while in Mexico because they look like a drug user. Ninety percent of Tijuana-based participants had been recently stopped by LEOs; 84% reported it was somewhat or very likely they could get arrested because they look like a drug user. Participants in both cohorts described bribery and targeting by LEOs in Mexico. However, most San Diego-based participants described compliance with bribery as a safeguard against arrest and detention, with mistreatment being rare. Tijuana-based participants described being routinely targeted by LEOs, were frequently detained, and reported instances of sexual and physical violence. Tijuana-based participants described modifying how, where, and with whom they injected drugs in response; and experienced feelings of stress, anxiety, and powerlessness. This was less common among San Diego-based participants, who mostly attempted to avoid contact with LEOs in Mexico while engaging in risky injection behavior.

CONCLUSION

Experiences of discrimination and stigma were reported by a larger proportion of PWIDs living in Mexico, suggesting that they may be subject to greater health harms related to policing practices compared with those residing in the USA. Our findings reinforce the importance of efforts to curb abuse and align policing practices with public health goals in both the US and Mexico.

Psychophysiological Assessment of Prejudice: Past Research, Current Status, and Future Directions

Many early studies of prejudice adopted psychophysiological measures as a way to circumvent the limitations of self-report instruments. Despite serious methodological weaknesses, that literature consistently points to the value of physiological probes as nonreactive indexes of affective responses to target stimuli. Possible reasons for the virtual abandonment of psychophysiological approaches in the study of prejudice over the last 15 years are outlined, and their reintroduction is advocated on methodological and conceptual grounds. Theoretical perspectives and empirical research in a closely related area, the psychophysiology of emotion, are reviewed and the implications of this literature for the study of prejudice are discussed. Several psychophysiological approaches have been found valuable for assessing the valence and intensity of emotional responses. The availability of these tools, together with the shifting theoretical zeitgeist, make prejudice research ready for a return to psychophysiological methodologies. A multimethod prejudice assessment model is proposed and its theoretical and heuristic advantages are discussed.

Antecedents and Consequences of Satisfaction and Guilt Following Ingroup Aggression

Three studies investigated the role of intergroup satisfaction in intergroup conflict. After reading about real acts of aggression committed by an ingroup, participants reported how those actions made them feel and how much they would support similar aggression in the future. In all three studies, experiencing intergroup satisfaction increased support for similar aggression, whereas experiencing intergroup guilt decreased support for similar aggression. Study 2 showed that ingroup identification increased justification appraisals, which increased satisfaction and decreased guilt, and thus increased support for future aggression. Study 3 provided an experimental test of the model: when justification appraisals were manipulated, emotion and support for further aggression changed accordingly. These findings demonstrate conditions under which intergroup satisfaction can facilitate and sustain intergroup conflict.

Self-Anchoring in the Minimal Group Paradigm: The Impact of Need and Ability to Achieve Cognitive Structure

A study is reported that focused on the role of self-anchoring in the definition of social groups. We assumed that group members give meaning to a novel ingroup by defining it as similar to the self. Moreover, the need and ability to engage in cognitive structuring should affect this process. A minimal group study in which self, ingroup and outgroup evaluations were obtained supported these hypotheses. Regression analysis revealed that self-evaluations predicted ingroup evaluations, but that this effect was qualified by an interaction with ability and need for cognitive structuring. Participants high both in the need for cognitive structure and the ability to achieve cognitive structure relied most heavily on the self as a heuristic for ingroup evaluations.

Discrimination and the Implicit Association Test

Prejudice researchers have been criticized for failing to assess behaviors that reflect overtly hostile actions (i.e. racial animus; Arkes & Tetlock, 2004; Mackie & Smith, 1998). Two studies sought to begin to fill this gap in the implicit literature by showing that scores on the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) are linked to harmful intergroup behaviors. In Study 1, the IAT predicted self-reported racial discrimination, including verbal slurs, exclusion, and physical harm. In Study 2, the IAT predicted recommended budget cuts for Jewish, Asian, and Black student organizations (i.e. economic discrimination). In each study, evaluative stereotype (but not attitude) IATs predicted behaviors even after controlling for explicit attitudes. In concert, the findings suggest that implicit stereotypes are more predictive of overtly harmful actions than implicit attitudes in the intergroup relations domain.

Emotional Consequences of Categorizing Victims of Negative Outgroup Behavior as Ingroup or Outgroup

This research examined whether people experience anger after perceiving intentional and unfair behavior of an outgroup which has negative consequences for others, but not for themselves. It was predicted that such outgroup behavior causes anger in the observer, dependent on the categorization of the victims as part of its own group or as part of another group. Participants were primed with information that made either differences or similarities between them and the victims salient, after which they were confronted with negative behavior of an outgroup. Results confirmed the prediction that the same information concerning unfair and intentional behavior of an outgroup harming others led to more anger in the observer when the victims were perceived as ingroup rather than outgroup. Moreover, anxiety was not affected by perception of victims as part of the ingroup or outgroup, suggesting that specific emotions rather than just negative affect were influenced.

Effects of Intergroup Contact and Political Predispositions on Prejudice: Role of Intergroup Emotions

Two broad distal causes of prejudice are past history of intergroup contact and general political predispositions. Two studies investigate the extent to which these effects are mediated by emotions directed at the outgroup, as proposed by Intergroup Emotions Theory (Smith, 1993). In both studies, past intergroup contact and Social Dominance Orientation predict prejudice. as measured either by a feeling thermometer or the Modern Racism Scale. Furthermore, for both studies these effects are significantly mediated by intergroup emotions, above and beyond measures of stereotypes (stereotype endorsement in Study 1 and stereotype knowledge in Study 2) that were entered as alternative potential mediators. Stereotype endorsement also plays a significant mediational role in one case. Increased attention to the role of emotions in intergroup relations, including in the mediation of such powerful and well-known effects as those of intergroup contact and political predispositions, appears to be warranted.

Grandparent-Grandchild Contact and Attitudes Toward Older Adults: Moderator and Mediator Effects

Two studies tested the intergroup contact hypothesis in the context of the grandparent-grandchild relationship. The hypothesis suggests that contact with an out-group member has more influence on attitudes toward the out-group when group memberships are salient. In Study 1, the predicted link was found but only for grandparents with whom the grandchild had more frequent contact. The second study examined only the most frequent grandparent relationship and replicated the effect. This study also investigated the role of various mediators of the link between quality of contact and attitudes, as well as quality of contact and perceived out-group variability. Perspective taking, anxiety, and accommodation mediated the effects of contact on attitudes, whereas individuation and self-disclosure mediated the effects of contact on perceived out-group variability. Moderated mediational analysis indicated that the moderating effect of group salience occurs between quality of contact and the mediator, not between the mediator and attitudes.

The Intersection of Self-Evaluation Maintenance and Social Identity Theories: Intragroup Judgment in Interpersonal and Intergroup Contexts

In two studies, the authors explore the integration of the self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model and social identity theory (SIT) by focusing on each perspective’s predictions for the evaluation of members of one’s ingroup. SEM’s predictions apply to personal identity concerns, whereas SIT’s predictions are applicable to concerns for a group identity. In Study 1, participants evaluated an ingroup member who highly outperformed them. High- and low-identified participants did not differ in their ratings of the target in an interpersonal context but high identifiers did like the target more than lows in an intergroup context. In Study 2, highly identified participants preferred a poorly performing target in an interpersonal context, but in an intergroup context, they preferred the one who outperformed them. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical overlap between SEM and SIT and how self-categorization theory can help integrate interpersonal and intergroup perspectives on self-evaluation.

Ethnophaulisms and Exclusion: The Behavioral Consequences of Cognitive Representation of Ethnic Immigrant Groups

Ethnophaulisms are the words used as slurs to refer to ethnic immigrant outgroups. This article explores the effects of these cognitive representations of ethnic immigrant groups on exclusion behavior directed toward these immigrant groups. Using archival data spanning a 150-year period of American history, the results of these analyses provide a sobering picture of the effects of the cognitive representation of immigrants: a century and a half of thinking about ethnic immigrant groups in a simplistic and negative manner and a corresponding tendency to exclude those immigrant groups from the receiving society. The implications of these results for theoretical approaches to intergroup relations are considered.

Integrating Identity and Instrumental Approaches to Intergroup Differentiation: Different Contexts, Different Motives

In two experiments, the authors examined the interplay of two functions of intergroup differentiation: an identity function (obtaining a distinct and meaningful social identity) and an instrumental function (advancing group goals). In Experiment 1, in minimal and thus relatively meaningless groups, participants differentiate (identity function), but those with a group goal differentiated more strongly later on than those without (instrumental function). In Experiment 2, both the possibility to differentiate and the presence of a group goal were manipulated orthogonally. Highest differentiation (and cohesion and identification) resulted in the minimal condition (no goal, no prior differentiation opportunity) and in the instrumental condition (goal and prior differentiation opportunity). Mediation analyses and a group effort measure provided evidence for the different functions proposed to underlie differentiation in these two cases. The authors propose an integration between social identity and interdependence approaches to group differentiation: Different conditions promote differentiation for different reasons.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going: Social Identification and Individual Effort in Intergroup Competition

Based on social identity theory, the authors predicted that in ongoing intergroup competition, people’s strength of social identification will have a positive impact on their behavioral efforts on behalf of an ingroup when its current status is low, whereas this will not be the case when its current status is high. In a first experiment, male participants showed the expected pattern of behavior. Female participants, however, tended to display opposite reactions. As a possible explanation, it was argued that the experimental procedure may have inadvertently evoked a gender-based stereotype threat for female participants. In an attempt to obtain more consistent support for their hypothesis, the authors therefore replicated the experiment with modifications to avoid such a threat. These changes proved to be effective in the sense that this time the predicted interaction effect between ingroup identification and current group status was obtained for both male and female participants.

Threat and the Group Attribution Error: When Threat Elicits Judgments of Extremity and Homogeneity

In two studies, the authors investigated the impact of threat on the perception of extremity and homogeneity among the members of a group. They relied on the Group Attribution Error paradigm and asked participants to estimate the attitudes in a group of voters. Depending on the condition, the decision rules were such that the proposition allegedly passed or failed. The degree of threat of the group was varied by informing participants that the group represented a small (4%) or substantial (40%) proportion of the population living in the area. Consistent with the Group Attribution Error literature, the outcome of the vote influenced participants’ inferences about the extremity of the voters’ attitude. More positive (negative) attitudes were inferred in the case of a positive (negative) outcome of the vote. This effect was qualified by the level of threat. Participants inferred relatively more extreme and more homogeneous attitudes among the members of a threatening group.

Differential Relationships Between Intergroup Contact and Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Prejudice

Research on affective dimensions of intergroup relationships suggests that positive effects of intergroup contact can generalize through establishing affective ties with outgroup members. However, research on cognitive dimensions emphasizes that it is often difficult to generalize positive contact outcomes. In this research, the authors examine whether affective and cognitive dimensions of prejudice bear different relationships to intergroup contact. Using data from a larger meta-analysis of contact effects, Study 1 demonstrates that affective indicators of prejudice typically yield stronger, inverse contact-prejudice relationships than such cognitive indicators as stereotypes. Study 2 replicates these trends in a survey study using multiple indicators of affective and cognitive dimensions of prejudice. Study 2 also shows significant, inverse relationships between contact and affective prejudice when contact is assessed either as number of outgroup friends or intergroup closeness. Together, these results suggest that affective dimensions of intergroup relationships are especially critical for understanding the nature of contact-prejudice effects.

Promoting Us or Preventing Them: Regulatory Focus and Manifestations of Intergroup Bias

Four studies examined whether situational and individual differences in individuals’ regulatory focus influence how intergroup bias is expressed emotionally and behaviorally. Consistent with past findings on promotion focus, these studies found evidence that participants’ promotion focus, whether measured or manipulated, was related to how extensively they demonstrated bias toward their ingroup in terms of cheerfulness- and dejection-related emotions and approach-related behaviors. Consistent with past findings on prevention focus, these studies also revealed that participants’ prevention focus was related to how extensively they showed bias against an outgroup in terms of quiescence- and agitation-related emotions and avoidance-related behaviors. The implications for the self-regulatory functions of intergroup bias are discussed.

Positive intergroup attitudes: The role of ethnic identity

Developmental theory suggests that a well-developed ethnic identity serves as a secure position which allows people to be more open and accepting to people from other ethnic groups. To examine this prediction, two studies were carried out. In Study 1, 713 college freshmen from four ethnic groups were surveyed regarding positive attitudes toward other groups and were assigned to ethnic identity statuses on the basis of scores on the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992). The results showed that Asian American and Latino students with an achieved ethnic identity reported significantly more positive attitudes toward other groups than did those in ethnic identity diffusion. Study 2 used qualitative methods with 124 adolescents from five ethnic groups. Ethnic identity and intergroup attitudes were assessed with open-ended questions regarding views of one's own ethnicity and experiences with other ethnic groups. Results showed that ethnic identity achieved adolescents, compared to diffuse adolescents, gave responses indicating greater awareness and understanding of intergroup relations. Overall, the results provide evidence that a secure ethnic identity is associated with positive intergroup attitudes and mature intercultural thinking.

What Differences Make a Difference?

SUMMARY—As the workplace has become increasingly diverse, there has been a tension between the promise and the reality of diversity in team process and performance. The optimistic view holds that diversity will lead to an increase in the variety of perspectives and approaches brought to a problem and to opportunities for knowledge sharing, and hence lead to greater creativity and quality of team performance. However, the preponderance of the evidence favors a more pessimistic view: that diversity creates social divisions, which in turn create negative performance outcomes for the group.

Why is the reality of diversity less than the promise? Answering this requires understanding a variety of factors, including how diversity is defined and categorized, and the moderating as well as mediating processes that affect the diversity–process–performance linkage.

We start with a definition. The word diversity has been used to refer to so many types of differences among people that the most commonly used definition—“any attribute that another person may use to detect individual differences” (Williams & O'Reilly, 1998, p. 81)—while accurate, is also quite broad. As a result, various categorization schemes based on factors such as race or gender, or based on proportions such as the size of the minority, have been used to further refine the definition of diversity in teams. The choices researchers have made in using these categorization schemes, however, do lead to particular tradeoffs. Factor approaches, for example, allow an examination of multiple types of diversity and the interactions among them but ignore the sizes of factions and subgroups. Proportional approaches allow the consideration of minority-group size, and hence the study of issues such as tokenism, but also tend to focus on only one type of diversity and thereby overestimate its relevance relative to other types.

The underlying effects of diversity, whichever way it is defined and categorized, have typically been understood through three primary theoretical perspectives: the similarity–attraction paradigm, self- and social categorization, and information processing. These approaches also have their biases.

The predictions of similarity–attraction theory are straightforward: Similarity on attributes such as attitudes, values, and beliefs will facilitate interpersonal attraction and liking. Empirical research has supported that surface-level similarity tends to predict affiliation and attraction.

The similarity–attraction paradigm was developed to understand dyadic relationships. Yet, individuals can express preferences for membership in particular groups even when they have had no prior social interaction with members of that group. This is primarily a cognitive process of categorization: Individuals are postulated to have a hierarchical structure of self-categorizations at the personal, group, and superordinate levels. Research has demonstrated that the specific categories on which we tend to focus in categorizing others—such as race, gender, values, or beliefs—are likely to be those that are the most distinctive or salient within the particular social context. The act of social categorization activates differential expectations for in-group and out-group members. This distinction creates the atmosphere for stereotyping, in which out-group members are judged more stereotypically than in-group members are.

The self-categorization/social-identity and similarity–attraction approaches both tend to lead to the pessimistic view of diversity in teams. In these paradigms, individuals will be more attracted to similar others and will experience more cohesion and social integration in homogeneous groups. The information-processing approach, by contrast, offers a more optimistic view: that diversity creates an atmosphere for enhancing group performance. The information-processing approach argues that individuals in diverse groups have access to other individuals with different backgrounds, networks, information, and skills. This added information should improve the group outcome even though it might create coordination problems for the group.

As we disentangle what researchers have learned from the last 50 years, we can conclude that surface-level social- category differences, such as those of race/ethnicity, gender, or age, tend to be more likely to have negative effects on the ability of groups to function effectively. By contrast, underlying differences, such as differences in functional background, education, or personality, are more often positively related to performance—for example by facilitating creativity or group problem solving—but only when the group process is carefully controlled. The majority of these effects have typically been explained in terms of potential mediators such as social integration, communication, and conflict. However, the actual evidence for the input–process–output linkage is not as strong as one might like.

Clarifying the mixed effects of diversity in work groups will only be possible by carefully considering moderators such as context, by broadening our view to include new types of diversity such as emotions and networks, and by focusing more carefully on mediating mechanisms. As we delve into advice for organizational teams to enhance the assets of diversity and manage the liabilities, we focus on the benefits of “exploring” as opposed to “exploiting” types of tasks, of bridging diversity through values and goals, and of enhancing the power of the minority. Finally, we end with suggestions for how organizations can learn to create incentives for change within the firm.

The Effects of Outgroup Threat and Opportunity to Derogate on Salivary Cortisol Levels

Perceptions of intergroup threat have been related to both experiences of physiological stress responses and derogation of the outgroup. In this study, a neuroscience perspective was used to investigate the relationship between stress and opportunity to derogate the outgroup, in a threatening intergroup context. Research from a social identity perspective suggests that engaging in outgroup derogation alleviates stress when perceiving an intergroup threat. However, in line with the model of intergroup anxiety, opportunity to derogate could exacerbate the negative connotations of a threatening situation, resulting in more stress. Canadian participants (N = 110) were exposed to text describing either discriminatory or favorable comments expressed by Chinese individuals towards Canadians. Half of the participants were given the opportunity to derogate via a bias task. Salivary cortisol was used as a measure of stress and was collected at baseline, post-threat, and post-derogation. As expected, threatening identity led to more stress as evidenced by increased cortisol concentrations. Furthermore, threatened participants who had an opportunity to derogate showed greater cortisol concentrations than those who did not. These results demonstrate a link between stress and the opportunity to derogate, and highlights the value of using biological markers within the intergroup context. Rewrite abstract to remove all the references (they are meaningless because the abstracting services will use the abstract as is but will not provide the references so their presence is useless.

Employees' organizational identification and affective organizational commitment: an integrative approach

Although several studies have empirically supported the distinction between organizational identification (OI) and affective commitment (AC), there is still disagreement regarding how they are related. Precisely, little attention has been given to the direction of causality between these two constructs and as to why they have common antecedents and outcomes. This research was designed to fill these gaps. Using a cross-lagged panel design with two measurement times, Study 1 examined the directionality of the relationship between OI and AC, and showed that OI is positively related to temporal change in AC, confirming the antecedence of OI on AC. Using a cross-sectional design, Study 2 investigated the mediating role of OI in the relationship between three work experiences (i.e., perceived organizational support, leader-member exchange, and job autonomy) and AC, and found that OI partially mediates the influence of work experiences on AC. Finally, Study 3 examined longitudinally how OI and AC combine in the prediction of actual turnover, and showed that AC totally mediates the relationship between OI and turnover. Overall, these findings suggest that favorable work experiences operate via OI to increase employees' AC that, in turn, decreases employee turnover.

The Process Model of Group-Based Emotion

Scholars interested in emotion regulation have documented the different goals and strategies individuals have for regulating their emotions. However, little attention has been paid to the regulation of group-based emotions, which are based on individuals’ self-categorization as a group member and occur in response to situations perceived as relevant for that group. We propose a model for examining group-based emotion regulation that integrates intergroup emotions theory and the process model of emotion regulation. This synergy expands intergroup emotion theory by facilitating further investigation of different goals (i.e., hedonic or instrumental) and strategies (e.g., situation selection and modification strategies) used to regulate group-based emotions. It also expands emotion regulation research by emphasizing the role of self-categorization (e.g., as an individual or a group member) in the emotional process. Finally, we discuss the promise of this theoretical synergy and suggest several directions for future research on group-based emotion regulation.

Their pain gives us pleasure: How intergroup dynamics shape empathic failures and counter-empathic responses

Despite its early origins and adaptive functions, empathy is not inevitable; people routinely fail to empathize with others, especially members of different social or cultural groups. In five experiments, we systematically explore how social identity, functional relations between groups, competitive threat, and perceived entitativity contribute to intergroup empathy bias: the tendency not only to empathize less with out-group relative to in-group members, but also feel pleasure in response to their pain (and pain in response to their pleasure). When teams are set in direct competition, affective responses to competition-irrelevant events are characterized not only by less empathy toward out-group relative to in-group members, but also by increased counter-empathic responses: Schadenfreude and Glückschmerz (Experiment 1). Comparing responses to in-group and out-group targets against responses to unaffiliated targets in this competitive context suggests that intergroup empathy bias may be better characterized by out-group antipathy rather than extraordinary in-group empathy (Experiment 2). We find also that intergroup empathy bias is robust to changes in relative group standing-feedback indicating that the out-group has fallen behind (Experiment 3a) or is no longer a competitive threat (Experiment 3b) does not reduce the bias. However, reducing perceived in-group and out-group entitativity can significantly attenuate intergroup empathy bias (Experiment 4). This research establishes the boundary conditions of intergroup empathy bias and provides initial support for a more integrative framework of group-based empathy.

The Role of Personality Factors in the Reduction of Intergroup Anxiety and Amelioration of Outgroup Attitudes via Intergroup Contact

Two studies investigated the role of personality factors in the amelioration of outgroup attitudes via intergroup contact. In study 1, the effect of extraversion on outgroup attitude operated via an increase in cross–group friendship, whereas openness to experience and agreeableness had a direct effect on outgroup attitude. In study 2, we included intergroup anxiety as a mediator explaining these relationships, and we ruled out ingroup friendship as a potential confound. We found that the relationships between openness to experience and agreeableness on the one hand and outgroup attitude on the other were mediated by reduced intergroup anxiety. In addition, the effect of extraversion on outgroup attitude operated via an increase in cross–group friendship that was in turn associated with lower levels of intergroup anxiety. Across both studies, the friendship–attitude relationship was stronger among those low in agreeableness and extraversion. We discuss the importance of integrating personality and situational approaches to prejudice reduction in optimizing the impact of contact–based interventions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Derogation, Discrimination, and (Dis)Satisfaction With Jobs in Science

In the current study of 353 science and engineering faculty members, we examined whether three types of gender-based mistreatment might “chill” individuals’ perceptions of the professional climate, which might in turn undermine satisfaction with their jobs. We also tested gender differences in these relationships. Results indicated that for women, the relationship between gender discrimination (e.g., unequal access to resources) and job satisfaction was mediated by scholarly alienation and a negative workplace climate; gender derogation (e.g., disparaging comments) was related to organizational sexism toward women (OSTW), which was associated with perceptions of scholarly alienation and a negative workplace climate; these perceptions in turn predicted lower job satisfaction. For men, gender derogation was indirectly related to job satisfaction via scholarly alienation, and OSTW was indirectly related to job satisfaction via both climate variables. Analyses indicated that most of these indirect effects were stronger for women than men. We discuss these results for both sexes and suggest reasons why men’s climate perceptions may be “chilled” by exposure to sexism toward women. We also discuss implications for individuals working with women in male-dominated environments, such as organizational administrators and clinical practitioners.