Working for the self or working for the group: How self- versus group affirmation affects collective behavior in low-status groups.

Experiencing social identity threat can lead members of stigmatized groups to protect their self-regard by withdrawing from domains that are associated with higher status groups. Four experiments examined how providing identity affirmation in alternative domains affects performance motivation in status-defining domains among stigmatized group members. Two forms of identity affirmation were distinguished: self-affirmation, which enhances personal identity, and group affirmation, which enhances social identity. The results showed that although self- and group affirmation both induce high performance motivation, they do so in different ways. Whereas self-affirmation induces a focus on the personal self, group affirmation induces a focus on the social self (Study 1). Accordingly, group affirmation elicited high performance motivation among highly identified group members (Studies 1 and 2) by inducing challenge (Study 2) and protected interest in group-serving behaviors that improve collective status (Studies 3 and 4). By contrast, low identifiers were challenged and motivated to perform well only after self-affirmation (Studies 1 and 2) and reported an even stronger inclination to work for themselves at the expense of the group when offered group affirmation (Studies 3 and 4). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How work and family can facilitate each other: Distinct types of work-family facilitation and outcomes for women and men.

This study was designed to gain more insight in the different ways in which work and family roles can benefit each other. Both qualitative (N=25) and quantitative (N=352) results obtained in a financial service organization supported the distinction between energy-based, time-based, behavioral, and psychological work-family facilitation, in addition to different types of work-family conflict that were identified in previous research. As expected, facilitation contributed substantially and differentially to the prediction of work and nonwork outcomes, over and above the effects of conflict. As predicted, women experienced higher levels of facilitation than men did. Furthermore, results indicate that examining facilitation, in addition to conflict, is especially important to predict the work and home life experiences of women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volunteer recruitment: The role of organizational support and anticipated respect in non-volunteers' attraction to charitable volunteer organizations.

In 3 experiments the authors examined how specific characteristics of charitable volunteer organizations contribute to the recruitment of new volunteers. In line with predictions, Study 1 revealed that providing non-volunteers with information about organizational support induced anticipated feelings of respect, which subsequently enhanced their attraction to the volunteer organization. However, information about the current success of the volunteer organization did not affect anticipated pride (as among those who seek paid employment) and in fact caused potential volunteers to perceive the organization as being in less need for additional volunteers. Study 2 further showed that information about support from the volunteer organization is a more relevant source of anticipated respect and organizational attraction than support from co-volunteers. Study 3 finally showed that information about task and emotional support for volunteers contributes to anticipated respect and organizational attractiveness and that this increases the actual willingness of non-volunteers to participate in the volunteer organization. Interventions aimed at attracting volunteers and avenues for further research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is it better to be moral than smart? The effects of morality and competence norms on the decision to work at group status improvement.

Three studies examined strategies of status improvement in experimentally created (Study 1 and 2) and preexisting (Study 3) low-status groups. Theory and prior research suggested that an in-group norm that established a particular strategy of status improvement as moral (rather than competent) would have a greater effect on individuals' decision to work at this strategy. Both Study 1 and Study 2 found that morality norms had a greater impact than competence norms on individuals' decision to work at group (rather than individual) status improvement. In both studies participants also needed less time to decide on a strategy of status improvement when it is was encouraged by a morality norm rather than a competence norm. Study 3 used a preexisting low-status group (i.e., Southern Italians) to further confirm that morality norms have a greater effect on the decision to work at group status improvement than do competence norms. Results are discussed in terms of social influence and identity management strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Voice in political decision-making: The effect of group voice on perceived trustworthiness of decision makers and subsequent acceptance of decisions.

The implementation of carbon dioxide capture and storage technology (CCS) is considered an important climate change mitigation strategy, but the viability of this technology will depend on public acceptance of CCS policy decisions. The results of three experiments with students as participants show that whether or not interest groups receive an opportunity to express their opinions in the decision-making process (i.e., group voice) affects acceptance of CCS policy decisions, with inferred trustworthiness of the decision maker mediating this effect. Decision-making procedures providing different interest groups with equal opportunities to voice their opinions instigate more trust in the decision maker and, in turn, lead to greater willingness to accept decisions compared to no-voice procedures (i.e., unilateral decision-making—Study 1) and unequal group-voice procedures (i.e., when one type of interest group receives voice, but another type of interest group does not—Study 2). Study 3 further shows that an individual's own level of knowledge about CCS moderates the desire for an opportunity for members of the general public to voice opinions in the decision-making process, inferred trustworthiness of decision makers, and policy acceptance. These results imply that people care about voice in decision-making even when they are not directly personally involved in the decision-making process. We conclude that people tend to use procedural information when deciding to accept or oppose policy decisions on political complex issues; hence, it is important that policymakers use fair group-voice procedures and that they communicate to the public how they arrive at their decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Career-oriented versus team-oriented commitment and behavior at work.

Among a representative sample of the Dutch population (Study 1: N?=?690), career-oriented and team-oriented commitment were assessed, in addition to affective organizational commitment (J. P. Meyer and N. J. Allen, 1991). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed distinction between the 2 specific forms of commitment at the measurement level. Furthermore, the construct validity of team-oriented and career-oriented commitment as well as their differential implications were corroborated by self-reports of work-related behavior 1 year later. The distinction between career-oriented and team-oriented commitment was then cross-validated in a 2nd study, among employees of a financial service organization in Belgium (N?=?287), in which the constructs proved to be not only differentially related to self-reported behavior at work, but also predictive of performance ratings by superiors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volunteering for charity: Pride, respect, and the commitment of volunteers.

This study builds upon and extends the social-identity-based model of cooperation with the organization (T. R. Tyler, 1999; T. R. Tyler & S. L. Blader, 2000) to examine commitment and cooperative intent among fundraising volunteers. In Study 1, structural equation modeling indicated that pride and respect related to the intent to remain a volunteer with an organization, and that this relation was mediated primarily by normative organizational commitment. In Study 2, structural equation modeling indicated that the perceived importance of volunteer work was related to pride, that perceived organizational support related to the experience of respect, and that pride and respect mediated the relation between perceived importance and support on the one hand and organizational commitment on the other. Overall, the results suggest that volunteer organizations may do well to implement pride and respect in their volunteer policy, for instance to address the reliability problem (J. L. Pearce, 1993). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sticking together or falling apart: In-group identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility.

Two experiments investigated how in-group identification, manipulated with a bogus pipeline technique affects group members' desire for individual mobility to another group. In the first experiment (N?=?88), the in-group had low status, and group boundaries were either permeable or impermeable. Low identifiers perceived the group as less homogeneous, were less committed to their group, and more strongly desired individual mobility to a higher status group than did high identifiers. The structural possibility of mobility afforded by permeable group boundaries had no comparable effect. The second experiment (N?=?51) investigated whether in-group identification can produce similar effects when relative group status is unknown. Even in the absence of an identity threat, low identifiers were less likely to see the groups as homogeneous, felt less committed to their group, and more strongly desired individual mobility than did high identifiers. Results are discussed with reference to social identity and self-categorization theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of the legitimacy of low group or individual status on individual and collective status-enhancement strategies.

Two experiments investigated predictions from social identity theory and relative deprivation theory regarding membership in low-status groups, using a 3 (legitimacy of low status)?×?2 (permeability of group boundaries)?×?2 (stability of group status) between-Ss design. Main dependent variables concerned in-group identification and individual and collective mobility attempts. Group members considered their low status more acceptable when it seemed legitimate. In Exp 1 (n?=?184), illegitimate assignment of low status to the Ss' group increased in-group identification. In Exp 2 (n?=?178), illegitimate allocation of individual Ss to a low-status group decreased group identification. Attempts to acquire higher status individually (individual mobilty) or collectively (group mobility) were more strongly affected by prospects for status improvement than by legitimacy manipulations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)