Ethnic Enclaves and the Dynamics of Social Identity on the College Campus: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The effects of membership in ethnic organizations and fraternities and sororities on intergroup attitudes were examined using a 5-wave panel study at a major, multiethnic university. The results showed that these effects were similar for both minority and White students. Membership in ethnic student organizations for minorities and Greek organizations for Whites was anteceded by the degree of one's ethnic identity, and the effects of membership in these groups were similar, although not identical, for both White and minority students. These effects included an increased sense of ethnic victimization and a decreased sense of common identity and social inclusiveness. Consistent with social identity theory, at least a portion of these effects were mediated by social identity among both White and minority students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group conversion versus group expansion as modes of change in majority and minority positions: All losses hurt but only some gains gratify.

This study examined reactions to minority and majority positions that were either stable or reversed through group conversion that transformed opponents (supporters) of the minority (majority) into supporters, (opponents) or through group expansion that brought new supporters (opponents) for the minority (majority) into the group. Minorities who became majorities through group expansion, compared with those who changed through group conversion, perceived their supporters and the overall group as significantly more similar to the self, and had significantly higher expectations for future positive interactions within the group. Perception of similarity with the supporters mediated the effect of the experimental conditions on perception of the overall group-self similarity. Implications of changes through conversion and expansion for the functioning of social groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multicomponent) model of in-group identification.

Recent research shows individuals' identification with in-groups to be psychologically important and socially consequential. However, there is little agreement about how identification should be conceptualized or measured. On the basis of previous work, the authors identified 5 specific components of in-group identification and offered a hierarchical 2-dimensional model within which these components are organized. Studies 1 and 2 used confirmatory factor analysis to validate the proposed model of self-definition (individual self-stereotyping, in-group homogeneity) and self-investment (solidarity, satisfaction, and centrality) dimensions, across 3 different group identities. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated the construct validity of the 5 components by examining their (concurrent) correlations with established measures of in-group identification. Studies 5-7 demonstrated the predictive and discriminant validity of the 5 components by examining their (prospective) prediction of individuals' orientation to, and emotions about, real intergroup relations. Together, these studies illustrate the conceptual and empirical value of a hierarchical multicomponent model of in-group identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Majority and minority influence in group negotiation: The moderating effects of social motivation and decision rules.

In organizational groups, often a majority has aligned preferences that oppose those of a minority. Although such situations may give rise to majority coalitions that exclude the minority or to minorities blocking unfavorable agreements, structural and motivational factors may stimulate groups to engage in integrative negotiation, leading to collectively beneficial agreements. An experiment with 97 3-person groups was designed to test hypotheses about the interactions among decision rule, the majority's social motivation, and the minority's social motivation. Results showed that under unanimity rule, minority members block decisions, thus harming the group, but only when the minority has proself motivation. Under majority rule, majority members coalesce at the minority's expense, but only when the majority has a proself motivation. Implications for negotiation research and group decision making are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identity Maintenance and Loss: Concurrent Processes Among the Fransaskois.

Research has shown that, among minority group members, there is a tendency to adopt outgroup attributes at the loss of ingroup cultural elements. However, studies have also documented the occurrence of cultural revitalization and ethnic maintenance. While current theories of intergroup relations do delineate conditions under which either may occur, none have examined the processes responsible for their co-occurrence. This study is therefore meant to investigate if and by what mechanism the effect of cultural loss and maintenance may occur concomitantly. Two dimensions of acculturation (ethnic identity and adjustment), along with initial aspects of contact mediated by communication and social support processes, were examined as they occur among French Canadians living in a province of Western Canada. High school and junior high students (N = 151) attending French schools participated in the study. As predicted, the importance of contact, social support, and language confidence for shaping identity and adjustment was supported. While there were subtractive trends as a result of learning the second language, the additive benefit of identity maintenance and well-being was also apparent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individuality and Social Influence in Groups: Inductive and Deductive Routes to Group Identity.

A distinction between forms of social identity formation in small interactive groups is investigated. In groups in which a common identity is available or given, norms for individual behavior may be deduced from group properties (deductive identity). In groups in which interpersonal relations are central, a group identity may also be induced from individual group members' contributions, making individuality and individual distinctiveness a defining feature of the group (inductive identity). Two studies examined the prediction that depersonalization produced by anonymity has opposite effects for groups in which social identity has been induced or deduced. Results confirmed the prediction that depersonalization increases social influence in groups whose identity was more deductive. In contrast, depersonalization decreases social influence in inductive identity groups. Implications for the role of social identity in small groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individuality and group formation: The role of independence and differentiation.

This research examined the interplay of group formation and individualization processes with a particular emphasis on minority and majority groups. First, a 2-component theory of individuality that distinguishes between individuality as independence and as differentiation from other people was presented, tested, and cross-validated in 2 questionnaire studies. Next, a pilot experiment provided first support for the working assumption that the salience of the differentiation or independence components of individuality differentially affect minority and majority group formation. Finally, the main experiment demonstrated that these individuality effects on minority and majority group formation are due largely to a differential orientation toward either intergroup or intragroup comparisons. This experiment also uncovered a unique effect of relative in-group size, but this effect was limited to similarity-based group formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On the nature of identity fusion: Insights into the construct and a new measure.

Previous research has documented the consequences of feeling fused with a group; here we examine the nature of identity fusion. Specifically, we sought to determine what fusion is and the mediating mechanisms that lead fused individuals to make extraordinary sacrifices for their group. Guided by the assumption that fusion emphasizes the extent to which people develop relational ties to the group, we developed a measure designed to capture feelings of connectedness and reciprocal strength with the group. In 10 studies, the newly developed scale displayed predicted relationships with related measures, including an earlier (pictorial) measure of fusion and a measure of group identification. Also as expected, fusion scores were independent of several measures of personality and identity. Moreover, the scale predicted endorsement of extreme progroup behaviors with greater fidelity than did an earlier pictorial measure of identity fusion, which was, in turn, superior to a measure of group identification. Earlier evidence that the personal and social selves of fused persons are functionally equivalent was replicated, and it was shown that feelings of agency and invulnerability mediated the effects of fusion on extreme behavior. Finally, Spanish- and English-language versions of the verbal fusion scale showed similar factor structure as well as evidence of convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity in samples of Spaniards and Americans, as well as immigrants from 22 different countries. This work advances a new perspective on the interplay between social and personal identity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

I'm a hypocrite, but so is everyone else: Group support and the reduction of cognitive dissonance.

The impact of social support on dissonance arousal was investigated from a social identity view of dissonance theory. This perspective is seen as augmenting current conceptualizations of dissonance theory by predicting when normative information will impact on dissonance arousal and by indicating the availability of identity-related strategies of dissonance reduction. An experiment was conducted to induce feelings of hypocrisy under conditions of behavioral support or nonsupport. Group salience was either high or low, or individual identity was emphasized. As predicted, participants with no support from the salient in-group exhibited the greatest need to reduce dissonance through attitude change and reduced levels of group identification. Results were interpreted in terms of self being central to the arousal and reduction of dissonance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and Consequences of Customer-Company Identification: Expanding the Role of Relationship Marketing.

This article presents an empirical test of organizational identification in the context of customer-company (C-C) relationships. It investigates whether customers identify with companies and what the antecedents and consequences of such identification are. The model posits that perceived company characteristics, construed external image, and the perception of the company's boundary-spanning agent lead to C-C identification. In turn, such identification is expected to impact both in-role behavior (i.e., product utilization) as well as extra-role behavior (i.e., citizenship). The model was tested in a consultative selling context of pharmaceutical sales reps calling on physicians. Results from the empirical test indicated that customers do indeed identify with organizations and that C-C identification positively impacts both product utilization behavior and extra-role behavior even when the effect of brand perception is accounted for. Second, the study found that the organization's characteristics as well as the salesperson's characteristics contributed to the development of C-C identification. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Status differences and in-group bias: A meta-analytic examination of the effects of status stability, status legitimacy, and group permeability.

This work examines the moderating effects of status stability, legitimacy, and group permeability on in-group bias among high- and low-status groups. These effects were examined separately for evaluative measures that were relevant as well as irrelevant to the salient status distinctions. The results support social identity theory and show that high-status groups are more biased. The meta-analysis reveals that perceived status stability, legitimacy, and permeability moderate the effects of group status. Also, these variables interacted in their influences on the effect of group status on in-group bias, but this was only true for irrelevant evaluative dimensions. When status was unstable and perceived as illegitimate, low-status groups and high-status groups were equally biased when group boundaries were impermeable, compared with when they were permeable. Implications for social identity theory as well as for intergroup attitudes are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Depression: The Roles of Social Support and Meeting Basic Needs.

The current work examined the depressive symptoms and prevalence of major depression among members of ethnic and racial minorities and White people from a large random sample. Minority group members experienced more depressive symptoms and a marginally higher prevalence of major depression than did White participants. These effects were mediated by participants' problems meeting their basic needs. Specifically, minority group members reported more problems meeting their basic needs, and these problems were associated with an increased risk for depression and depressive symptoms. Minority group members also reported a higher quality of interpersonal functioning than White participants did, which appeared to suppress the relationship between ethnicity and depression. The implications of the findings for treatment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

In the name of Mussolini: Explaining the schism in an Italian right-wing political party.

The authors present a study testing and refining the social psychological model of schism in groups (F. Sani, 2005) by applying it to the schism that occurred in Alleanza Nazionale--an Italian political party of the right--in 2003. The authors found that perceptions of identity subversion (a sense that the group essence has been undermined by a change made by the group majority) have negative effects on group identification and positive effects on aversive emotions (dejection, agitation, and anger). Perceived identity subversion also has a negative influence on perceived group entitativity, which in turn has positive effects on group identification. Finally, group identification has a negative impact, and aversive emotions have a positive impact, on schismatic intentions. The authors also found that the more those who oppose the change are seen as having the ability to voice their dissent, the less both the negative impact of group identification and the positive impact of aversive emotions on schismatic intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"On the application of within and between analysis: Are absence and affect really group-based phenomena?": Correction to Yammarino and Markham.

Reports an error in "On the application of within and between analysis: Are absence and affect really group-based phenomena" by Francis J. Yammarino and Steven E. Markham (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1992[Apr], Vol 77[2], 168-176). The exponents in Equations 4 and 5 are incorrect. The correct exponent in each equation is 1/2. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1992-29454-001.) J. M. George (1990) examined personality, affect, and absence behavior as group-level phenomena. The recognition of level of analysis issues in that study was important, and the formulation of group-level hypotheses was interesting. However, the incomplete application of within and between analysis (WABA) led to suspect conclusions about group-based effects. The current study reexamined and reinterpreted George's results in light of an appropriate application of WABA. Personality, affect, and absence behavior appear to be based primarily on individual rather than group differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: Patterns and psychological correlates.

This article presents results from a 3-year longitudinal study of the growth patterns and correlates of perceived discrimination by adults and by peers among Black, Latino, and Asian American high school students. Results revealed a linear increase over time in levels of perceived discrimination by adults, whereas perceptions of discrimination by peers remained stable over time. Asian American and non-Puerto Rican Latino adolescents (primarily Dominican) reported higher levels of peer and/or adult discrimination than did Puerto Rican youth, whereas Black adolescents reported a steeper increase over time in levels of perceived discrimination by peers and by adults than did Puerto Rican adolescents. Peer and adult discrimination was significantly associated with decreased self-esteem and increased depressive symptoms over time. Ethnic identity and ethnicity were found to moderate the relationships between perceived discrimination and changes in psychological well-being over time. Results underscore the need to include perceptions of discrimination when studying the development and well-being of ethnic minority adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A preliminary report on a new measure: Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4) and its psychological correlates among Asian American college students.

This investigation is a preliminary report on a new measure of internalization of the model minority myth. In 3 studies, there was evidence for the validation of the 15-item Internalization of the Model Minority Myth Measure (IM-4), with 2 subscales. The Model Minority Myth of Achievement Orientation referred to the myth of Asian Americans’ greater success than other racial minority groups associated with their stronger work ethics, perseverance, and drives to succeed. The Model Minority Myth of Unrestricted Mobility referred to the myth of Asian Americans’ greater success than other racial minority groups associated with their stronger belief in fairness of treatment and lack of perceived racism or barriers at school or work. The 2-subscale structure of the IM-4 was supported by a combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, with support of discriminant, convergent, and incremental validity, as well as internal reliability and stability over 2 weeks. The IM-4 is a new measure that taps into a uniquely racialized experience of Asian Americans with research and clinical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective pressures on the once and future contents of ethnic stereotypes: Effects of the communicability of traits.

It is hypothesized that traits that are most likely to be the subject of social discourse (i.e., most communicable) are most likely to persist in ethnic stereotypes over time and that this effect is moderated by the extent to which an ethnic group is the subject of social discourse. Study 1 yielded communicability ratings of 76 traits. Study 2 tested the relation between a trait's communicability and its presence in stereotypes of 4 Canadian ethnic groups. Study 3 tested the relation between a trait's communicability and its persistence over time in stereotypes of 8 American ethnic groups. Results supported the hypotheses. A communication-based analysis of stereotypes appears helpful in predicting persistence and change in the contents of stereotypes of real groups in the real world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing and extending the group engagement model: Linkages between social identity, procedural justice, economic outcomes, and extrarole behavior.

Two field studies tested and extended the group engagement model (Tyler & Blader, 2000, Tyler & Blader, 2003) by examining the model with regard to employee extrarole behavior. Consistent with the group engagement model's predictions, results of these studies indicate that the social identities employees form around their work groups and their organizations are strongly related to whether employees engage in extrarole behaviors. Moreover, the studies demonstrated that social identity explains the impact of other factors that have previously been linked to extrarole behavior. In particular, the findings indicate that social identity mediates the effect of procedural justice judgments and economic outcomes on supervisor ratings of extrarole behavior. Overall, these studies provide compelling indication that social identity is an important determinant of behavior within work organizations and provide strong support for the application of the group engagement model in organizational settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group Belongingness and Procedural Justice: Social Inclusion and Exclusion by Peers Affects the Psychology of Voice.

The authors focus on the relation between group membership and procedural justice. They argue that whether people are socially included or excluded by their peers influences their reactions to unrelated experiences of procedural justice. Findings from 2 experiments corroborate the prediction that reactions to voice as opposed to no-voice procedures are affected more strongly when people are included in a group than when they are excluded from a group. These findings are extended with a 3rd experiment that shows that people who generally experience higher levels of inclusion in their lives respond more strongly to voice as opposed to no-voice procedures. It is concluded that people's reactions to procedural justice are moderated by people's level of inclusion in social groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)