You can't reason with them: Dismissing religious defectors as irrational

Millions of people leave their religion every year. Such defection often results in religious persecution, ostracism, and heightened intergroup conflict. Yet little is known about the underlying perceptions of religious defectors and what intergroup processes predict hostility toward them. In two pre-registered studies (N = 512), we investigated how religious group members' thoughts and feelings about defectors may lead to ostracism and a lack of dialogue. In both studies, group members rated defectors as unlikeable and irrational. Further, the strength of group members' religious group identification (but not religious belief conviction) predicted dislike and unwillingness to relate wisely with defectors (Study 2). Implications for intergroup research and improving the experience of religious defectors are discussed.     

Shared identity content between leader and follower influences intentional mobilization and challenge and threat states

ObjectivesResearchers have examined how leaders' representation of shared identity content allows them to mobilize group members towards success in competitive tasks. However, research is yet to determine the psychological and physiological implications of shared identity content with a leader when approaching competitive tasks. The present research addresses this gap within a two-phase experimental study, examining the effect of shared identity content on follower intentional mobilization, self-efficacy, perceived control, approach and avoidance goals, cardiovascular challenge and threat and motor performance within a competitive task.DesignA 2 × 2 between-participants two-phase experimental design, with two shared and two non-shared conditions.MethodWithin phase one, 220 sport and exercise undergraduate students imagined themselves in one of four scenarios and responded to measures of mobilization (e.g., willingness to invest time on a task). Then, a pre-screening questionnaire was used to evidence the students' authentic identity content when competing in sport, which informed condition within phase two. Of those who consented to phase two, a laboratory experiment with 120 undergraduate sport and exercise students was used. Within this experiment, the sharedness of identity content between leader and follower was manipulated through the students' authentic pre-screening questionnaire responses. Within phase two, competition related self-efficacy, perceived control, approach and avoidance goals, cardiovascular challenge and threat and motor performance was assessed.ResultsPhase one results indicated that when identity content is shared (vs. non-shared) between leader and follower, group members' willingness to invest time on a task is increased within a hypothetical scenario. In phase two, it was evidenced that when identity content is shared (vs. non-shared) between leader and follower, followers reported greater intentional mobilization, self-efficacy and perceived control when approaching a competitive task. Shared identity content with a leader did not predict cardiovascular challenge states nor greater motor performance (relative to non-shared identity content).ConclusionThe present research provides evidence that a leaders' capacity to mobilize effort of group members and enhance psychological appraisal of competitive events is dependent on their ability to build shared identity content.     

When Trust in the Leader Matters: The Moderated-Mediation Model of Team Performance and Trust

This study contributes to the sport and team literature by exploring the conditions in which trust in a leader translates into trust in a team and subsequent team performance. Findings from 709 athletes on 74 basketball teams demonstrated that trust in the coach represents a critical antecedent of team trust, especially when the team's past performance has been poor. We also found a combined effect of the level and consensus in trust on team performance. Practical implications suggest that a coach needs to ensure that every player, rather than just some or even the majority of individual team members, trusts him or her and the team.     

Creating the conditions for psychological safety and its impact on quality coach-athlete relationships

In this study, we investigated the notion that giving voice to athletes is an important aspect to creating a psychologically safe environment which can then feed into maintaining good quality coach-athlete relationships where every athlete feels heard, valued, and connected. 379 athletes completed a multi-section questionnaire that assessed their (a) capacity to be open and manage conflict with their coaches, (b) perceptions of psychological safety within their team or group, and (c) perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship quality. Structural equation modelling revealed that openness and conflict management positively predicted psychological safety which, in turn, positively predicted coach-athlete relationship quality. Psychological safety was found to explain the association between athletes’ communication (i.e., capacity to be open, honest and transparent as well as manage interpersonal conflict effectively) and coach-athlete relationship quality regardless of athletes’ gender. These findings highlighted that if athletes have the capacity to have candid discussions and can navigate conflict with their coaches, then it is possible to feel psychologically safe and thus able to engage in risky interpersonal interactions (e.g., raise concerns, admit mistakes) within their group context without fear of intimidation and humiliation. Furthermore, it was revealed that such a psychologically safe group environment fostered athletes’ trust and respect, as well as commitment and cooperation with their coach. The discussion provides links to theory, research and practice.     

Exhausting or exhilarating? Conflict as threat to interests,relationships and identities

Some conflicts are experienced as depleting and exhausting whereas others are experienced as stimulating and invigorating. We explored the possibility that the focus of perceived threat in conflict determines whether it produces taxing stress or vitalizing arousal. Studies 1 and 2 established that attending to threats to interests, relationships, and identities during interpersonal conflict differentially relates to motivational goals, empathy and perspective-taking, femininity, and a collectivistic self-construal. Study 2 also found that perceived threats to relationships are associated with lower challenge appraisals and energy mobilization. Studies 3 and 4 experimentally manipulated threats to different targets and demonstrated causal effects of threat perceptions on self-reported energy mobilization and the consumption of comfort foods. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that conflicts which threaten relationships are experienced as significantly more depleting than conflicts that threaten either tangible interests or elements of individuals' identities, and explain when, why and for whom conflict is exhausting.     

The roles of leader emotion management and team conflict for team members' personal initiative: A multilevel perspective

Employees' personal initiative (i.e., their active and future-oriented engagement at work) is of high relevance to organizations that strive for innovation and competitiveness. To better understand its drivers and diminishers, the present study refers to Affective Events Theory and examines the impact of leader emotion management, team conflict, and affective well-being on personal initiative. Data from 300 members of 59 work teams in Germany were gathered from multiple sources at three points in time over the course of 2 weeks. Multilevel analyses indicated that leader emotion management positively affected team members' personal initiative and that this effect was mediated by team members' affective well-being. Data also revealed a contrasting negative indirect effect of task conflict within the team on team members' personal initiative via team members' affective well-being. The study's results suggest that the improvement of leaders' emotion management as well as the establishment of work conditions and experiences that foster affective well-being should be seriously considered by organizations wishing to facilitate personal initiative in team settings.     

Promoting leadership behaviors in low performance-self-esteem women in task-oriented mixed-sex dyads1

Methods for promoting leadership behaviors in low performance-self-esteem women were explored in two studies. Female undergraduates were paired with male peers who had either very similar or much higher scores on the Performance-Self-Esteem Scale. The mixed-sex dyads in Study 1 were given either no leader, chance-based leader, or ability-based leader instructions. Study 2 included only the latter two conditions and allowed subjects preparation time between leader appointment and the dyadic interaction. All leader appointments were given to the female dyad member. Members' influence was measured by verbal interaction counts, decision outcome scores, and members' ratings. Both leader conditions were successful in promoting female leadership behavior in Study 2, as measured by verbal interactions, but neither was successful in Study 1. Results indicated that Study 2 females exercised a helpful leadership style and that Study 2 males were satisfied with their partners' role in the interaction.     

Leaders and their treatment of subgroups: implications for evaluations of the leader and the superordinate group

This experiment examined members' evaluations of a group leader and the group in contexts where a superordinate group comprised two subgroups and the group leader was aligned with one or other subgroup. The design varied group leader (ingroup, outgroup) and leader behavior (ingroup favoring, outgroup favoring) as well as the broader comparative context (intragroup, intergroup). Across a number of measures, results indicated a consistent Group Leader × Leader Behavior interaction that was independent of comparative context. Although group members were most satisfied with an ingroup leader who favored the ingroup, ingroup leaders were perceived positively irrespective of their behavior. Outgroup leaders who unexpectedly favored the other subgroup were also perceived positively. However, outgroup leaders who favored their own subgroup were perceived as less fair and as more biased than other leaders. They also engendered less identification with the superordinate group and a less unified perception of the group. Results demonstrate the importance of social identity concerns to leadership in nested group contexts and emphasize the fact that perceptions of leader fairness and concern for the common group mediate responses to the superordinate category. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Status conferral in intergroup social dilemmas: behavioral antecedents and consequences of prestige and dominance

Bridging the literatures on social dilemmas, intergroup conflict, and social hierarchy, the authors systematically varied the intergroup context in which social dilemmas were embedded to investigate how costly contributions to public goods influence status conferral. They predicted that contribution behavior would have opposite effects on 2 forms of status-prestige and dominance-depending on its consequences for the self, in-group and out-group members. When the only way to benefit in-group members was by harming out-group members (Study 1), contributions increased prestige and decreased dominance, compared with free-riding. Adding the option of benefitting in-group members without harming out-group members (Study 2) decreased the prestige and increased the dominance of those who chose to benefit in-group members via intergroup competition. Finally, sharing resources with both in-group and out-group members decreased perceptions of both prestige and dominance, compared with sharing them with in-group members only (Study 3). Prestige and dominance differentially mediated the effects of contribution behavior on leader election, exclusion from the group, and choices of a group representative for an intergroup competition. Taken together, these findings show that the well-established relationship between contribution and status is moderated by both the intergroup context and the conceptualization of status.     

Effects of trustors' social identity complexity on interpersonal and intergroup trust

Although previous literature has revealed the effect of a single social identity on trust, only few studies have examined how multiple social identities affect trust in others. The present research examined the effects of trustors' social identity complexity on their level of trust toward another person (interpersonal trust), outgroup members (outgroup trust), and ingroup members (ingroup trust). Study 1, which was a correlational study, indicated that trustors' social identity complexity was positively related to their interpersonal and outgroup trust. Three experimental studies were performed to identify causal relationships. Study 2 found that activating trustors' high social identity complexity produced high levels of interpersonal trust, and Studies 3 and 4 found that this effect was more pronounced when the trustee was an outgroup member (outgroup trust) rather than an ingroup member (ingroup trust). The implications of these results for social harmony are discussed.     

Perceiving couples as discrete units: The existence of couple-level identities

The present studies examined the often-implicit notion that people think about couples as discrete entities, distinct from the individuals therein—a concept we refer to as couple-level identities. Findings suggest that people perceive both their own and other couples as distinct units (Study 1) that can possess dyadic qualities unique from those of either couple member. Exploring the implications of these identities, Studies 2 and 3 examined how couple-level identities (beyond the identities of the individuals) influence social judgment (e.g., cognitive biases). Finally, Study 4's findings suggest that perceptions of discrete couple-level identities are natural parts of everyday social cognition. Together, results suggest the need to consider couple-level identities in research on the self, social perception, and close relationships.     

The Role of Leadership and Trust in Creating Structural Patterns of Team Procedural Justice: A Social Network Investigation

We adopt a social network perspective to investigate the distinct structural patterns (i.e., centralization and density) of procedural justice (PJ) in teams and the antecedent factors that create them. Across 2 longitudinal field studies in which we gathered social network data from 1,008 workers on 138 teams (Study 1) in China and 672 workers on 125 teams (Study 2) in the United States, we found that differentiation in leader–member exchange relationships significantly influenced the centralization and density of PJ within a team by affecting the level of intrateam trust. Specifically, the more differentiated leader treatment team members received, the lower the level of trust within a team, which resulted in more concentrated (high centralization) and fewer (low density) social interactions among members regarding team PJ. Furthermore, differentiated leader treatment of team members was especially damaging to intrateam trust and, in turn, the structural patterns of team PJ when team members were in close proximity and highly sensitive to equity issues.     

Affective expressions in groups and inferences about members' relational well-being: The effects of socially engaging and disengaging emotions

Our findings draw attention to the interpersonal communication function of a relatively unexplored dimension of emotions—the level of social engagement versus disengagement. In four experiments, regardless of valence and target group gender, observers infer greater relational well-being (more cohesiveness and less conflict) between group members from socially engaging (sadness and appreciation) versus disengaging (anger and pride) emotion expressions. Supporting our argument that social (dis)engagement is a critical dimension communicated by these emotions, we demonstrate (1) that inferences about group members' self-interest mediate the effect of socially engaging emotions on cohesiveness and (2) that the influence of socially disengaging emotion expressions on inferences of conflict is attenuated when groups have collectivistic norms (i.e., members value a high level of social engagement). Furthermore, we show an important downstream consequence of these inferences of relational well-being: Groups that seem less cohesive because of their members' proud (versus appreciative) expressions are also expected to have worse task performance.     

Trust and Acceptance in Response to References to Group Membership: Minority and Majority Perspectives on Cross‐Group Interactions1

This research examined anticipated feelings of trust and acceptance in cross‐group interactions among members of ethnic minority and majority groups, depending on whether an out‐group member referred to their group membership. In Study 1, Asian, Latino, and White participants read scenarios describing interactions between them and an in‐group member, an out‐group member, or an out‐group member who referred to their group membership. Participants from each group responded more negatively toward interactions with out‐group members when they referred to group membership. These findings were replicated in Study 2 with samples of Black and White participants, also showing that anticipated prejudice partially mediated the effects of out‐group members' references to group membership on feelings of trust and acceptance. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of facilitating intergroup communication and conversations about group differences.     

Pro‐peace or anti‐war: The effect of emotions primed by protest songs on emotions toward in‐group and out‐group in conflict

Members of societies in conflict hold stable positive and negative views, and emotions of the in‐group and out‐group, respectively. Music is a potent tool to express and evoke emotions. It is a social product created within a social and political context, reflecting, and commenting it. Protest songs aim to change views and attitudes toward ongoing conflicts. Their message may be expressed positively (pro‐peace songs) or negatively (anti‐war songs). Previous research has shown that evoking emotions such as guilt toward the in‐group or empathy toward the out‐group may influence attitudes toward reconciliation. The present research, conducted in Israel, presents three studies investigating whether emotions evoked by positive or negative protest songs may influence in‐group members' guilt toward the in‐group (Israeli Jews) and empathy toward the out‐group (Palestinians). Studies 1 and 2 show that negative emotions evoked by negative protests songs predicted both empathy and guilt when the out‐group is considered as a whole (Study 1) or as a particular individual (Study 2). Study 2 in addition showed that empathy predicts an altruistic decision regarding an out‐group member. Emotions evoked by lyrics alone (Study 3) did not contribute to explained variance in either guilt or empathy, nor the altruistic decision. Results suggest that negative emotions expressed by negative protest songs, focused on the in‐group, are more effective in influencing attitudes toward out‐groups. Results are discussed in the context of group emotions in conflict and the role of protest songs in intergroup relations.     

The conflict of harmony: Intergroup contact,commonality and political solidarity between minority groups

Recent work on social change has complicated the picture regarding the influence of intergroup contact with majority groups on minority group members' perceptions of inequality and willingness to engage in social action. The present research investigated the ability of a commonality-focused message to inspire political solidarity between minority groups, as well as the potential moderating role of intergroup contact with a majority group on the efficacy of this message for political solidarity. Across two experiments, as hypothesized, political solidarity from one minority group to another was highest within a commonality condition, relative to group-boundaries salient and control conditions, which was explained by increases in commonality perceptions. As expected, however, these effects were moderated by majority group contact, such that those with high levels of contact with majority group were less likely to show the commonality-to-political solidarity relation. Implications for intergroup contact and more broadly social change are discussed.     

‘Of the group’ and ‘for the group’: How followership is shaped by leaders' prototypicality and group identification

Previous research has focused on the importance of leaders being seen to be of the group (i.e. to be prototypical of a group) but less on the impact of leaders' own degree of identification with the group. Also, little is known about the combined impact of leader prototypicality and leader identification on followers' responses. This paper reports two studies that address these lacunae. Study 1 shows experimentally that perceived leader identification and prototypicality interact to determine followers' personal identification with leaders and their perceptions of leader charisma. Findings indicate that high identification can compensate for low prototypicality such that high‐identified leaders are able to inspire followership when leaders are low prototypical. Study 2 replicates these findings in the field by examining followers' responses to workgroup leaders. In addition, results demonstrate that the aforementioned responses are more pronounced for highly identified followers. The present research extends social identity theorizing by demonstrating that leaders' inability to inspire followership derives as much from their failure to project a sense of ‘we’ and ‘us’ as part of their self‐concept as from a failure to exemplify group‐typical attributes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived group identity of outgroup members and anticipated rejection: People think that strongly identified group members reject non‐group members

Many studies of intergroup relations have examined the effects of group identity on various types of intergroup cognition and behavior. However, few studies have focused on the perceived group identity of outgroup members. This study examined the effects of perceptions of outgroup identity on anticipated rejection by an outgroup. In Study 1, we administered a questionnaire pertaining to 30 social groups to Japanese undergraduate and vocational students. The collective images and intra‐individual processes relating to perceived outgroup identity were investigated by applying correlation analysis and multilevel structural equation modeling. In Study 2, we conducted an experiment in which we manipulated the participants' perceptions of relative levels of outgroup members' identity. Both studies demonstrated, as predicted, that people anticipated rejection by strongly identified outgroup members more than by weakly identified outgroup members. Furthermore, in Study 2, anticipated same‐group favoritism mediated the relationship between the manipulation of perceived outgroup identity and anticipated rejection. These findings suggest the important role of perceived outgroup identity in intergroup cognition.     

Creating and undermining social support in communal relationships: the role of compassionate and self-image goals

In 2 studies, the authors examined whether relationship goals predict change in social support and trust over time. In Study 1, a group of 199 college freshmen completed pretest and posttest measures of social support and interpersonal trust and completed 10 weekly reports of friendship goals and relationship experiences. Average compassionate goals predicted closeness, clear and connected feelings, and increased social support and trust over the semester; self-image goals attenuated these effects. Average self-image goals predicted conflict, loneliness, and afraid and confused feelings; compassionate goals attenuated these effects. Changes in weekly goals predicted changes in goal-related affect, closeness, loneliness, conflict, and beliefs about mutual and individualistic caring. In Study 2, a group of 65 roommate pairs completed 21 daily reports of their goals for their roommate relationship. Actors' average compassionate and self-image goals interacted to predict changes over 3 weeks in partners' reports of social support received from and given to actors; support that partners gave to actors, in turn, predicted changes in actors' perceived available support, indicating that people with compassionate goals create a supportive environment for themselves and others, but only if they do not have self-image goals.     

Contextualizing Procedural Fairness: Factors Mediating the Effect of Process Control on Leadership Evaluation in Organizations

Two studies were conducted to examine contextual mediators of the relationship between process control and evaluations of authority in organizations. Specifically, the studies investigated the role in this relationship of intragroup conflict, the necessity for future cooperation, and group members' level of experience. In Study 1, subjects with current experience working in schools were led to believe that future cooperation among teachers in a hypothetical school was important, and thus were more likely to give a favorable evaluation to a leader who used a decision-making procedure lacking in process control than were subjects who had not worked in a school. The experienced subjects in the future cooperation condition also judged that cooperation among group members would more likely be saved by this procedure. In Study 2 -- a survey conducted in several elementary and high schools -- experienced teachers who perceived considerable need for future cooperation in their schools placed less emphasis on process control when they evaluated their supervisors. Results suggest the need for further examination of group and individual factors as mediators of the procedural fairness effect in organizations.