Moderators of Social Power Use for In‐Group/Out‐Group Targets: An Experimental Paradigm1

Studies of social power use have frequently employed self‐report instruments that are prone to response bias. In the present study, an experimental design was conducted in which 100 participants were asked to gain compliance from in‐group and out‐group members. We tested whether harsh tactics—often used for elevating self‐image at the dyadic level—also provide a means for gaining advantage at the group level. For this purpose, self‐esteem and self‐efficacy were examined as possible moderators. Findings indicated that self‐esteem interacted with target group: Low self‐esteem participants used harsh tactics more frequently toward in‐group than out‐group members; and moderate and high self‐esteem participants used harsh tactics more frequently toward out‐group than in‐group members. The process involved in this interaction is discussed.     

Self‐Fulfilling Prophecies: Mechanisms,Power, and Links to Social Problems

A core theme of social psychology is that perceivers can shape targets’ future behaviors through self‐fulfilling prophecies. Self‐fulfilling prophecies occur when perceivers’ false beliefs about targets initiate a sequence of events that ultimately cause targets to exhibit expectancy‐consistent behaviors, thereby causing perceivers’ initially false beliefs to become true. This article reviews theory and research relevant to self‐fulfilling prophecies with particular foci on the underlying mechanisms that produce self‐fulfilling prophecies, the power of self‐fulfilling prophecies to alter behavior, and the extent to which self‐fulfilling prophecies contribute to social problems.     

Gender differences in implicit gender self‐categorization lead to stronger gender self‐stereotyping by women than by men

It was hypothesized that, in natural group contexts, low‐status in‐group membership would be highly accessible, whereas membership to high‐status groups would not. Therefore, gender group membership was predicted to be more accessible for women than for men. It was further hypothesized that the high accessibility of gender group membership would lead to stronger self‐stereotyping for women than for men. To measure the accessibility of gender group membership, participants performed a Gender Self‐Categorization Implicit Association Test (Studies 1 and 2), measuring the strength of automatic associations between the self and the gender in‐group. Participants also performed a Self‐Stereotyping Implicit Association Test (Study 2), assessing the strength of automatic associations between the self and the stereotypical traits of the in‐group. As expected, implicit gender self‐categorization and implicit gender self‐stereotyping were stronger for women than for men. Importantly, implicit gender self‐categorization mediated the relation between gender and self‐stereotyping. Therefore, implicit gender self‐categorization was the mechanism underlying stronger implicit self‐stereotyping by women. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predicting dating behavior from aggression and self‐perceived social status in adolescence

We investigated the longitudinal associations between self‐reported aggression, self‐perceived social status, and dating in adolescence using an intrasexual competition theoretical framework. Participants consisted of 536 students in Grade 9 (age 15), recruited from a community sample, who were assessed on a yearly basis until they were in Grade 11 (age 17). Adolescents self‐reported their use of direct and indirect aggression, social status, and number of dating partners. A cross‐lagged panel model that controlled for within‐time covariance and across‐time stability while examining cross‐lagged pathways was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that direct aggression did not predict dating behavior and was negatively associated with self‐perceived social status in Grade 10. Self‐perceived social status in Grade 9 was positively associated with greater use of indirect aggression in Grade 10. Regarding dating, in Grade 9, self‐perceived social status positively predicted more dating partners the following year, while in Grade 10, it was higher levels of indirect aggression that predicted greater dating activity the following year. Overall, there were no significant sex differences in the model. The study supports the utility of evolutionary psychological theory in explaining peer aggression, and suggests that although social status can increase dating opportunities, as adolescents mature, indirect aggression becomes the most successful and strategic means of competing intrasexually and gaining mating advantages.

     

Effort in the face of difference: Feeling like a non‐prototypical group member motivates effort

Three studies examined the relationship between individuals' perceived “prototypicality” in a group, their subsequent self‐presentation goals, and individual effort in that group. Consistent with the finding that feelings of marginal ingroup membership status elicit a desire to seek stronger social connections within ingroups, we predicted that non‐prototypical group members will have more salient self‐presentation goals than prototypical members, and as such will exert more individual effort to exhibit the value of their membership to the group. Correlational Study 1 confirmed that non‐prototypical group members may be more likely than prototypical members to volunteer for activities that would benefit their group. Two experimental studies were then conducted to test the causal influence of feelings of prototypicality while also identifying theoretically relevant moderating conditions of perceived task efficacy (Study 2) and public versus private task performance (Study 3). These findings suggest that effortful performance in groups is partly motivated by the desire to foster social ties. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two experimental tests of trust in in‐group strangers: The moderating role of common knowledge of group membership

The role that shared group membership plays in decisions to trust others is now well established within social psychology. A close reading of this literature, however, shows that this process is often moderated by other variables. Currently, we examined one potential moderator of this process. In particular, we evaluated the role that common knowledge of a shared social group membership between self and a to‐be‐trusted stranger provides as a basis for trusting this stranger. This common knowledge emerges when the truster knows the group membership of the to‐be‐trusted other, and believes that this other also knows the group membership of the truster. In two experiments, using pre‐existing and minimal groups, we show that people are more likely to trust an in‐group member over an out‐group member under conditions of common group‐membership knowledge rather than private group‐membership knowledge (i.e. other does not know truster's group), even when they could choose not to trust anyone. The manner in which these data add to current understandings of group‐based trust in strangers is discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peer victimization and self‐esteem of ethnic minority group children

An experimental study was carried out among Turkish children (10 to 12 years) living in the Netherlands for examining the relationship between peer victimization and self‐esteem. Related to the social psychological distinction between personal and social identity, a distinction was made between personal and ethnic self‐esteem and between personal and ethnic victimization. It was found that personal self‐esteem negatively predicted personal victimization but not ethnic victimization, and ethnic self‐esteem tended to predict ethnic victimization but not personal victimization. Furthermore, peer victimization had a negative causal effect on momentary self‐feelings independent of the level of self‐esteem. In addition, peer victimization based on ethnic group membership had a somewhat stronger negative effect on self‐feelings than victimization based on personal characteristics. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychological group memberships as outcomes of resource distributions

We propose that people can and will infer group memberships from resource distributions, and that these distributions have implications for people's understandings of the groups themselves and their own associations with these groups. We derive hypotheses from social identity and self‐categorization theories, and test them in three experiments. In Experiment 1, participants systematically rated specific patterns of group memberships as more likely than others in light of specific resource distributions in a manner consistent with our predictions. In Experiment 2, intragroup distributive fairness led to greater perceived self‐in‐group similarity than intra‐group distributive unfairness, while distributively unfair, in‐group favouritism led to greater perceived self‐in‐group similarity than intergroup fairness. In Experiment 3, social identification dropped following unfair, out‐group favouritism and intragroup unfairness, but not unfair, in‐group favouritism, or intragroup and intergroup fairness. The current data provide support for our hypotheses and clear evidence that resource distributions can be providers of group membership information. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Smiling and self‐presentation of men and women for job photographs

The present research studied the factors that influence the smiling behaviour of men and women. We assumed that men and women who actively engage in self‐presentation use smiling as a strategy to take advantage of the expectations of others in order to realize their own goals. In the research situation, the participants imagined that they wanted to obtain a certain part‐time job. We expected that gender‐role expectations, the gender‐typing and status of the job in question, and the importance of social contacts for carrying out the job would influence the extent to which men and women would smile for a photo to be sent with a job application. The results partly support this expectation: men and women smiled more in response to a low‐status job than to a high‐status job; women smiled more in response to a job in which social contacts are important than to a job in which social contacts are unimportant; and women smiled more than men in response to a feminine low‐status job in which social contacts are important. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of Instructor Gender and Race/Ethnicity on Gaining Compliance in the Classroom1

How instructors' gender and race impacts their ability to gain compliance in the classroom when utilizing various bases of social power was investigated using a 2 × 2 × 3 between‐subjects design. Male and female participants (n = 297) completed the Interpersonal Power Inventory while viewing a photo depicting an instructor. The instructors depicted were male or female of varying ethnicities (Caucasian, African American, and Latino). Results indicated that instructor gender and race influenced student compliance rates when soft (subtle and noncoercive) bases of power were utilized. With regard to individual power bases, student gender, instructor gender, instructor race, and the Instructor Gender × Instructor Race interaction were found to impact compliance rates. Implications for classroom instructors, as well as other powerholders, are discussed.     

“Everybody feels a broken bone,but only we can feel a broken heart”: Group membership influences the perception of targets' suffering

There is surmounting evidence in the literature demonstrating that social pain (e.g. rejection, humiliation, and isolation) and physical pain (e.g. injury or assault) overlap in personal experiences. The present investigation focuses on second‐hand perceptions of social and physical pain. We argue that judgments of others' pain may vary as a function of group membership. By integrating research on intergroup bias in pain judgment with intergroup attributions of humanity, we predicted that observers tend to underestimate social pain more than physical pain in out‐groups compared with in‐groups. Across two studies that considered different scenarios, we found that Italian participants attributed less severe social pain when considering an out‐group (Chinese and Ecuadorian) than an in‐group member. No such effect was found for physical pain. Overall, the current work suggests an additional way through which people preserve a privileged human status to in‐group members while denying out‐group members' humanness. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bonding and bridging social capital and their associations with self‐evaluated community resilience: A comparative study of East Asia

The purpose of this study is to test key social capital indicators in a disaster context by considering the bonding and bridging types of social capital. Using the East Asian Social Survey, this study chooses three behavioural/cognitive elements of social capital—social trust, voluntary association membership, and personal networks—and divides them into bonding and bridging social capital, in‐group and out‐group trust, homogeneous and heterogeneous membership, and strong and weak ties to test their effects on self‐evaluated community resilience to natural hazards. The results showed that social trust and personal networks had strong positive effects, but the effect of voluntary association membership was positive in societies with high rates of membership (Japan and South Korea) and negative in a society with a low rate of membership (Taiwan). Furthermore, while bonding social capital generally showed a stronger effect than bridging social capital in East Asia, a society with more frequent and intense disasters (Japan) showed a strong effect of heterogenous membership on self‐evaluated community resilience. This study connects two aspects of social capital studies—the elements and the types of social capital—and the findings imply that the relationship between social capital and community resilience may have some mediator variables.     

The typical student as an in‐group member: eliminating optimistic bias by reducing social distance

While demonstrations of optimistic bias are plentiful, successful attempts at eliminating the bias (debiasing) are rare. The current study attempted to debias by reducing the perceived social distance between the self and the typical own university student. Using self‐categorisation theory, it was predicted that rating the out‐group target (the typical student at another university) before the in‐group one would reduce the perceived social distance between the self and the latter and lead to a reduction in optimistic bias. Both predictions were supported, with optimistic bias being eliminated for negative events and attenuated for positive events. In the standard optimistic bias condition (in‐group first) optimistic bias was obtained for both negative and positive events. The findings provide support for perceived social distance in determining optimistic bias. The implications for recent arguments that comparisons with an abstract target automatically evoke an ‘I am better than average’ heuristic or necessarily entail the use of distributional judgmental frameworks are explored. Whilst the automatic linking of abstract targets with heuristic or distributional thinking is called into question, a case is made for integrating these ideas with the self‐categorisation approach. Where practitioners aim to reduce optimistic bias, the findings suggest promoting the perception of the target as a fellow in‐group member may help do so. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The order effect in self–other predictions: considering target as a moderator

Two factors known to affect the use of self in social prediction, target similarity and order of predictions, are considered in concert to understand how the use of self varies across the prediction of different targets. Replicating earlier studies, we predicted and found that people use the self more when predicting similar others than when predicting dissimilar others. Extending existing studies, we predicted and found order effects for similar others. As predicted no order effects emerged for predictions for dissimilar targets. Because the self is more accessible during the prediction of similar others, it matters whether self‐predictions precede or follow other‐predictions. Feature‐matching theory is proposed as a possible explanation for the emergence of order effects in predictions of similar targets. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Third-party punishment and symbolic intragroup status

Retributive justice theory has suggested two processes by which punishment is psychologically satisfying to victims of injustice: leveling the power imbalance caused by the transgression and revalidating social consensus over the importance of the rules, norms, and values violated by the offense. The current investigation proposes a third symbolic function that has not yet been identified as a psychological consequence of punishment: confirmation of the victim's membership status in the group (i.e., intragroup standing or respect). Three studies identified perceptions of intragroup membership status as following from third-party punishment, partly explaining the effect of punishment on a victim's group identification. Study 1 showed that, following the experience of an injustice, punishment prevented perceived membership status threats from resulting in victim disidentification. Study 2 showed that third-party desires to punish increased subsequent identification by symbolically communicating the ingroup's regard for the victim, even when the offender did not actually suffer the effects of third-party sanctions. Finally, Study 3 showed that punishment only implied membership status when the act of punishment was instigated by an ingroup authority and was thus identity-relevant. Taken together, these studies offer the first examination of membership status as a relevant concern underlying retributive justice.     

Social identity and personality processes: Non‐Aboriginal Australian identity and Neuroticism

There are ongoing debates both in personality psychology and social psychology on the causes and consequences of personality stability and change. Recent work on social roles suggests that as people change roles (e.g. employee to manager), different experiences and demands are internalised into one's self‐concept shaping identity and personality. In this paper, the emphasis moves beyond ‘roles’ to other group memberships (e.g. ethnicity) in shaping one's self‐view and self‐rated personality (e.g. Neuroticism). The results of two experiments demonstrated that the salience of a particular group membership (as a Non‐Aboriginal Australian) did significantly impact on Neuroticism. Such findings suggest that social identity processes may offer a hitherto neglected avenue for helping to explain personality (dis)continuity. Implications of these findings for both fields are discussed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Less Biased Under Threat? Self‐Verificatory Reactions to Social Identity Threat Among Groups With Negative Self‐Stereotypes1

According to social identity theory, when group status is threatened, highly committed group members respond with greater in‐group favoritism. However, some of the groups build their identities on negative self‐stereotypes. For such groups, status‐threatening information should lead their members to confirmation of the group's negative self‐image. Study 1 examined the effects of group‐directed threat in a group with a long tradition of negative self‐perception. The manipulation led participants to higher ratings of the out‐group, and reduced adherence to in‐group‐defending ideologies. Study 2 provided further support to our predictions: Participants holding negative self‐stereotypes reacted to group‐image threats with more positive feelings about out‐groups. Findings are discussed within the theoretical framework of social identity theory and self‐verification theory.     

The Place of Self‐Respect in a Theory of Justice

This essay provides a critical examination of Rawls' (and Rawlsians') conception of self‐respect, the social bases of self‐respect, and the normative justification of equality in the social bases of self‐respect. I defend a rival account of these notions and the normative ideals at stake in political liberalism and a theory of social justice.

I make the following arguments: (1) I argue that it is unreasonable to take self‐respect to be a primary social good, as Rawls and his interpreters characterize it; (2) secondly, drawing on a distinction made by Darwall, I argue that recognition respect provides a far more suitable notion of respect for a theory of justice than Rawls' notion of appraisal respect; (3) thirdly, I argue that Rawls' treatment of self‐respect and the social bases of self‐respect as empirical conceptions should be rejected in favor of normative notions of a reasonable or justified self‐respect and equality in reasonable social bases of self‐respect; (4) I argue that Rawls' notions of political liberalism and public reason provide a way of grounding a notion of the reasonable social bases of self‐respect in political ideals of the person implicit in modern economic institutions, and family relations, ignored by Rawlsians—but as central to reasonable social bases of self‐respect and justice, as Rawlsians' ideal of persons as free and equal citizens.     

Self‐power associations: the possession of power impacts women's self‐concepts

Women's self‐identification with social power was assessed in three studies using the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998 ). In Experiment 1, women held weaker implicit and explicit associations between self and power than did men. Experiment 2 demonstrated that women assigned to a high power group have stronger implicit self‐power associations than do women in a low power group. Experiment 3 showed that women assigned to a high power role have stronger implicit self‐masculine associations than do women assigned to a low power role, but social power did not affect explicit associations with masculinity. These studies suggest that gender differences in implicit self‐concept may be malleable depending on context and social roles. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Women Like Me Are Bad at Math”: The Psychological Functions of Negative Self‐Stereotyping

The impact of negative stereotypes can be harmful, and as a result, stigmatized targets are often motivated to deny their accuracy. However, at times, targets of even the most unflattering stereotypes embrace them as valid. Early stigma researchers conceptualized this self‐stereotyping as a form of internalized self‐hatred. However, within the last few decades, stigma researchers have challenged this notion. This more contemporary approach asserts that there are situations where endorsing negative stereotypes can actually be of use to those who are targeted by them. For instance, endorsing negative self‐stereotypes can be used to help justify the status quo, fulfill assimilation and differentiation needs, and protect against personal and social threats. The purpose of the present paper is to review both traditional and contemporary explanations for the causes and consequences of negative self‐stereotyping. In doing so, we highlight strengths and limitations within the self‐stereotyping literature and suggest future directions for research.