Intergroup relations and nursing

The applicability of Tajfel's social identity theory of intergroup relations was tested within a field situation of nursing, where high and low status trainee nursing groups are undergoing social change in status relations through a merger. The status relations of the two groups were assessed by examining advantages, disadvantages and subjective characteristics attributed to the groups. Close contact between groups may account for the unexpected reduction in intergroup differentiation when explict comparisons were made. No greater illegitimacy in perceived status relations was reported by the low status group, although more dissatisfactions were evidenced in terms of attributed disadvantages, a less positive ingroup identification, and a high proportion of the low status group who want change either through movement into the superior group, or by dissolving status relations through the merging of the two groups. Attempts to merge are geared towards increasing similarity between groups by gaining recognition for those high status characteristics the group believes it has acquired. With a view to social change, the non-mobile low status subgroup are evolving a new and positive social identity for the group, perceiving little difference between groups. Strong intergroup differentiation by the high status group reflects the perceived threat of social change to the high status group.     

Perceiving the World Through Group-Colored Glasses: A Perceptual Model of Intergroup Relations

Extensive research has investigated societal and behavioral consequences of social group affiliation and identification but has been relatively silent on the role of perception in intergroup relations. We propose the perceptual model of intergroup relations to conceptualize how intergroup relations are grounded in perception. We review the growing literature on how intergroup dynamics shape perception across different sensory modalities and argue that these perceptual processes mediate intergroup relations. The model provides a starting point for social psychologists to study perception as a function of social group dynamics and for perception researchers to consider social influences. We highlight several gaps in the literature and outline areas for future research. Uncovering the role of perception in intergroup relations offers novel insights into the construction of shared reality and may help devise new and unique interventions targeted at the perceptual level.     

Political Contacts: Analyzing the Role of Similarity in Theories of Prejudice

Over the last 50 years, many theories of prejudice reduction in social psychology have embraced the premise that intergroup contact allows people to recognize similarities between themselves, and that this perceived similarity overwhelms the social distance associated with intergroup antipathy. Given the mixed empirical evidence, however, we suggest that the positive effects of perceived similarity have been overemphasized. Although similarity may be sufficient for improved intergroup relations, the relationship between similarity and intergroup relations is far more complex than the literature usually suggests. Moreover, studying difference in intergroup contexts may yield new ways to resolve intergroup conflict and address group inequalities.     

Intergroup Emotions and Intergroup Relations

Intergroup emotions theory seeks to understand and improve intergroup relations by focusing on the emotions engendered by belonging to, and by deriving identity from, a social group (processes called self‐categorization and identification). Intergroup emotions are shaped by the very different ways in which members of different groups see group‐relevant objects and events. These emotions come, with time and repetition, to be part and parcel of group membership itself. Once evoked, specific intergroup emotions direct and regulate specific intergroup behaviors. This approach has implications for theories of emotion as well as of intergroup relations. Because intergroup emotions derive from self‐categorization and identification and because they strongly influence intergroup behavior, intergroup emotions theory provides an innovative framework for attempts to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations.     

An essentialism perspective on intercultural processes

Essentialist theories are the beliefs that there are immutable essences underlying observed differences between social groups (e.g. racial group, cultural group). This paper reviews the intergroup dynamics and intrapersonal processes associated with essentialism. It also explores the interplay between the two. By explicating the intricate relationship between these psychological processes, the current paper aims to advance our understanding of intergroup relations and identify their implications for the study of multiculturalism. We posit that although the commonly observed negative intergroup outcomes, such as prejudices and biases, can be the byproducts of basic cognitive processes associated with essentialist theories, the social power dynamics in a given society also play important roles in shaping the relationships between essentialism and intergroup outcomes. We then discuss the implications of this understanding to our increasingly multicultural world.     

群际接触中的群际隔离微生态

群际隔离微生态认为当公共空间中群际接触自然发生时,相比较内群体成员个体在空间距离上远离外群体成员;介绍了群际隔离微生态的维度、心理机制、实施过程、测度指标;分析了群际隔离微生态的相关研究现状和不足,在未来的研究中需要加强立论点、解释机制、研究方法的探索的研究,为群际接触研究提供了新的视角。     

群际信任的增进:社会认同与群际接触的方法

群际信任是衡量群际关系的一个重要尺度.群际信任指人们在群际互动中对其他群体成员的行为或意向做积极预期而且愿意承受相应的风险,这种信任主要是由群体成员所属的社会身份所决定的,表现为内群体成员对外群体成员的信任.影响群际信任的因素包括社会群体身份及其表征和群体之间的接触经验,增进群际信任的方法主要包括社会认同与群际接触两大类方法.未来的研究需结合已有进展和社会现实问题对中国的群际信任问题及增进方法进行深入和系统的探讨.     

主观群体动力学模型述评

主观群体动力学模型(subjective group dynamics, SGD)探讨群际背景中个体的群体评价与群体成员评价的关系, 针对群际偏见、分化评估和分化接纳意识(awareness of differential inclusion, ADI)三个核心变量间的关系及其影响因素, 提出并验证了一系列理论假设。SGD的理论基础包括社会认同理论、复杂性–极端性假设和态度极化模型、“白乌鸦效应”和个体对人知觉的发展。SGD模型的研究结果深化了群内偏好研究, 支持了社会领域理论, 并从群体机制角度为同伴拒斥研究提供了新思路, 解释了群体同质性效应并修正了认知发展理论。该领域的发展需要从跨文化检验模型、完善模型结构、研究它与其他变量的关系等方面进行进一步探索。     

Movement Synchrony Influences Intergroup Relations in a Minimal Groups Paradigm

Studies show that synchronizing movements with others encourages a collective social identity, leading to increased cooperation within a group. The current study investigated whether movement synchrony impacts social categorization and cooperation across intergroup boundaries. Two 3-person groups were brought together under movement synchrony conditions designed to emphasize different social categorizations of the aggregate: all individuals moved to the same beat, each minimal group moved to a different beat, or each individual moved to a different beat. Results demonstrate that movement synchrony influenced social categorization and cooperation across intergroup boundaries. Implications for approaches to intergroup relations using movement synchrony are noted.     

Living in a multicultural world: Intergroup ideologies and the societal context of intergroup relations

In a relatively short time span, issues of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity have become central topics of discussion in various nations. As a result, the role of broad ideologies that frame and structure relations between groups has received increasing attention by social psychologists. Of particular concern has been the role of these intergroup ideologies in promoting intergroup harmony and reducing prejudice. In this article, we appraise the evidence related to three main intergroup ideologies, assimilation, colourblindness, and multiculturalism. We argue that research in this area has paid insufficient attention to the social and political context. Intergroup ideologies have been studied and conceptualised as being located solely within individual minds. We suggest that the potentially vital aspect of these ideologies is that they are sometimes widely shared by members of a social group. Integrating sociological and political analyses, we discuss the fact that intergroup ideologies are institutionalised as policies and that, as such, they often vary across countries and across time. We present a series of studies to illustrate the theoretical implications of studying the shared nature of these intergroup ideologies, providing insights into the question of when and why national policies can shape individuals’ intergroup attitudes and beliefs and improve intergroup relations.     

群际威胁：影响因素与减少策略

群际威胁是增强消极刻板印象和偏见的重要因素, 甚至可以导致群际冲突或暴力。影响群际威胁的因素包括个体的感知与经验、群体特征、社会政策和法规等。通过改变社会分类, 模糊群际边界, 并创造群际接触的机会, 能够增加群际认同感, 降低群际威胁感, 减少群际偏见, 促进积极的群际关系。今后的研究需在不同的社会环境中完善群际威胁的理论模型, 并探索相关变量相互作用的内在机制, 为促进和改善群际关系提供理论依据。     

群际情绪理论及其研究

群际情绪理论认为, 群际情绪是当个体认同某一社会群体, 群体成为自我的一部分时, 个体对内群体和外群体的情绪体验。群际情绪借用社会认同方法, 采用集体自我的概念作为其理论的源点, 认知评价、情绪、行为倾向是群际理论的三件套; 群际水平的情绪不同于个体水平的情绪; 群际情绪取决于群体认同水平; 群际情绪弥散于整个群体; 群际情绪有助于激发和调节群内、群际态度和行为。新近的研究也为群际理论提供了一定的证据, 群际情绪理论为消解偏见和改善群际关系提供了一个崭新的框架。     

群际接触的次级转移效应(STE)的心理机制与影响因素

次级转移效应(secondary transfer effect,STE)是指群际接触的积极效应从直接接触的外群体转移到另一个未直接接触的外群体中。通过文献分析,找到了次级转移效应产生的中介变量(包括社会身份复杂性、群际移情和群际焦虑、多元文化主义以及态度的泛化)和调节变量(群体相似性、群体地位和社会支配倾向等)。今后的研究应坚持调查法与实验法等多种方法的结合,从多个维度测量群际接触与群体态度,探索和完善STE调节和中介变量,系统的验证变量之间的关系,从而完善和发展群际接触理论。     

Social Identity and Intergroup Conflict

This paper explores why people identify with social groups and what this identification signifies for their sense of self, status in society and intergroup conflict. We describe various theories of social identity to elucidate ways in which individuals can negotiate their different social identities, and what this means for intergroup relations. We consider the implications for both majority and minority group members, and those from high and low status groups. We show that social identification is an essential part of an individual’s social existence, and that such identification is inextricably related to intergroup conflict. While overarching common identities have been hailed as a possible panacea for conflict, we demonstrate that such identities have differential effects for minority and majority group members. There is a serious tension between the assimilationist preference that the majority wishes for minority members to adopt, and the integrationist position that the minority group themselves prefer. We conclude with a call to focus research efforts on how to balance the needs of the many and the few in pluralist and unequal societies.     

Putting stereotype content in context: image theory and interethnic stereotypes

Two studies apply intergroup image theory to better understand divergent interethnic images and to highlight the important role of intergroup context and perceived intergroup relations in shaping the content of social stereotypes. Image theory hypothesizes that specific interethnic stereotypes arise from specific patterns of perceived intergroup competition, relative power, and relative cultural status. Results from surveying Black, White, and Native Americans' appraisals of intergroup relations and reported outgroup stereotypes in various intergroup contexts suggest that the content of outgroup stereotypes varies systematically as a function of the perceived state of intergroup relations and the intergroup context in which these groups are situated. The data reported from both studies establish the importance of examining social stereotypes from a functional perspective in the context of intergroup relations.     

Social categorization and group‐motivated interindividual–intergroup discontinuity

Research on the interindividual–intergroup discontinuity effect has demonstrated that intergroup relations are often less cooperative than interindividual relations. The aim of the present paper is to test whether mere social categorization suffices to create a group‐motivated discontinuity effect. In two experiments, we manipulated actors' personal versus social identity salience, whereas controlling for actors' outcome independence (1 : 1) versus interdependence (3 : 3). Making actors' social identity salient using a minimal group treatment was sufficient to increase defection in a Prisoner's Dilemma Game, irrespective of whether this was in an interindividual or intergroup interaction (Experiment 1). Using a Mutual Fate Control matrix in Experiment 2, results indicate that this effect can be attributed to actors' increased motivation to maximize relative differences to outgroup opponents under social identity salience. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiple categorization and implicit intergroup bias: differential category dominance and the positive–negative asymmetry effect

Two experiments explored the differential information processing that occurs when perceivers encounter multiple categorizable individuals. Participants were required to recall specific information from previously encountered bogus newspaper stories. Across two experiments it emerged that participants differentially recalled target attributes as a function of positive versus negative story context and multiple dimensions of group membership. Specifically, different dimensions of categorization were dominant for positive and negative evaluative domains. These findings provide an important qualification to the positive–negative asymmetry effect in intergroup discrimination when multiple dimensions of categorization are available. In addition, comparison of the observed effects in different cultural settings suggests the need to consider contextual influences when considering intergroup phenomena with real social group memberships. Finally, in line with previous work, a dissociation was observed between explicit and implicit measures of intergroup bias. The findings are considered within the wider context of work into social categorization and intergroup relations.. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of intergroup similarity on intergroup relations

We examined the impact of intergroup similarity on two aspects of intergroup relations. Drawing on social identity and belief congruence theory, we hypothesized that — at high levels of intergroup similarity — increasing similarity has dual, seemingly opposed effects: It increases ingroup favouritism in evaluations but also increases readiness for social contact with the outgroup. We further hypothesized that both effects are moderated by the strength of individuals' identification with their ingroup. Finally, we hypothesized that there is ingroup favouritism on dimensions relevant for defining the group, but outgroup favouritism on dimensions irrelevant for this purpose. One hundred and forty-nine students from two prestigious high schools, who were assigned to one of three levels of manipulated similarity between their schools, evaluated both schools on dimensions relevant and irrelevant to the school context and expressed their readiness for social contact with the other school. Ingroup favouritism appeared on relevant dimensions and outgroup favouritism on irrelevant dimensions. As predicted, for those highly identified with their ingroup, intergroup similarity led to greater ingroup favouritism in evaluations on relevant dimensions but to increased readiness for outgroup social contact. Implications for interpreting inconsistent results of past research and for specifying conditions for intergroup bias are discussed.     

Perceiving expatriate coworkers as foreigners encourages aid: social categorization and procedural justice together improve intergroup cooperation and dual identity

We propose that social categorization can encourage particular forms of intergroup cooperation because it differentiates a group in need from a group that can give aid. Moreover, social categorization is most likely to occur when individuals perceive procedural justice (i.e., fair treatment) from authorities in a superordinate group that includes the individuals' subgroup. Two field studies investigating relations between local and foreign coworkers tested not only this prediction, but also whether high social categorization and procedural justice would yield a dual identity, in which group members identify simultaneously with their social category and the superordinate group. Both studies supported our predictions: Local employees engaged a dual identity and offered knowledge to aid a foreign coworker's adjustment more often when local-foreign categorization and procedural justice from organizational authorities were high than when these variables were low. These discoveries point to controllable mechanisms that enable intergroup cooperation, and our findings have important implications for intergroup aid, expatriate adjustment, immigration, and multiculturalism.     

It’s not just “us” versus “them”: Moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes

ABSTRACT

The social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged largely from studies of how one group of people (e.g., whites) think and feel about another (e.g., blacks). By reducing the social world to binary categories, this approach has provided an effective and efficient methodological framework. However, it has also obscured important features of social relations in historically divided societies. This paper highlights the importance of investigating intergroup relationships involving more than two groups and of exploring not only their psychological but also their political significance. Exemplifying this argument, we discuss the conditions under which members of disadvantaged groups either dissolve into internecine competition or unite to challenge the status quo, highlighting the role of complex forms of social comparison, identification, contact, and third-party support for collective action. Binary conceptualizations of intergroup relations, we conclude, are the product of specific sociohistorical practices rather than a natural starting point for psychological research.