Ostracism drives group moralization and extreme group behavior

ABSTRACT

Sharing beliefs, particularly moral beliefs, is a way to establish social connections. We hypothesized that ostracism leads people who are high in the need to belong to adhere to the moral beliefs of an ingroup, and that moralizing the beliefs of one’s group increases the willingness to endorse extreme behavior on behalf of the group. Across two studies, participants were ostracized or included, rated the moral relevance of their group values, and indicated their endorsement of extreme behavior on behalf of the group. Across studies, ostracism increased group moralization in participants high in the need to belong. In Study 2, group moralization translated into endorsement of extreme behavior. Our findings suggest that morality serves a binding function that may be channeled into extreme behaviors. (120 words)     

The fundamentality of group principles and perceived group entitativity

We argue that the level of consensus about a set of social identity principles, and their perceived fundamentality, can influence the degree to which members perceive their group as an entity. This idea was explored through an experiment in which participants judged the entitativity of specific (in)groups on the basis of the distribution of the opinions held by their members about three identity-related principles that participants had previously rated for fundamentality. The results demonstrated that the more fundamental a principle was judged to be in comparison to other principles, the more important consensus about that principle was for producing group entitativity, relative to consensus about other principles.     

The group as a resource: reducing biased attributions for group success and failure via group affirmation

Self-affirmation theory proposes that people can respond to threats to the self by affirming alternative sources of self-integrity, resulting in greater openness to self-threatening information. The present research examines this at a group level by investigating whether a group affirmation (affirming an important group value) increases acceptance of threatening group information among sports teams and fans. In Study 1, athletes exhibited a group-serving attributional bias, which was eliminated by the group affirmation. In Study 2, the most highly identified fans exhibited the most bias in terms of their attributions, and this bias was eliminated by the group affirmation. These studies suggest that groups can serve as resources from which people can draw in response to threatening group events.     

Social dominance orientation and group context in implicit group prejudice

We tested the joint influence of individual difference and situational factors on implicit group prejudice. Participants in Experiments 1 and 2 were briefly shown in-group or out-group pronouns prior to evaluating good or bad trait adjectives. Under standard conditions (Experiment 1), there was no difference between participants with high and low social dominance orientation (SDO), but when the intergroup context was made more salient (Experiment 2), high-SDO participants alone showed implicit group prejudice. Implications for the malleability and consensuality of implicit prejudice are discussed.     

Rebellion in group

Rebellion is a strategy of social action: to overthrow the group's status quo or to adamantly oppose its revision. Rebellion occurs when other avenues of influence seem futile or unattractive-a judgment that depends on the group's genuine receptivity to discussion and change, and equally, on the state of mind of the rebel. There are different pathways of rebellion: defiance, secession/exile, anarchy, or revolution. Although rebellion represents an individual's mental attitude toward a group, it is useful to think of group process and rebellion as an attempt to move the group in a different direction. Similar to other group members, the therapist has rebellious feelings and thoughts, and may take on the multiple roles of defiant instigator, exiled outcast, anarchist, and revolutionary.     

Multiple-family group counseling

This article describes the innovative, short-term approach of multiple-family group counseling in which the counselor applies the principles and dynamics found in family and group counseling to the treatment of the student—in this case, the “identified client” and his family. In an attempt to provide an effective and economical therapeutic experience of practical value to the school system, several family units meet together to discuss some of the personal-social problems that adversely affect the adolescent and result in the acquisition of maladaptive behaviors within the school setting.     

Comparison of group climate in an eating disorders partial hospital group and a psychiatric partial hospital group

Women in an eating disorders partial hospital program and a psychiatric partial hospital program were compared on a self-report measure of group climate following a psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy group. Those with eating disorders experienced their groups as more engaged and as more avoiding than those in the psychiatric partial hospital group. Therapists may be able to use initial heightened engagement in eating disorder groups to counteract the tendency to avoid content.