社会身份复杂性的研究：理论、方法与进展

近十年来, “社会身份复杂性”这个概念逐渐引起社会心理学研究者的关注。社会身份复杂性是指个体对多重内群体身份之间的关系进行主观表征的方式, 反映了个体对自己的多重内群体身份之间感知到的重叠程度。当个体感知到的重叠程度较高时, 他们的社会身份复杂性就较低; 反之, 当个体感知到的重叠程度较低时, 他们的社会身份复杂性就较高。本文首先简要介绍了多重内群体身份表征模型, 然后从社会身份复杂性的理论内容、测量方法、作用以及影响因素等方面对以往的相关研究进行了回顾。最后, 指出未来的研究应侧重对社会身份复杂性理论和研究设计的进一步完善、问卷量表的效度验证, 并加强研究结果的具体应用。     

感知社会善念对信任修复的促进：社会距离与时间距离的调节作用

从信任修复的时间阶段模型来看,以往研究主要探讨了信任违背发生后的修复策略及效果,而鲜有研究从违背前的视角对此展开探索。为检验社会善念能否作为信任修复的‘事前’策略及其修复效果的边界条件,本研究采用Somi范式操纵违背方的社会善念,通过让信任方完成信任博弈游戏来考察其感知到的社会善念对信任修复的效果及社会距离与时间距离在其中发挥的调节作用。实验1结果表明,感知社会善念有助于促进受损信任的修复,感知高(vs.低)社会善念的被试修复效果更好;实验2发现社会距离调节了感知社会善念对信任修复的影响,面对社会距离远(vs.近)者的信任违背,感知到高社会善念的被试有更好的修复效果;实验3不仅再次验证了前两个实验的发现,还进一步发现时间距离调节了社会距离与感知社会善念对信任修复的影响,即当社会距离远的违背方回应时间距离短时,感知高社会善念的被试修复效果更好,当社会距离近的违背方回应时间距离长时,感知高社会善念的被试修复效果更好。由此可见,违背发生前信任方感知到违背方的社会善念能在一定程度上修复受损信任,但其效果受到社会距离与时间距离的制约。这些发现对未来探讨信任修复的事前策略及社会善念理论的应用均有一定启示意义。     

契约参与度对人际信任的影响

从契约制定过程角度,探究个体制定契约参与度对人际信任的影响及其机制。现场研究结果表明参与制定宿舍契约能提升宿舍人际信任,认同感在其中起中介作用。实验室实验结果表明:契约参与度不但能提升被试对其他被试的情感(善心)和认知(依赖)信任,而且能提升被试在信任游戏中对其他被试的信任行为; 并且认同感在前者的关系中起中介作用。综合两个研究结果,契约参与度能提高对共同参与制定契约的同伴的信任,且社会认同能解释这种影响。     

承诺水平对信任与否的影响——被骗预期的中介作用

基于合理信号理论,承诺在社会互动中传递可信性信号,影响信任决策。本研究通过两个实验,分析了74名被试在信任博弈任务中的决策差异,考察了不同承诺水平下(低、中、高)的信任决策,以及感知被骗预期的中介作用。结果表明,相比中、低水平承诺,高水平承诺会抑制信任行为及信任认知。此外,被骗预期作为中介变量,发现高水平承诺预测较高被骗预期,从而抑制了信任选择。综上,本研究发现承诺水平通过被骗预期影响信任决策。     

群体认同对群际敏感效应及其行为表现的影响

通过实验研究了群际互动中个体对不同来源身份的消极群体评价的情绪反应及群体认同的调节作用, 并从情绪-行为反应的连续性视角探索群际敏感效应的行为表现及内在机制。结果发现:(1)相比内群体的消极群体评价, 外群体的消极群体评价更能引起消极情绪反应; (2)群体认同对群际敏感效应起调节作用, 高群体认同者对来自外群体消极评价的情绪反应更加负面, 而低群体认同者这种趋势并不明显; (3)高群体认同者在经历外群体的消极群体评价后会表现出更多的内群体积极行为, 且消极情绪反应对此起中介作用。研究扩展了群际敏感效应的适用范围, 并为探讨其内部机制和后续影响提供了新的研究思路。     

初中生的社会比较对认知与情感信任的影响

本研究旨在探讨不同友谊状态下,初中生的社会比较对认知与情感信任的影响,及两种信任在社会比较与亲密度变化关系中的中介作用。有效被试为522名(M=12.87岁, SD=0.67),开学初让被试提名一位最亲密朋友,期中考试后让其比较与该好友的成绩排名并评价对好友的认知与情感信任水平,随后重新评价该好友的亲密度。结果表明:在亲密朋友(第二次依旧为最亲密的朋友)中,向下比较的情感信任高于向上比较,社会比较不影响认知信任;在普通朋友(第二次亲密度降低的朋友)中,向上比较的认知和情感信任均高于向下比较;社会比较只通过认知信任影响亲密度变化(完全中介),即相比于向下比较,向上比较时的认知信任水平较高,从而更有利于维持友谊的亲密性。     

名字易识认性对被信任者的可信性的影响

从名字可以联想个体的社会身份和生理心理特征。现有研究多从名字寓意角度考察名字的影响。但从加工流畅性角度,名字本身有一个最直观分类：容易识认和难以识认。名字易识认性就可能会对被信任者的可信性产生影响。本研究共有四个被试内实验。前两个实验以编制的名字为实验材料,分别通过让被试判断被信任者的安全性和信任博弈两个范式证明名字易识认性强的个体的可信度更高。后两个实验则选取真实名字为启动材料再次证明了该结论。     

信任氛围、内部人身份认知与员工角色内绩效:中介的调节效应

虽然已有研究从逻辑上推理内部人身份认知在信任氛围与角色内绩效之间起中介作用,但却极少给出实证的结果。本研究基于角色认同理论和自我认知理论,以31家生产型企业的330员工为调查对象,从心理安全感的视角对信任氛围是否以及如何通过内部人身份认知影响角色内绩效进行了实证研究。结果显示:1)信任氛围对员工角色内绩效具有正向影响;2)内部人身份认知部分中介信任氛围对员工角色内绩效的影响;3)心理安全感在信任氛围与内部人身份认知的关系中起调节作用;进一步,4)心理安全感调节了内部人身份认知对信任氛围-角色内绩效中介作用。研究证明了被中介的调节效应模型全新地解释了信任氛围对角色内绩效的作用机理,对员工创新绩效管理实践提供有益的启示。     

社会困境下政治信任对公众态度和合作行为的影响

现代社会面临的重要问题是如何有效地促进人们之间的相互合作,达到社会公共利益的最大化。因此,有关社会困境(social dilemma)的研究成为社会心理学领域的热点。随着群体理论的发展,研究者的研究视角逐渐从个体(individual)转向群体(collective),关注层级结构的群体(hierarchical groups)中,管理者或管理机构(权威)的特征和行为对个体合作行为的影响。其中,权威信任(trust in authority)和公正感(fairness)是影响个体态度和合作行为的重要变量。政治信任(political trust)也可以看作权威信任的一种,即在社会背景下,公众对社会管理权威(政府机构)的信任。未来研究应尝试在实验室里对政治信任的作用和机制进行探究,并进一步探究公正感在政治信任对态度及合作行为关系中的中介作用。     

权力感和群体身份对合作行为影响——社会距离的中介作用

本文基于权力的社会距离理论作为切入点,探究在合作的过程中权力感所产生的影响及社会距离所产生的中介作用、群体身份所产生的缓解作用。利用角色扮演法、情景回忆法来操控个体权力感,采用虚拟与真实的公共物品范式、囚徒困境范式来测量人际合作,通过IOS问卷测量社会距离,并用最简身份范式来控制群体身份,从而让实验得以更好探究权力感对合作有如何的影响机制。本文通过三个实验,得出的实证证据表明：（1）在虚拟的投资游戏中,高权力感的个体捐赠金额是显著少于低权力感的个体;（2）在互动情境中,个体所感知到的与其互动对象的社会距离,在权力、合作之间起到部分中介的效应;（3）对于同组内的成员,高权力感的个体相比较于低权力感的个体,有着更多的合作行为。因此,权力感增加了个体的社会距离感知、从而减少了合作行为,但互动对象中的群体身份也在有效调节着这一心理现象。     

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.     

Construing multiple ingroups: Assessing social identity inclusiveness and structure in ethnic and religious minority group members

The combination of multiple social identities into a coherent ingroup construal is of immediate relevance in today's complex and diverse societies. This paper proposes a conceptual and operational framework to examine how individuals subjectively construe their ingroup in the context of multiple, cross‐cutting group memberships. The subjective combination of multiple social identities is described in terms of structure (social identity structure) and inclusiveness (social identity inclusiveness (SII)). Two studies assess SII and social identity structure in community samples to whom the subjective combination of multiple, cross‐cutting ingroups is of particular relevance: a sample of Turkish‐Belgian Muslims (Study 1) and Turkish‐Australian Muslims (Study 2). Across both studies, SII uniquely predicted attitudes toward a range of outgroups, over and above identification with singular ingroups. Moreover, a wide range of social identity structures were identified, further attesting to broad individual differences in the construal of the perceived ingroup. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constructing intergroup relationships in social communication

Abstract:  People communicate with each other about their ingroup and outgroup in a social context. These social communications may have profound effects in constructing intergroup relationships. In this paper, we outline how different combinations of the social identities of the sender, receiver, and target of the social communication may give rise to differing face concerns of the ingroup and outgroup, and may result in different patterns of communications about them. People may enhance or protect their ingroup social identity, and derogate the outgroup social identity to their ingroup audiences; however, they are more likely to enhance and protect their outgroup's social identity when communicating with outgroup audiences. Two studies tested these predictions. Study 1 used real groups of Australian and Asian students communicating about an Asian student in an Australian university context. In Study 2, participants assigned to two fictitious groups communicated about their ingroup and outgroup. In both studies, the findings were interpreted within the framework of intergroup communication, although there were some notable deviations from the predictions. Future directions of the research were also discussed.     

Social identity complexity and immigrants' attitude toward the host nation: the intersection of ethnic and religious group identification

Social identity complexity refers to individual differences in the interrelationships among multiple ingroup identities. The present research conducted in the Netherlands examines social identity complexity in relation to Muslim immigrants' national identification and the attitude toward the host majority. Three studies are reported that focused on the interrelationship between ethnicity and religion and examined social identity complexity in different ways. Study 1 showed that lower social identity complexity is associated with lower national identification. Studies 2 and 3 examined the interaction between ethnic and religious group identification. For Muslim identifiers, higher ethnic identification was related to lower national identification and higher ingroup bias (Studies 2) and lower endorsement of national liberal practices (Study 3). In contrast, for those who did not strongly identify with Muslims, higher ethnic identification was associated with higher national identification, stronger endorsement of Dutch liberal practices, and more positive stereotypes about the Dutch outgroup (Study 3).     

On boredom and social identity: a pragmatic meaning-regulation approach

People who feel bored experience that their current situation is meaningless and are motivated to reestablish a sense of meaningfulness. Building on the literature that conceptualizes social identification as source of meaningfulness, the authors tested the hypothesis that boredom increases the valuation of ingroups and devaluation of outgroups. Indeed, state boredom increased the liking of an ingroup name (Study 1), it increased hypothetical jail sentences given to an outgroup offender (Study 2 and Study 3), especially in comparison to an ingroup offender (Study 3), it increased positive evaluations of participants' ingroups, especially when ingroups were not the most favored ones to begin with (Study 4), and it increased the appreciation of an ingroup symbol, mediated by people's need to engage in meaningful behavior (Study 5). Several measures ruled out that these results could be explained by other affective states. These novel findings are discussed with respect to boredom, social identity, and existential psychology research.     

Better in the (near) future: Group-based differences in forecasting biases

Social identities are an important component of an individual’s self-concept. In the current research, we examine how identification with a group can lead to biased intergroup judgments similar to those made when evaluating the self, relative to others. We compared evaluations of in- and outgroups in order to examine differences in temporal perspective and optimistic evaluations. Our findings suggest that compared to an outgroup, ingroup members more strongly consider the future potential of their group, are more optimistic when considering future ingroup outcomes, and hold a more uniformly positive view of an ingroup’s future. Furthermore, we find that when evaluating ingroups, shifts in temporal perspectives are related to greater optimism. We conclude by discussing theoretical implications and future research related to temporal judgments and social groups.     

Social identity complexity and outgroup tolerance

Social identity complexity refers to the way in which individuals subjectively represent the relationships among their multiple ingroup memberships. More specifically, individuals with low social identity complexity see their ingroups as highly overlapping and convergent, whereas those with high complexity see their different ingroups as distinct and cross-cutting membership groups. The present study tested the hypothesis that perceived overlap among ingroup memberships would be negatively related to ingroup inclusiveness and tolerance for outgroups, such that individuals with high overlap (low complexity) would be less tolerant and accepting of outgroups in general than those with low overlap (high complexity). Results from a telephone interview survey of adult residents of the state of Ohio supported this hypothesis. Individual differences in complexity of perception of their national, religious, occupational, political, and recreational social identities were systematically related to their attitudes toward ethnic outgroups and diversity.     

Residential mobility reduces ingroup favouritism in prosocial behaviour

People sometimes prioritize helping ingroup members over outgroup members, but sometimes they do not. The current research investigated whether residential mobility, a socioecological factor, would reduce ingroup favouritism in prosocial behaviour. In three studies, we found evidence supporting the causal role of residential mobility in reducing ingroup favouritism in prosocial behaviour. First, we found that participants in the residentially stable condition had stronger intentions to help ingroups than outgroups whereas this tendency was eliminated in the residentially mobile condition (Study 1). We replicated these findings by examining participants' money allocation in a dictator game and their actual helping behaviour in an additional request (Study 2). Furthermore, we explored the underlying mechanisms of the effect of residential mobility on ingroup favouritism in prosocial behaviour (Study 3). We found that the differentiation component of individual identity (i.e., distinctiveness and uniqueness from other people) explained the relation between individuals' moving history and ingroup favouritism in prosocial behaviour (Study 3), in which frequent moves increased differentiation, which in turn reduced ingroup favouritism in prosocial behaviour. Taken together, these studies indicate that residential mobility is powerful in shaping people's behaviour toward ingroups and outgroups, which advances the understanding of intergroup processes from a socioecological approach.     

Can ingroup affirmation relieve outgroup derogation?

Intergroup hostilities are an important social concern in multicultural societies and the global community. Individuals with dispositionally high Personal Need for Structure (PNS) are particularly inclined toward outgroup derogation [Schaller, M., Boyd, C., Yohannes, J., O’Brien, M. (1995). The prejudiced personality revisited: Personal need for structure and formation of erroneous group stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 544-555]. The present research demonstrates that ingroup affirmation can eliminate high PNS individuals’ tendency toward outgroup derogation. Spontaneous (Study 1) and experimentally manipulated affirmations (Study 2) of consensual, positive ingroups eliminated the high PNS tendency to derogate outgroup targets. Study 3 experimentally manipulated the two key elements that are presumably bolstered by ingroup affirmations—self-certainty and self-worth—independent of the group context. The high PNS tendency to derogate outgroups was relieved only in the combined certainty and worth affirmation condition, just as it had been relieved in Study 2 by the ingroup affirmation. Results suggest a paradoxical strategy for relieving derogation of outgroups by affirming ingroups.