Unveiling Variations in ‘the Other’: How Relationships Drive Intergroup and Interpersonal Dynamics

Abstract

Understanding how the self perceives ‘the Other’, in both intergroup and interpersonal contexts, is essential to business and social interactions more generally. Though the psychological distinction between self and other is a fundamental categorization needed to navigate the world, some have questioned the need to distinguish between different ‘Others’ beyond the general categorization of “not me”. This symposium seeks to address this gap by exploring the specific relationships the self has with many more different kinds of ‘Others’: competitors, rivals, friendly rivals, trash-talkers, bigots, and more. The important commonality is each talk considers the underlying relationships at play; that is, exploring the self and other as a unit interacting with each other. The presentations in this symposium offer empirical work examining how relationships between both individuals and groups impact a variety of contexts with a particular emphasis on implications for managing organizations. Social Norms in Rivalries Increase Violence and Societal Harmdoing Presenter: David Andrew Reinhard; U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Rivals with Benefits: Friendly Rivals Motivate Without Encouraging Unethical Behavior Presenter: Valentino Chai; National U. of Singapore The Function of Incivility: Trash-talking Promotes In-Group Love Presenter: Jeremy Yip; McDonough School of Business Georgetown U. Some Perspectives are Harmful to Take Presenter: Garrett L. Brady; London Business School Presenter: Cynthia S. Wang; Northwestern Kellogg School of Management Presenter: Gillian Ku; London Business School The Most-Used Collectivism Scales Use Us vs. Them, Collectivists Don’t Presenter: Thomas Talhelm; U. of Chicago Booth School of business