Ingroup Prototypicality Research Articles

Active rejection or passive indifference? Mixed-methods evidence on national (dis)identification

Much of the research on national identity investigates its negative aspects through the form of nationalism. However, what happens at the opposite end of the spectrum, when someone does not glorify the national ingroup but actively rejects it? Across two studies conducted in Serbia ( Ns = 349 and 554), we investigated national identification and disidentification, their antecedents, and consequences. We found no evidence to distinguish between (low) national identification and disidentification. Regarding antecedents of national identification, we found that self-stereotypes (positive and lack of negative) were the most important contributors, followed by right-wing social ideology. Regarding consequences, low national identifiers endorsed wider identities (e.g., European, world citizen) and had higher intentions to migrate. Most strikingly, low identifiers blatantly dehumanized ingroup members, even more so than high identifiers dehumanized (high-status) outgroups. In analyzing qualitative data, we contextualized the quantitative findings by showing that low identification is mainly articulated as a mismatch between self and ingroup prototype, consequently leading to dehumanization. We conclude that low national identification can have detrimental effects, but that more research in the non-Western context is necessary to properly understand this phenomenon.

Aspirational leaders help us change: Ingroup prototypicality enables effective group psychotherapy leadership.

Research suggests that leaders are effective when they are ingroup prototypical (represent the identity of the group they seek to lead). However, it is unclear whether leaders should represent the group's current identity ("who we are") or aspired identity ("who we want to be"). This study investigated which of these forms of prototypicality best predicted leadership effectiveness in group psychotherapy. Longitudinal study. 519 questionnaire responses were obtained from 112 women attending a four-session body acceptance program. Focal measures included participant ratings of how often they thought their psychotherapy leaders and fellow group members would (a) engage in dieting thoughts and behaviours and (b) approve of dieting. Given the program's body acceptance focus, leader prototypicality was conceptualized as the difference between participants' perceptions of how often their leaders, versus group members, would diet at the start of therapy. Leadership effectiveness was conceptualized as reductions in perceived group approval of dieting across therapy. Two therapeutic outcomes were considered: body satisfaction and dieting intentions. A mixed-effects repeated measures analysis indicated that group approval of dieting decreased more rapidly when participants perceived their leaders to be aspirational (thought that group leaders dieted less frequently than group members) than when they perceived them to be exemplary (thought that group leaders dieted as frequently as group members). Changes in group approval of dieting mediated the relationship between leader prototypicality and improved therapeutic outcomes. Findings suggest that group psychotherapy leaders may increase their effectiveness by striving to embody their group's aspired identity.

An Integrative Social Identity Model of Populist Leadership

AbstractIn recent years, the questions of what populism is and how populist leaders mobilize their followers have been the subject of extensive debate. While the social psychology literature holds unique theoretical tools that can be used to explain leader‐follower dynamics, these have not yet been applied to understand populism and populist leadership. In this paper, we aim to discuss populism as a social‐psychological concept and provide a comprehensive approach to examine the interactions between populist leaders and followers by using the identity leadership model (see New Psychology of Leadership, Haslam et al., 2020). Accordingly, we propose an integrative model in which we suggest that populism should be treated as a social‐psychological concept based on (i) strong ingroup identification; (ii) interactive leadership processes that open spaces to followers for enacting their ingroup identity that end up with mobilization against vertical (e.g., elites) and horizontal (e.g., minorities, refugees, opponents) outgroups; (iii) leader's ingroup prototypicality and identity entrepreneurship that is boosted by using shared grievances, narratives of collective victimhood, and the destabilization of mainstream opponent leaders. Furthermore, by discussing real‐world examples and recent studies, we aim to show how the content of what it means to be ‘us’ and what is seen as moral to ‘us’ can be shaped by populist leaders for mobilization.

Unpacking all-inclusive superordinate categories: Comparing correlates and consequences of global citizenship and human identities.

Previous research suggests that all-inclusive superordinate categories, such as “citizens of the world” and “humans,” may represent different socio-psychological realities. Yet it remains unclear whether the use of different categories may account for different psychological processes and attitudinal or behavioral outcomes. Two studies extended previous research by comparing how these categories are cognitively represented, and their impact on intergroup helping from host communities toward migrants. In a correlational study, 168 nationals from 25 countries perceived the group of migrants as more prototypical of the superordinate category “citizens of the world” than their national group (relative outgroup prototypicality), whereas no differences in prototypicality occurred for the category “humans.” Identification with “citizens of the world” was positively associated with a disposition to oppose helping migrants and to offer dependency-oriented help. However, identification with “humans” was positively associated with helping in general, and with offering dependency- and autonomy-oriented help; and negatively associated with opposition to helping. The experimental study manipulated the salience of “citizens of the world” vs. “humans” vs. control category, among 224 nationals from 36 countries. Results showed that the salience of “humans” (vs. “citizens of the world”) triggered higher entitativity and essentialist perceptions, and dual-identity representations. No differences due to salience were found for representations of relative ingroup prototypicality or helping responses. Overall, these findings suggest that the interchangeable use of different labels is problematic, considering these might activate different representations, and thus, are likely to lead, in some circumstances, to different attitudinal or behavioral outcomes.

Who Benefits? How Ingroup Prototypes Shift Follower Impressions of Self-serving Leaders

Much of the research on negative leader behavior focuses on the antecedents and consequences of said behavior; follower reactions are less understood. The present research explores how social categorization induces followers to support self-serving leaders. Building on social identity theories, we hypothesize that leader prototypicality leads followers to make inferences with respect to how much they expect to benefit (i.e., subjective expected utility) and this impact follower perceptions of the leader’s effectiveness and their willingness to support that leader. The results of two experimental studies and one correlational study support our hypotheses and stresses the importance of follower-centric perspective in understanding self-serving leader behavior.

Inspiring visibility: Exploring the roles of identification and solidarity for alleviating Black women’s invisibility in politics

We explored whether a Black female politician would alleviate feelings of invisibility among Black women even when they believed the politician deviated from the ingroup prototype by not supporting ingroup interests or by being low in ingroup solidarity. Study 1 demonstrated that relative to Black men and White men and women, Black women identified the most with Vice-President Kamala Harris and reported feeling the highest invisibility in politics immediately after Harris exited the Democratic primary election, but did not report higher support for Harris’s political platform. Study 2 further showed that a Black female politician who supported a policy that is viewed as harmful to Black Americans still helped alleviate feelings of invisibility for Black women because they strongly identified with the politician. However, a Black female politician opposing this policy was the most beneficial, demonstrating the importance of both identification and solidarity for inspiring visibility.

The interactive effect of abusive supervision and leaders’ prototypicality on coworkers’ ostracism

Despite several studies on coworkers’ reactions to abusive supervision of a coworker, little is known about whether and how leaders’ characteristics may influence these effects. Building on social information processing theory and the social identity model of organizational leadership, we purported that coworkers would ostracize abused employees, but this effect would critically depend on leaders’ in-group prototypicality. We further expected that abusive supervision and coworkers’ ostracism would result in lower creativity of the target employee. Results from a multi-wave survey involving three data sources support the proposed model. Specifically, abusive supervision was positively related to coworkers’ ostracism and to lower employee creativity. However, these effects only emerged for leaders who were high in in-group prototypicality. By contrast, leaders’ abusive supervision was unrelated to ostracism and lowered creativity for leaders with low in-group prototypicality. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Religious orientations, prototypicality threat, and attitudes toward church–state separation

AbstractWe investigated whether stronger religious fundamentalism predicted negative attitudes toward church–state separation as a consequence of perceiving low in‐group prototypicality (IGP). Across two studies (N = 635), Christians from the United States reported their religious orientations (intrinsic, extrinsic‐personal, extrinsic‐social, fundamentalism) before we measured (or manipulated) their perceptions of IGP. The dependent variables were attitudes toward church–state separation (S1, S2) and attitudes toward religious–national integration (S2). Results showed that stronger religious fundamentalism predicted negative attitudes toward church–state separation. Results also showed that fundamentalists’ negativity toward church–state separation was stronger when Christianity was not perceived as prototypical of America's identity. Religious fundamentalism did not predict attitudes toward church–state separation when perceiving high IGP. Religious fundamentalism predicted support of religious–national integration irrespective of IGP. The results suggest that fundamentalists will oppose the separation of church and state when they perceive their religion is not prototypical of their national identity.

Perceptual harmony in judgments of group prototypicality and intragroup respect.

We test common sense psychology of intragroup relations whereby people assume that intragroup respect and ingroup prototypicality are positively related. In Study 1a, participants rated a group member as more prototypical if they learned that group member was highly respected rather than disrespected. In Study 1b, participants rated a group member as more respected by other group members if they learned that group member was prototypical rather than unprototypical. As a commonsense psychology of groups, we reasoned that the perceived relationship between prototypicality and intragroup respect would be stronger for cohesive groups compared to incohesive groups. The effect of intragroup respect on perceptions of prototypicality (Study 2a & 2c) and the effect of prototypicality on perceptions of intragroup respect (Study 2b) were generally stronger for participants considering cohesive groups relative to incohesive groups. However, the interaction effect of prototypicality and group cohesion on intragroup respect did fail to replicate in Study 2d. In Studies 3, 4a, and 4b we manipulated the relationship between prototypicality and intragroup respect and found that when these variables were in perceptual harmony participants perceived groups as more cohesive. The results of eight out of nine studies conducted are consistent with the prediction that people make inferences about intragroup respect, prototypicality, and group cohesion in a manner that maintains perceptual harmony.

Systemic Research on Owner Participation in Old Residential Community Management from the Perspective of Identity——a Case Study of a Typical Old Residential Community in Xi’an, China

Enhancing owner participation and realizing the long-term management of old residential communities is conducive to the sustainable development of human settlements. “Owner identity” is the premise that the individual has a comanagement right to the community, but little research has studied owner participation in old residential community management from the perspective of identity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to establish a systematic conceptual model based on the identity perspective that systematically abstracts and explains the process of whether and how owner involvement occurs and transforms. This paper, which adopts the method of theory-driven case study with identity and social identity theories as the reference theories, conducts a single case study of the M community in Xi’an, China. The results show that the intention of owners to participate in the management of the community depends on their identity salience; the behavioral norms of participation are internalized identity standards and in-group prototypes, and the behavioral practice is a combination of interactive identity verification and a positive distinctiveness process. This paper proposes five promotional countermeasures, including exploring public issues and organizing intergroup contact, to provide practical guidance for grassroots governments, property management companies and other comanagement subjects in guiding owner participation. This study contributes both to academic research and to policy decision-making by using the systemic and identity perspective to understand the mechanism of owner participation in old residential community management.

Coaches’ Perceptions of Social Identity in Youth Sport: When Youth Athletes Think and Behave as “Us”

This study sought to examine coaches’ perceptions of social identity among their athletes and explore the ways that they may attempt to influence its development. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 head coaches (Mage = 49.25 years; SD = 6.5 years; Mexperience = 15.75 years; SD = 7.66 years; nfemale = 1) of male (n = 8) and female (n = 4) competitive youth ice hockey teams. Three main themes were identified through our analysis. First, the coaches’ perceptions of athletes’ social identities were described through examples of peer connection and similarity (i.e., in-group ties), athletes’ experience of positive affect (i.e., in-group affect), and athletes demonstrating the meaning and value that they attribute to team membership (i.e., cognitive centrality). Second, the coaches discussed a variety of ways that they sought to develop and reinforce a shared social identity within their teams. These behaviors aligned with principles advanced within the social identity leadership literature—namely, the coaches acted as in-group prototypes, in-group champions, entrepreneurs of identity, and embedders of identity. Finally, the coaches identified parents and cliques as key social agents with the ability to undermine social identity development. The findings are discussed in relation to both their theoretical and practical implications.

They (Don't) Need Us: Functional Indispensability Impacts Perceptions of Representativeness and Commitment When Lower-Status Groups Go Through an Intergroup Merger.

Intergroup changes occur often between subgroups who are asymmetric in status (e.g., size, power, prestige), with important consequences for social identification, especially among the members of lower-status groups. Mergers offer an example of such changes, when subgroups (merger partners) merge into a common, superordinate group (post-merger group). Lower-status subgroups frequently perceive they are less represented in the post-merger group, therefore committing less to the changes a merger implies. Five studies offered an intergroup relations’ perspective on mergers (N’s = 479, 150, 266, 113, and 229, respectively), examining how functional indispensability (instrumental contribution of the ingroup) positively influences perceptions of representativeness in the post-merger group (relative ingroup prototypicality), which, in turn, affect post-merger identification and, finally, change commitment. Additionally, the role of cognitive information processing (heuristic vs. systematic) on prototypicality was explored. Results suggest that functional indispensability impacts relative ingroup prototypicality (Studies 1–5), and this may be moderated by information processing (Study 2). Moreover, prototypicality and identification with the superordinate post-merged group mediated the effect of functional indispensability on change commitment (Studies 1–3). These findings provide important theoretical insights into prototypicality perceptions held by lower-status merger partners and minority groups in general, by identifying functional indispensability as a source of prototypicality other than relative status. In addition, by proposing a functional approach to the relations between social groups, these findings suggest better practices for managing structural changes, such as combining sources of strategic/functional and identity fit when announcing an intergroup change.

Cyberbullying through the lens of social influence: Predicting cyberbullying perpetration from perceived peer-norm, cyberspace regulations and ingroup processes

In the present research we analyzed the social influence mechanisms that back the relation between peer group norms regarding cyberbullying behaviors and individual cyberbullying perpetration. In a sample of adolescents (N = 3511, age: M = 16.27, SD = 1.58), we showed that the relation between perceived peer-norm and cyberbullying perpetration was moderated by two distinct social influence mechanisms. Specifically, when individuals' lack of knowledge regarding appropriate behaviors in cyberspace (i.e., cyberspace regulations), levels of perceived peer-norm regarding cyberbullying behaviors positively influence the participants' engagement in cyberbullying perpetration (i.e., informational social influence). Moreover, we showed that the higher the support of perceived peer-norm regarding cyberbullying behaviors the higher the levels of cyberbullying perpetration, especially for the higher (vs. lower) levels of identification with peers as the ingroup; this relation was additionally enhanced at increasing levels of adolescents' ingroup prototypicality (i.e., referential informative social influence). The results demonstrated that the two social influence mechanisms work independently and likely contribute to predict participants’ engagement in cyberbullying perpetration. Results are discussed with respect to the current literature regarding the social influence mechanisms underlying cyberbullying. The implications of these findings for practical interventions are explored.

How to Enhance the Effects of Mediated Intergroup Contact? Evidence from Four Countries

We bridge the theorizing on mediated and imagined contact and integrate these two contact forms in one sequence within a single design. We experimentally examine whether (1) encouraging people to imagine a positive intergroup encounter prior to reading a personal story of an outgroup member as well as (2) mediated contact with an outgroup member similar or dissimilar to the ingroup prototype, improve outgroup attitudes. We also test the affective and cognitive mediators through which these effects emerge. Data from four different countries that test attitudes toward four distinct immigrant groups find that although imagined contact and similarity do not consistently improve outgroup attitudes, enhanced interest in the story of an outgroup member and positive emotions mediate the effects from similarity, and – in two countries – from imagined contact. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Are We In or Are We Out? Ingroup Prototypicality Effects in Implicit Ethnic‐American Associations

AbstractThe goal of the present research was to document ingroup prototypicality effects in implicit associations between ethnic groups and the American identity. Across four studies, we compared implicit associations displayed by perceivers who either belonged to or did not belong to the target ethnic groups. In Studies 1 and 2, African, Asian, Latino, and European American participants were randomly assigned to complete an Implicit Association Test contrasting either their ingroup and an outgroup or two outgroups (third‐party perspective). Data yielded evidence for ingroup prototypicality effects in all interethnic comparisons. Studies 3 and 4 used large datasets available through Project Implicit. We examined whether ingroup prototypicality effects were restricted to U.S. residents or generalized to participants living in other regions of the world. Results showed that ingroup prototypicality effects did not presuppose immersion in the U.S. context, but at the same time patterns of implicit associations varied according to region of residence. Implicit ethnic‐American associations are at least partially the reflection of the perceivers’ positioning in interethnic comparisons.

Commemoration in crisis: A discursive analysis of who 'we' and 'they' have been or become in ceremonial political speeches before and during the Greek financial downturn.

This study analyses the discourse of statements of the leaders of two Greek political parties commemorating the restoration of Greek democracy on 24 July 1974; the ruling party New Democracy and the opposition, Coalition of the Radical Left. We focus on how these leaders act as entrepreneurs of their identities by constructing their ingroups in broad or narrow terms and their outgroups in vague or specific terms. These constructions were ventured during a period of relative political stability (2008) and instability (2012), and we focus on how ingroup prototypes and group boundaries are narrated across Greece's past, present and future in ambiguous or concrete terms. The study aligns the social identity approach to political leadership with studies on political discourse and 'the rhetoric of we'. We view commemorative statements as historical charters and respond to calls for discourse analysis to take greater account of historical context. The findings suggest concrete hypotheses about how leaders with different amounts of political support might define, as identity entrepreneurs, who 'we' are, and who 'we' are not in democratic contexts marked by stability or crisis.

COMPARATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF COGNITIVE FACTORS AND SELF-ATTITUDE TO SOCIAL PERCEPTION OF OUTGROUPS OF DIFFERENT TYPES

The research introduces the idea of the integrative approach to the social perception, which is regarded, firstly, from the point of cognitive and motivational approaches, and secondly, as the result of internal and external factors interaction. The contributions of cognitive styles, divergent thinking, and self-attitude to outgroup stereotyping and ingroup bias are studied. These contributions are compared in conditions of different artificial groups perception. The discriminant models of stereotyping and bias are constructed and analyzed in terms of cognitive variables and self-attitude. 155 students of the Perm State University from 17 to 22 years old (M = 18.90, SD = 0.96), including 113 females (72.9%) and 42 males (27.1%), participated in the research. The description of social groups was presented in specially constructed texts. The measuring of social perception was implemented with verbal procedures based on the understanding of bias as ingroup prototypicality and stereotyping - as a tendency to describe the Other through generalized features, rather than actual behavior. The selfattitude and cognitive variables were measured using standardized methods. It was found that the predominant contribution to stereotyping belonged to cognitive styles and, first of all, to the fielddependence. On the contrary, cognitive styles did not play the decisive role in the formation of ingroup bias (favoritism), while the indicators of self-attitude facilitated its manifestations. The divergent thinking significantly contributed to both stereotyping and bias. Its influence varied depending on the group type. These results could be useful in the development of psychological corrective programs aimed at reducing the negative manifestations of intergroup interaction.

Generation X leaders from London, New York and Toronto

Inspired by scholarly calls to focus more intently on the influence of context on leaders’ construction and negotiation of identity, this paper draws on evidence from our Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project in London, New York City and Toronto. Throughout the paper, we strive to illuminate how the city-based context influences how race/ethnicity is experienced and described. We use social identity theory, organisational fit and in-group prototypes to frame school leaders’ explicit discuss race/ethnicity when reflecting on identity. We describe our data gathering process using our Professional Identity card-sort Tool, which guided leaders’ reflections on identity. The analysis details how we extracted and interpreted evidence from leaders who were explicit about the interrelationship between their own personal racial/ethnic identification and its alignment or misalignment with their school-level communities. We explore how different city contexts influence leader experience of in-groups and out-groups and the related leadership challenges and opportunities. In conclusion, we reflect on the influence that structures, policies and communities have on how leaders experience identity and the possible implications for their work. We also explore the value of attending to potential context-based identity-driven experiences for school leader development and support.

When does activating diversity alleviate, when does it increase intergroup bias? An ingroup projection perspective.

The question how intergroup bias can be alleviated is of much theoretical and practical interest. Whereas diversity training and the multiculturalism ideology are two approaches prominent in practice, most theoretical models on reducing intergroup bias are based on social-identity theory and self-categorization theory. This social-identity perspective assumes that similar processes lead to intergroup bias in very different intergroup contexts if people identify with the respective social groups. A recent prominent model based on these theories is the ingroup-projection model. As this model assumes, an ingroup’s norms and standards are applied to outgroups included in a common superordinate category (this is called ingroup projection). Intergroup bias results because the outgroup fulfils these norms and standards less than the ingroup. Importantly, if the diversity of the superordinate category is induced as the norm, ingroup projection and thus intergroup bias should be reduced. The present research delineates and tests how general this process is. We propose that ingroup prototypicality is not only an outcome variable, as the ingroup-projection model originally assumes, but can also be an important moderator. We hypothesize that for members considering their ingroup highly prototypical (“pars pro toto”, large majorities), the superordinate group’s diversity may question their ingroup’s position and thus elicit threat and intergroup bias. In contrast, for members who consider their group as less prototypical (one among several, or “una inter pares” groups), activating diversity should, as originally assumed in the ingroup-projection model, reduce intergroup bias. Three experiments (total N = 345) supported these predictions in the contexts of groups defined by gender or nationality. Taken together, the ingroup-projection model can explain under which conditions activating superordinate-category diversity induces tolerance, and when it may backfire. We discuss in how far the ingroup-projection model can integrate conflicting findings on the multiculturalism ideology.

Change commitment in low-status merger partners: The role of information processing, relative ingroup prototypicality, and merger patterns.

Merger announcements cause stress among employees, often leading to low change commitment, especially among employees from the lower-status merger partner. Such stress influences how deeply employees process merger-relevant information. Previous research examined how merger patterns that preserve versus change status differences impact merger support, but did not address how employees' information processing may influence this relationship. The current research addresses this gap through a scenario experiment, focusing on the low-status merger partner. The interplay between merger patterns and information processing was examined regarding employees' prototypicality claims in relation to merger support. Results suggest that an integration-equality merger pattern increases change commitment via prototypicality claims in the new organization, conditional to employees' systematic information processing.