In-group Ties Research Articles

Medical silos, social identity, and duty of care: A call for health leaders to improve transitions of care.

This article explores the concept of medical silos, particularly within hospital systems, and examines their deeper roots in social identity and the fiduciary duty of care of healthcare providers. While traditional perspectives focus on informational and communication barriers, this analysis highlights how professional identity and moral obligations contribute to the persistence of silos. Social identity theory reveals that strong in-group affiliations, formed during medical training and specialization, fosters collaboration within groups but also create divisions between them. Similarly, the fiduciary duty of care, central to ethical medical practice, may inadvertently reinforce silo boundaries in resource-limited environments. By emphasizing the role of centralized leadership, the article proposes that health system managers and leaders, with the broadest possible duty of care, must take action to dismantle these barriers. Recommendations include re-evaluating policies for patient transitions and fostering integrated care pathways to improve overall system flow, rather than simply balancing the agendas of stakeholders within their silos.

The Role of Implicit Associations and Ingroup Affiliation on Perceptions of Diversity

The Role of Implicit Associations and Ingroup Affiliation on Perceptions of Diversity

Job satisfaction and social identification among paramedics in southern Poland.

Job satisfaction, based on professional and non-professional factors and individual characteristics of employees, is an important element influencing both the quality of care provided and employee turnover. The study included 137 paramedics employed in field teams and hospital emergency departments. The Job Satisfaction Scale (SSP), the Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), and the Three Dimensional Strength of Group Identification Scale (TSIG) were used to collect the data. The average job satisfaction score measured with SSP in the studied group of paramedics was 24.50 and the average job satisfaction score measured with MSQ was 74.16. The average value of the group identification in the study sample was 61.15. Of the three subscales, the highest scores were obtained in the affect toward the group subscale -22.44, and the lowest in the cognitive centrality subscale -18.78. The analysis showed that job satisfaction positively correlated with social identification (r = 0.43) and the ingroup ties (r = 0.43), cognitive centrality (r = 0.34) and ingroup affect (r = 0.37). The studied group of paramedics showed moderate job satisfaction (measured with SSP) and work engagement, with a simultaneous high level of job satisfaction (measured with MSQ) and social identification with the professional group. Social identification of studied paramedics varied depending on gender. Women showed higher levels of cognitive centrality, which might mean that they might have had greater need to categorize themselves as paramedics.

Resilience or decline of informal networks? Examining the role of trust context in network societies

The nature of informal networks in various societies, and particularly whether they recede or tend to persist over time, has long been a subject of discussion in international business studies. However, empirical research on trust in network-oriented societies, where individuals typically maintain somewhat different relationships with their in-group, out-group, and non-specified others, remains limited. Drawing on insights from informal network research and intergroup contact theory to model trust relationships in network societies, 882 respondents from three network societies -- China, Russia, and South Korea -- were surveyed, and confirmatory factor and path analyses applied. The results suggest that as network importance increases, both in-group trust and out-group trust also increase. Individuals who more commonly draw upon out-group trust ties attach less importance to in-group trust ties. Increases in non-specific trust, however, are associated with increases in both in-group and out-group trust, pointing towards the boundary spanning function of non-specific trust. Consequently, rather than finding a clear indication of whether informal networks persist or recede, ambivalent trust relationships were observed. This calls for a reexamination of the conventional ‘either/or’ perspective on the nature of informal networks. This network heterogeneity can be attributed to individuals, especially in developing network societies, utilizing a ‘both/and’ approach to trust and networking, and yielding more economic opportunities.

Differences Among Korean Women Attending Women’s Schools and Coed Schools: Gender Identity and Perception of Workplace Culture for Women

By looking at the relationship between workplace culture and gender identity, this research examines ways to potentially improve women’s satisfaction and perceptions of female workers in this presently disadvantageous work environment in Korea. Drawing from previous criticism for having prioritized inter-group processes over particular social identities, this research uses Social Identity Theory as the main theoretical framework in two studies to structure the factors affecting workplace environment, specifically workplace culture for women and working women’s satisfaction with communication. The first study applies intra-group analysis to examine the impact that the gender composition of a school has on gender identity, and it examines the relationship between organizational gender composition and women’s perceptions of workplace culture by employing an experiment within a survey, which contains scenarios of an imaginary workplace, to Korean female college students ( n = 439). The results demonstrate women attending women’s colleges displayed stronger gender identity than those attending co-ed colleges on two dimensions of gender identity: in-group ties and centrality. The second study surveys Korean female workers ( n = 171) to examine the same relationships while more deeply looking into the effects of gender composition of the workplace on women’s satisfaction with communication. The main finding shows that for a sex-integrated organization, women who attended women’s colleges denoted higher communication satisfaction with supervisors and same-sex coworkers than women who attended coed colleges. Implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.

The role of affiliation in the development of collaborative partner choice.

Collaboration is an early emerging component of successful cooperative relations that produces a cascade of positive social preferences between collaborators. Concurrently, robust preferences for affiliated others may restrict these benefits to in-group peers. We investigated how in-group affiliation (based on minimal group markers) and interpersonal affiliation (based on shared preferences) influence children's collaborative partner choice. We asked whether children prefer to collaborate with affiliated peers and if highlighting interpersonal affiliation with out-group members reduce in-group bias in partner choice. In Study 1, we assigned children (4-9 years, N = 124, 62 female, two nonbinary) to either a group or interpersonal affiliation condition and gave them a choice of collaborating with either an affiliated (in-group or same preference) or unaffiliated (out-group or different preference) peer. While children preferred affiliated peers in both conditions, interpersonal affiliation had a greater influence than group affiliation on collaborative partner choice among younger participants. With age, the difference between children's preference for affiliated peers in the interpersonal and group affiliation condition declined until they were similar in middle childhood. In Study 2, we assessed whether shared preferences would override in-group bias when these factors were directly contrasted. Children (4-9 years, N = 62, 33 female) chose between an in-group/different preference or out-group/same preferences peer. Younger children preferred the out-group/same preference peer, a preference that diminished with age to chance levels in middle childhood. These findings suggest that affiliation is an important determinant of collaborative partner choice and that shared preferences can override in-group bias in children's collaborative partner choice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Fostering team dynamics in university sport science student: a low-constraint social identity intervention

Traditionally, improving group dynamic has relied on cohesion and team building (TB) interventions. However, the time-intensive nature of TB interventions poses challenges for their implementation and effectiveness. Acknowledging the significance of the Social Identity Approach (SIA) in shaping group dynamic, this study aims to propose an enlightened TB intervention tailored for task-oriented groups. A total of 741 sports science students (Mage = 19.65; SD = 1.43; female = 187) participated in a 45-minutes intervention, based on an experimental scenario involving inter-group competition, forming 19 teams with stakes for the winners and losers. The identity group underwent a three-step intervention, including defining team boundaries, discussing team desirability and values, and creating a visual team identity symbol. The control group received a theoretical course on social identity theories. Results demonstrated a significant improvement in group belonging, ingroup ties, and cognitive centrality compared to the control group. The findings support the interest of a social identity approach for teams with demanding schedules to initiate preliminary work targeting optimal Group dynamic.

Effects of team affiliation on color‐valence associations

AbstractThis study aims to empirically test whether identifying as a supporter of either New South Wales (NSW) or Queensland (QLD) rugby league teams influences the extent that their respective team colors blue and maroon are associated with positively and negatively valenced words. We used a valence categorization experiment and affective rating task (valence and preference) to investigate if team affiliation and shared ingroup experience influenced affective associations with team colors. NSW supporters were faster and more accurate when categorizing positive words presented in blue than maroon font and negative words in maroon than blue font. While QLD supporters did not significantly differ when categorizing words in either blue or maroon, they rated blue and maroon equally positively in contrast to the NSW supporters. Results from this study give us greater insights into how color‐valence associations can be formed through subcultural ingroup affiliations.

Technological advance, social fragmentation and welfare

This paper models the welfare consequences of social fragmentation arising from technological advance. We start from the premise that technological progress falls primarily on market-traded commodities rather than prosocial relationships, since the latter intrinsically require the expenditure of time and thus are less amenable to productivity increases. Since prosocial relationships require individuals to identify with others in their social group whereas marketable commodities are commonly the objects of social status comparisons, a tradeoff arises between in-group affiliation and inter-group status comparisons. People consequently narrow the bounds of their social groups, reducing their prosocial relationships and extending their status-seeking activities. As prosocial relationships generate positive externalities whereas status-seeking activities generate negative preference externalities, technological advance may lead to a particular type of “decoupling” of social welfare from material prosperity. Once the share of status goods in total production exceeds a crucial threshold, technological advance is shown to be welfare-reducing.

Predictors of Bullying among Athletes in the Romanian Context.

The purpose of this study was to examine the explanatory power of a predictive model of bully/perpetrator behaviour in Romanian athletes, consisting of negative pre-competitive emotions (anxiety, sadness, and anger), perception of male gender normativity, and relationships with coaches and teammates. Additionally, we aimed to explore the mediation effect of bully-victim behaviour on the relationship between athletes' connections with their coaches and bully/perpetrator behaviour. The current research involved a nonexperimental, cross-sectional design exploring the presence of bully/perpetrator behaviour in Romanian male and female athletes. The quantitative methodology was used to collect and analyse the data obtained. Researchers translated, adapted and pretested the questionnaire set to the Romanian cultural background (SEQ, MAMS, CART-Q, In-group Ties Scale, BSQ) before distributing it to 448 participants. 58.7% were male participants, and 41.3% were female participants. The mean age was 21.15 (SDage = 2.37, range = 18-32). The research was conducted in the first half of 2023. SPSS (V. 20) and Hayes's PROCESS tool were used to investigate the data. The findings demonstrated that in the case of Romanian male athletes, perception of male gender normativity, anger, and weaker connections with coaches are the most important psychological factors in predicting bully/perpetrator behaviour. In contrast, in the case of Romanian female athletes, only weaker connections with coaches and perception of male gender normativity play an essential role in explaining bully/perpetrator behaviour. Additionally, the study demonstrated that bully-victim behaviour mediates the relationship between athletes' weaker connections with their coaches and bully/perpetrator behaviour. Athletes' weaker connections with their coaches lead to experiencing a high level of bully/perpetrator behaviour by stressing bully-victim behaviour, which also contributes to achieving a high level of bully/perpetrator behaviour.

Social Identity and Adherence Behavior in Older Adult Group-Based Exercise

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to prospectively examine the relationship between social identity and exercise adherence among older adults. Eighty group-based older adult exercise class attendees (M age = 68.00) completed a baseline questionnaire assessing the three dimensions of social identification (ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, ingroup affect) with their exercise class, and recorded their exercise class attendance using a logbook over a four-month period. Results highlighted in-group affect as a significant predictor of exercise class adherence, meaning older adults who reported positive feelings and emotions associated with their exercise class membership were also more likely to attend class across time.

The effects of moral exemplars awareness on common ingroup identification and reconciliation in post‐genocide Rwanda

AbstractMoral exemplars (Imena) play an important part in commemorative practices and reconciliation in post‐genocide Rwanda. Acknowledging the essential role of moral exemplars in reconciliation and intergroup contact in post‐conflict setting, we aimed at examining the effects of exposure to moral‐exemplars on people's attitudes toward reconciliation and identification with superordinate national category in Rwanda. A study of 168 young Rwandans showed that higher awareness of moral exemplars during genocide was related to stronger ingroup ties with other ingroup members and higher centrality of national identification. Strong ingroup ties significantly mediated the effects of moral exemplars awareness on reconciliation attitudes. This shows that ties with other members of common national ingroup, as well as the centrality of superordinate categories could be effective means for reconciliation after genocide.

Encouraging Togetherness During a National Lockdown: The Influence of Relationship-Oriented Personal-Disclosure Mutual-Sharing on Team Functioning in Academy Soccer Coaches

The present study examined the influence of an online relationship-oriented personal-disclosure mutual-sharing (ROPDMS) intervention upon diverse measures of group functioning during a national lockdown. Twelve soccer coaches and one senior member of staff from a professional female soccer academy participated by openly disclosing and sharing unknown personal stories with one another. Social identity dimensions (in-group ties, cognitive centrality, and in-group affect), friendship identity content, social support, self-esteem, and a nonequivalent dependent variable were measured across four time points, while social validation was obtained immediately and 4 weeks after ROPDMS. Quantitative data revealed significant increases for in-group ties, cognitive centrality, and friendship identity content after ROPDMS, while the nonequivalent dependent variable did not significantly change. Qualitative data revealed that the coaching staff felt the session was worthwhile and enhanced aspects of team functioning. Online ROPDMS therefore appears to be a viable team-building method for practitioners seeking to strengthen social identity dimensions and friendship identity content during a national lockdown.

Do Ethnic-Racial Identity Dimensions Moderate the Relations of Outgroup Discrimination and Ingroup Marginalization to Self-esteem in Black and Latinx Undergraduates?

Guided by social identity and intergroup theory, we tested how two facets of ethnic-racial identity—felt typicality (perceived similarity to other ingroup members) and ingroup ties (felt closeness to other ingroup members)—potentially buffer the negative effects of outgroup discrimination and ingroup marginalization on self-esteem. Participants included 407 Latinx (65%) and Black (35%) undergraduates (Mage = 24.72 years, 79% women, 21% men) who completed an online survey. Our analyses yielded three key findings. First, both outgroup discrimination and ingroup marginalization predicted lower self-esteem; however, this association was significantly stronger with ingroup marginalization than outgroup discrimination. Second, the association between ingroup marginalization and self-esteem was reduced when ethnic-racial identity variables were controlled. Felt ethnic-racial typicality additionally moderated the association between ingroup marginalization and self-esteem—whereby the negative association was stronger when individuals felt higher ethnic-racial typicality. Our findings expand understanding of the impact of marginalization and discrimination from those within and outside of one’s ethnic-racial group, respectively. We also discuss the differing roles of ethnic-racial identity when experiencing outgroup discrimination and ingroup marginalization.

Clientelism and its discontents: The role of wasta in shaping political attitudes and participation in Jordan

ABSTRACT For citizens in the Middle East, is wasta an accepted traditional practice or a form of corruption that has harmful effects on society? Scholarship remains divided on how exactly to view wasta, with some scholars pointing to its role in fostering in-group ties and providing a problem-solving mechanism, with others charging that wasta promotes poor governance and weak accountability. What citizens think rarely enters the picture. In this article, I argue that Jordanian citizens consider wasta a negative force in society, one that divides them from each other and makes them feel disengaged from the political life of their country. I use evidence from thirty-seven interviews with Jordanian youth, and data from the Jordanian NGO Leaders of Tomorrow’s ‘FADFED’ initiative, a novel qualitative method for gathering opinion data from citizens. This article challenges scholars to take wasta’s role in state-society tensions in the Middle East more seriously.

A Sense of Connection: Examining Social Identity and Adherence to a School-Based Exercise Club

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social identity and adherence in the context of a school-based, 8-week structured group exercise program. Methods: Secondary students (N = 116; Mage = 15.52 years) from 10 newly formed school-based exercise clubs reported social identity perceptions specific to their exercise group, which were used to predict attendance and intentions to return to the club in the future. Results: Controlling for sex and grade level, the results of hierarchical regression analysis revealed that exercise group social identity was significantly positively related to program attendance (ΔR2 = .09, p < .01). A positive relationship was also found between exercise group social identity and intentions to return to the exercise club in the future, while also controlling for sex, grade level, and program attendance (ΔR2 = .05, p < .05). Discussion/Conclusion: The findings suggest that stronger exercise group social identity in the form of ingroup ties is associated with greater attendance and intention to return to the school-based exercise club among secondary school students.

Part of the Team: The Social Identity Questionnaire for Sport Parents (SIQS-P)

ABSTRACT Drawing from theory of the multidimensional nature of social identity, the purpose of this study was to assess an adapted measure of social identity in sport that captures the extent to which parents identify with their child’s team. Using the Social Identity Questionnaire for Sport (SIQS) with items specifically modified for parents, we assessed competitive youth sport parents’ perceptions of ingroup ties, cognitive centrality, and ingroup affect. Using an exploratory and confirmatory analysis process, a conceptually grounded three-factor structure was supported in a sample of 788 ice hockey parents. Measurement invariance testing found strong invariance for the measurement tool based on participants’ biological sex, previous sport experience, and proximal competition outcome. Finally, differences emerged when comparing latent means across their child’s most recent game outcome. Taken together, this study offers a novel tool to better understand and measure perceptions of social identity among sport parents.

Distinct trajectories of psychological distress among resettled refugees: Community acceptance predicts resilience while low ingroup social support predicts clinical distress.

Refugees can experience elevated levels of psychological distress upon resettlement, although disparate outcomes over time are expected. The current study modeled trajectories of changes in distress over a 5-year period among resettled refugees and sought to explicate post-settlement factors that influence distress over time. A large-scale sample of refugees resettled in Australia (2,399) was tracked over a 5-year period, completing measures of psychological distress at each wave and initial risk and protective factors immediately after resettlement. A latent class growth analysis conducted on distress found four unique classes characterized by (1) resilient levels of distress, (2) consistent clinical distress, (3) recovering levels of distress, and (4) deteriorating distress. Lower perceived discrimination and greater positive context of reception predicted membership to the resilient group and differentiated the recovering and deteriorating groups. Further, lower ingroup social support predicted membership to the clinically distressed group relative to all others. We conclude by echoing calls to strengthen community support for refugees and promote ingroup ties, particularly among those who are the most vulnerable.

Social Debunking of Misinformation on WhatsApp: The Case for Strong and In-group Ties

In this paper, we argue that WhatsApp can play an important role in correcting misinformation. We show how specific WhatsApp affordances (flexibility in format and audience selection) and existing social capital (prevalence of strong ties; homophily in political groups) can be leveraged to maximize the re-sharing of debunking messages, such as those accessed by WhatsApp users via ChatBots and Tip-Lines. Debunking messages received in the format of audio files generated more interest and were more effective in correcting beliefs than text- or image-based messages. In addition, we found clear evidence that users re-share debunks at higher rates when they received them from people close to them (strong ties), from individuals who generally agree with them politically (in-group members), or when both conditions are met. We suggest that WhatsApp leverages our findings to maximize the re-share of those fact-checks that are already circulating on the platform by using the existing social capital in the network, unlocking the potential for such debunks to reach a larger audience on WhatsApp.

Mark of the Beast

Modern Satanism is an oft-misunderstood and stigmatized minority religion that has largely been viewed by mental health professionals through a lens of deviance. Understanding Satanists’ experiences with this stigmatized identity is absent in the current psychological literature. Conceptualizing Satanism within the minority stress and rejection-identification models, a nonrandom sample of 1,272 self-identified Satanists were surveyed about their strength of identity, anticipated discrimination, and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that aspects of Satanist identity (centrality and in-group ties) positively correlated with anticipated discrimination, and other aspects (in-group ties and in-group affect) negatively correlated with depressive symptoms. Additionally, in-group ties moderated the relationship between anticipated discrimination and depressive symptoms, suggesting that Satanists who have social support from other Satanists are less affected by the depressive repercussions of anticipated discrimination. Implications for mental health professionals treating Satanists presenting with religious minority stressors and depressive symptoms are discussed.