Social Group Identity Research Articles

Applying the concept of ‘PE-for-sport-literacy’: exploring pre-service teacher identities with a new way of teaching sport

ABSTRACT We explored how a physical education teacher education (PETE) programme at an Australian university influenced physical education pre-service teacher (PEPST) sport teaching identities. Our methodology utilised Elias’s [2012a [1970, 1978]. What is sociology? Collected works (Vol. 5). University College Dublin Press] personal pronouns as a figurational model which shows how social group (‘we’) identity relates to outsiders (‘they’) as well as individual members (‘I’) within communities. We also drew upon the concepts of figuration [Elias, N. (2012b [1939]). On the process of civilisation, collected works (Vol. 3). University College Dublin Press], habitus [Elias, N. (2010 [1987]). The society of individuals, collected works (Vol. 10). University College Dublin Press] and established and outsider theory [Elias, N., & Scotson, J. L. (2008 [1965]). The established and the outsiders. Collected works (Vol. 4). University College Dublin Press]. By examining if and how the ‘I’ pronoun was used in a written assessment task, we sought to ascertain the extent PEPSTs might apply the concept of ‘PE-for-sport-literacy’ (PE4SL) in their future careers. Just over half the participants wrote ‘I’ statements about how they would enact sport teaching in convincing and believable ways, the remaining PEPSTs provided descriptive narratives, suggesting a limited engagement with PE4SL, using writing styles more akin to academic writing, with little or no use of the ‘I’ pronoun. Our findings are important because, there have been limited studies about the process of teacher identity formation in teacher education [Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175–189] and fewer studies about the construction of PEPST identity [Liu, J., & Keating, X. D. (2022). Development of the Pre-service Physical Education Teachers’ Teacher Identity Scale. European Physical Education Review, 28(1), 186–204] and PE teacher identity [Virta, J., Hökkä, P., Eteläpelto, A., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2019). Professional identity among student teachers of physical education: The role of physicality. European Journal of Teacher Education, 42(2), 192–210]. Our findings then, add to the finite stock of knowledge concerning PEPST teacher identity development, by drawing attention to the varied ways our participants engaged with PE4SL. This study reinforces previous research that highlighted that as teacher educators, the knowledge we teach does not automatically translate into beginning teacher practices [Brown, D. (2005). An economy of gendered practices? Learning to teach physical education from the perspective of Pierre Bourdieu's embodied sociology. Sport, Education and Society, 10(1), 3–23; Fernández-Balboa, J.-M. (2009). Bio-pedagogical self-reflection in PETE: Reawakening the ethical conscience and purpose in pedagogy and research. Sport, Education and Society, 14(2), 147–163].

Your Pain Pleases Others: The Influence of Social Interaction Patterns and Group Identity on Schadenfreude.

Schadenfreude is a joyful emotional response to the misfortune of others. Individuals' schadenfreude over the misfortunes of ingroup and outgroup members may vary depending on how groups interact. Accordingly, this study examines the effects of different social interaction patterns and group identity on schadenfreude and their mechanisms. The study participants were Chinese college students. Study 1 (n = 83) investigated whether there are differences in individuals' schadenfreude towards ingroup and outgroup members under two different patterns of social interaction: cooperation and competition. On the basis of this study, Study 2 (n = 73) focused on the mechanisms underlying the influence of individuals' Schadenfreude on ingroup and outgroup members in competitive situations, and the mediating role of disgust. It was found that there was an interaction between group identity and social interaction patterns, with people showing more schadenfreude over the misfortunes of outgroup members than ingroup members, and competitive situations increasing disgust and schadenfreude over outgroup members. However, no differences were found in individuals' schadenfreude towards ingroup and outgroup members in cooperative situations. This is instructive in terms of real-life intergroup relations as well as patterns of social interaction. This proves that cooperation and group contact is a way to reduce schadenfreude.

DMO PROMOTIONS OF INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN MEXICO’S BAJIO

Promoting cultural heritage has become crucial for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in heritage cities, as it fosters tourism development and shapes the overall cultural identity of a destination. Cultural heritage encompasses both tangible and intangible elements, with the latter focusing on manifestations that uphold the cultural identity of social groups and communities. In recent times, tourists seek authentic cultural experiences, not merely to observe heritage but also to actively engage with it. According to UNWTO (2018), cultural tourism represents almost 40% of all tourism activities. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic brought unparalleled challenges to the tourism industry. The objective of this study was to explore the elements that represent ICH in the visual tourism communication of heritage cities in the Mexican Bajio region and examine any modifications made to these elements during the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve these objectives, we employed a content and network analysis of images extracted from the Facebook pages of each city's DMOs (San Miguel de Allende, San Juan del Río, Querétaro and Morelia) from January 2019 to December 2020. Among the main findings, it was revealed that the induced/projected tourist image of the heritage cities in the Mexican Bajio during 2019-2020 emphasized the social aspect, showcasing dynamic experiences and the local community. The pandemic impacted the representation of natural elements, business types, and ICH. In the specific analysis of the ICH of the Bajio region, we found that the domain with the highest representation in the DMO’s visual communication was social practices, rituals, and festive events. In images alluding to festivals and gastronomy, the tourist node disappeared during the pandemic and the node of residents became more central. Elements related to COVID-19, such as masks or warning texts, were identified more frequently in gastronomy images than in festival images.

The Impact of TikTok on Chinese Teenagers' Stereotypes

This article explores the impact of TikTok on Chinese teenagers' stereotypes. It does so by analyzing five key factors, including user-generated content, platform algorithms and recommendation systems, social pressure and group identity, advertising and brand image, and social perception. The article provides insights into how TikTok plays a role in shaping and reinforcing teenagers' stereotypes of different groups. User-generated content, a core element of the platform, reflects the creativity and individuality of teens while potentially exaggerating and reinforcing stereotypes. The influence of platform algorithms and recommendation systems then makes it easier for stereotypes to spread among users, creating information filter bubbles. Social pressure and group identity drive teens to be more likely to be influenced by their peers to follow and spread stereotypical content. Advertisements and brand images spread stereotypical messages through the media, further deepening adolescents' stereotypes. Finally, theoretical frameworks such as Social Cognitive Theory, Symbolic Interactionism Theory and Media Literacy Theory are introduced. The mechanisms of TikTok's influence on adolescent stereotypes are interpreted from different perspectives. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of TikTok's shaping of adolescents' social perceptions and provides a theoretical basis for future intervention and education.

Social identity bias and communication network clustering interact to shape patterns of opinion dynamics.

Social influence aligns people's opinions, but social identities and related in-group biases interfere with this alignment. For instance, the recent rise of young climate activists (e.g. 'Fridays for Future' or 'Last Generation') has highlighted the importance of generational identities in the climate change debate. It is unclear how social identities affect the emergence of opinion patterns, such as consensus or disagreement, in a society. Here, we present an agent-based model to explore this question. Agents communicate in a network and form opinions through social influence. The agents have fixed social identities which involve homophily in their interaction preferences and in-group bias in their perception of others. We find that the in-group bias has opposing effects depending on the network topology. The bias impedes consensus in highly random networks by promoting the formation of echo chambers within social identity groups. By contrast, the bias facilitates consensus in highly clustered networks by aligning dispersed in-group agents across the network and, thereby, preventing the formation of isolated echo chambers. Our model uncovers the mechanisms underpinning these opposing effects of the in-group bias and highlights the importance of the communication network topology for shaping opinion dynamics.

Urban identity in the value paradigm modern Russian society

The article is devoted to urban identity as a socio-cultural, psychological and emotional construct determined by a number of factors. As a significant component of social identity, urban identity is determined by how strong an individual's social ties are, whether he is included in long-term stable social groups, which, in turn, forms an emotional assessment of such identity in relation to «his» and «strangers», as well as group values, social norms, stereotypes, behavioral patterns. The author of the article presents the characteristics of urban identity as a result of self-determination of personality, its socialization and adaptation in a particular urban space, in the process of assimilation and reproduction of cultural symbols, accepted norms, traditions, lifestyle of city residents. The relevance of the study of urban identity is determined by the peculiarities of the urban environment and urban lifestyle: the author of the article puts forward a tendency to increase the mobility of the population and a decrease in the role of physical space in the life of a modern person as factors that can create barriers to the formation of a conscious urban identity. The article proves that the self-consciousness and personal identity of city residents are largely determined by various aspects of the cultural space of the city. The impossibility of perceiving urban space in its integrity does not hinder personal identity and self-determination, and the possibility of implementing the social practices of its residents forms their emotional attachment to the city. The formation of urban identity is conditioned by stable, changeable and symbolic factors. The author of the article also identifies parameters that allow assessing the degree of urban identity, among which the uniqueness of the city, identity and positivity of its perception play a decisive role in modern Russian society, which, in turn, determines in many ways the practical potential of urban identity. The conclusion is made about the importance of urban identity among other values of Russians, because active emotional experience and active embodiment of the urban identity of individuals and social groups contributes to the comprehensive economic, social and political development of modern Russian society.

Links Between Leader Identity, Leadership Identity and Their Fusion


 
 
 
 Growing body of research in leader and leadership identity exhibits the topic’s importance in today’s turbulent and uncertain global environment. Leader identity, which is related to the personal development of the leader, analysed at personal, relational and collective (group) levels. However, leader identity does not fully support leadership. Leaders operate and grow within the context of the people they lead – the group, the followers, who collectively possess social (group) identity. Researchers view this as a complex phenomenon involving shared values, perspectives and goals. There is no distinct line that separates leader identity from group identity, but there is an area where they clash. As a personevolves as a leader, leader identity is expected to incorporate more elements of group identity and develop towards it, although that is not inevitable. The current studyemphasises leader-follower interactions and identity fusion, linking them to identity leadership development and suggesting possible outcomes
 
 
 

Being intentional about intersectionality and positionality

ABSTRACT This paper describes how a familiar exercise, known as the ‘Privilege Walk’, or Step Forward or Back line activity, could be used to develop s understanding of the skills and knowledge needed, prior to their first placement. Specifically, the activity puts particular emphasis on the need to apply ethical principles, values and anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive principles into professional practices, as well as applying, and advancing human rights and promoting social justice and economic wellbeing. Encouraging a deeper understanding of students’ motivations to become social workers, particularly exploring Carl Jung’s 1951 ‘wounded healer’. The activity, used in the training of foster carers and adopters, will be described as a teaching technique to provide an opportunity to understand the intricacies of privilege, and to explore how membership of specific social identity groups endows individuals with privilege and power. Social work courses can help students recognize ways that they can use their privileges, both collectively and individually, to work for social justice. The purpose is not to imply culpability, provoke shame or guilt due to being in a position of relative power or privilege. Instead by raising awareness of the obstacles and benefits experienced, students gain an understanding of the significance of identity in order that they become better social work professionals.

The social identity affordance view: A theory of social identities

AbstractThis article proposes that social identities are best understood as a kind of affordance, a “social identity affordance.” Social identity affordances are possibilities for action and interaction between persons, within a social niche, based on perceived and self‐perceived social group identification. First, the view presented captures and articulates the basic structure of social identities. Second, it explains the multifaceted interplay of such an item in the social field, including not only the complexity of the interpersonal dimensions, but also the multiplicity of registers in which social identities vibrate (ethical, political, psychological, geographical, affective, epistemic). Third, by doing good on (i) and (ii), the view makes social identities intelligible, helping preclude reductive misinterpretations of social identities, either subjective‐only or public‐only. The view has robust descriptive and explanatory power in concrete social contexts and retains the openness of a historically bound type of formation whose specific meanings change over time.

Reconsidering the economics of identity: Position, power, and property

AbstractThe origin of inequality between social identity groups is anchored in acts of violent dispossession of freedom and property by the group seeking the advantages of dominance. The beginning of contemporary disparities in income and especially wealth between Black and White Americans follow the same pattern. Of particular significance is the racialized character of U.S. land distribution policies in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Group budget‐based bonus scheme and group cooperation: The role of social value orientation, goal alignment, and group identity

AbstractIn a workgroup setting, we use a quasi‐experiment to examine whether and why proself rather than prosocial employees benefit more from high group identity to foster group cooperation. We validate the goal‐transformation hypothesis that proself rather than prosocial employees benefit more from high group identity. Consistent with the goal‐expectation hypothesis, we show that goal alignment explains why proself rather than prosocial employees benefit more from high group identity. The main implication of our results is that, when group identity is high, proself employees reinforce their strategic behaviour to cooperate with the group to obtain higher individual payoffs through greater goal alignment.

Social Identity and Online Support Groups: A Qualitative Study with Family Caregivers

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to explore whether a sense of collective or shared group identity was developed in one established online social support group for family caregivers and, if so, what did group identification mean for the group members and how was this cultivated in the group.MethodsEighteen semi-structured interviews were carried out with members of a family caregiver online support group in Ireland. Inductive and deductive reflexive thematic analysis drawing on the social identity approach (SIA) generated four main themes and several related subthemes.ResultsThe first main theme generated was The group are a Tribe and the Tribe gets it, with subthemes: Invisibility as a common experience, my Tribe understands I am more than just a carer and Just being part of the Tribe can be enough. The second main theme generated was the Tribe is a lifeline and life-changing, with related subthemes: Our connection relieves experiences of loneliness and social isolation and Sharing knowledge, experience and support made me feel visible. The third and fourth main themes generated were The leadership of group moderators helped create the Tribe identity and Lessons that can be learnt. These findings are discussed in relation to the social identity approach, social isolation and loneliness.ConclusionsWe concluded that group identity can be cultivated through considered, active and balanced moderation, creating a safe, welcoming and supportive space where family caregivers are able to have fun and seek information, advice and emotional support, which helps relieve loneliness and social isolation.

Function, Style, and Standardization: Is the Proximal or Distal End of a Middle Stone Age Point More Variable?

ABSTRACT Middle Stone Age (MSA) point styles may reflect the development of regional identities of human social groups. MSA people likely used these points for various functions including as weapon tips. Recent work in cultural evolution suggests that functional aspects of technology tend to be more standardized and subject to negative selective pressures, while stylistic aspects are highly visible and tend to be more variable. This study examines the patterns of segmented (proximal vs. distal) standardization for unretouched MSA points from six archaeological assemblages using landmark-based geometric morphometrics to quantify shape variation. Contrary to expectations, our results show that the proximal end has greater shape variation than the distal end. Segregating within point variation provides clues to past function and style patterns in the MSA. This approach also opens new avenues for exploring ethnographic and recent archaeological projectile points.

Imagined futures in the context of the energy transition: A case study from the Central Highlands Region of Queensland, Australia

There is a growing recognition that global efforts to decarbonise energy systems pose significant risks to communities with local economies dominated by fossil fuel industries. Proactive and inclusive energy transition planning, sometimes referred to as a “just transition”, can mitigate some of these risks. However, recent studies in Australia have shown that the polarised discourse produced by the political “climate wars” continues to inhibit conversations about the future in some coal producing regions. This case study explores how social group identity dynamics affect local perceptions of the future in Blackwater, a metallurgical coal mining town in Queensland's Bowen Basin. Analysis of interviews suggest that community members see the local coal mining industry changing but not ending within the next two decades, and as such, conversations about the future of coal are neither highly relevant nor polarised. However, a risk remains that premature conversations about a local energy transition that are led by certain outgroups could reignite limiting “conflict ruts”. This paper draws on insights from social psychology and energy transition literature to outline steps that regional development planning processes can begin to integrate when considering the long-term future of communities with dominant fossil fuel industries. This approach focuses on sustaining local security and identity in place by addressing information asymmetries, building a broader “tent” of trusted actors in regional communities, and expanding the range of possibilities that can be imagined for the community's future.

Relationships between wildlife value orientations and social identity

Wildlife value orientations (WVOs) and social identity are important elements in the wildlife domain and can predict attitudes toward wildlife and wildlife-management-related issues. Therefore, understanding the interrelations of WVOs and social identities is critical to successful wildlife conservation and management. We carried out on-site face-to-face surveys with representatives of four public groups with particular social identities in Greece—the general public (n = 2392), farmers (n = 405), hunters (n = 124) and farmers-hunters (n = 158)—to study variations in WVO types determined based on two basic WVOs, domination and mutualism: traditionalist (high domination, low mutualism), mutualist (low domination, high mutualism), pluralist (high domination and mutualism) and distanced (low domination and mutualism). The general public and farmers were more mutualist and distanced and less traditionalist and pluralist than hunters and farmers-hunters. Female members of the general public and farmers were more mutualist and less traditionalist than males. Younger members of the general public were more mutualist and less traditionalist than older members. WVO types did not significantly vary with residence (rural or urban) in any social identity group. Females, males and all age categories of the general public and farmers were more mutualist and distanced than traditionalist and pluralist. Our findings revealed similarities and differences in WVOs among key social identity groups, suggesting underlying differences in attitudes, and as such should be valuable for reaching consensus in critical but controversial wildlife conservation and management issues.

Hidden Sources of Anti-Muslim Attitudes: Joint Effects of Interactions and Exposure to Out-Groups

AbstractInteractions between social identity groups can reduce perceptions of threatening out-groups and improve inter-group attitudes. But these interactions have an inevitable side effect: while an interaction may improve attitudes among its participants, the same interaction can increase exposure to out-groups in the proximity of the interaction, leading to increased perceptions of threat among those not participating in the interaction. With such negative externalities in mind, this paper argues that the presence of a large number of out-group members both improves and aggravates native attitudes toward out-groups in the same area, which may, in the aggregate, conceal a hot spot of anti-immigration attitudes. This study examines the effects of interaction and exposure through a series of surveys of native attitudes toward Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands. While the exposure effect was not observed, empirical analyses suggest that brief interactions tend to worsen negative attitudes toward Muslims, possibly due to their physical and religious appearances. This highlights the importance of visual cues in shaping inter-group relations, as these visual cues may prompt natives to sort out interactions based on appearance, hindering efforts to promote inter-group contact between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Culture of Reminiscence as a Part of Cultural Education

Aim. The study explores the importance of culture of reminiscence with its identificational and integrational potential for the society and the ways that culture of reminiscence is applied within cultural institutions by means of cultural education. Methods. We used several scientific methods such as relational and content analysis, observation, induction and heuristics. Results. The research study summarises the role of cultural institutions within the culture of reminiscence and outlines various forms of reminiscence to be observed in cultural educational programmes. It explains the potential of cultural institutions and the roles they play within collective commemorating. It has interdisciplinary and applicational character and includes practical tips for cultural managers and cultural educators. Conclusion. Collective memory is an important condition for reproduction of culture and cultural identities. Individual memory is determined by social and cultural contexts (reference to Maurice Halbwachs´s social frames of memory). Cultural education naturally works with the notions of collective memory, traditions, identity and reminiscence. At the same time, it resembles a tool by means of which cultural identity, character and collective memory of individuals and social groups can be consciously shaped. Beside identificational context, there is also a prospective integrational and inclusive potential of cultural education. Several forms of reminiscence are applied within cultural education: reminiscence as reconstruction; reminiscence as (re)interpretation; reminiscence as creation; reminiscence as prevention and civic involvement; reminiscence as a tool of forming cultural identity; reminiscence as an expert reflection.

HOW AND WHY INSTRUCTORS INCLUDE AND EXCLUDE SOCIAL, POLICY, AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN DESIGN EDUCATION

AbstractDesign and engineering are socio-technical enterprises used to solve real-world problems. However, students in these fields are often under-equipped to consider the ethical and societal implications of their work. Our prior work showed that these societal considerations are more consistently embedded in design pedagogy in non-engineering than in engineering courses at MIT. Here, we examine underlying causes for this through a survey of instructors (231 courses from 29 departments). The main contribution of this work is an analysis of whether and how instructors incorporate social, ethical, and policy considerations in design pedagogy. The majority of respondents (60.6%) included these topics in their courses, primarily through discussion of social justice, identity groups, and ethics. These concepts were included more in non-engineering courses (65.8%) than engineering courses (46.9%). Many instructors, especially in engineering, cited irrelevance as the reason for not engaging with these topics in their courses (86.1% compared to 44.2% in non-engineering). We suggest that instructors question this perception and use the examples provided as a starting point to explore integration of these concepts into their technical content.

When social identities intersect: understanding inequities in growth outcomes by religion- caste and religion-tribe as intersecting strata of social hierarchy for Muslim and Hindu children in India

BackgroundMinority social status determined by religion, caste and tribal group affiliations, are usually treated as independent dimensions of inequities in India. This masks relative privileges and disadvantages at the intersections of religion-caste and religion-tribal group affiliations, and their associations with population health disparities.MethodsOur analysis was motivated by applications of the intersectionality framework in public health, which underlines how different systems of social stratification mutually inform relative access to material resources and social privilege, that are associated with distributions of population health. Based on this framework and using nationally representative National Family Health Surveys of 1992–93, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2015–16 and 2019–21, we estimated joint disparities by religion-caste and religion-tribe, for prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting in children between 0–5 years of age. As indicators of long- and short-term growth interruptions, these are key population health indicators capturing developmental potential of children. Our sample included Hindu and Muslim children of < = 5 years, who belonged to Other (forward) castes (the most privileged social group), Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Schedule Castes (SCs) and Schedule Tribe (STs). Hindu-Other (forward) caste, as the strata with the dual advantages of religion and social group was specified as the reference category. We specified Log Poisson models to estimate multiplicative interactions of religion- caste and religion-tribe identities on risk ratio scales. We specified variables that may be associated with caste, tribe, or religion, as dimensions of social hierarchy, and/or with child growth as covariates, including fixed effects for states, survey years, child’s age, sex, household urbanicity, wealth, maternal education, mother’s height, and weight. We assessed patterns in growth outcomes by intersectional religion-caste and religion-tribe subgroups nationally, assessed their trends over the last 30 years, and across states.FindingsThe sample comprised 6,594, 4,824, 8,595, 40,950 and 3,352 Muslim children, and 37,231, 24,551, 35,499, 1,87,573 and 171,055 Hindu children over NFHS 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. As one example anthropometric outcome, predicted prevalence of stunting among different subgroups were as follows- Hindu Other: 34.7% (95%CI: 33.8, 35.7), Muslim Other: 39.2% (95% CI: 38, 40.5), Hindu OBC: 38.2 (95%CI: 37.1, 39.3), Muslim OBC: 39.6% (95%CI: 38.3, 41), Hindu SCs: 39.5% (95%CI: 38.2, 40.8), Muslims identifying as SCs: 38.5% (95%CI: 35.1, 42.3), Hindu STs: 40.6% (95% CI: 39.4, 41.9), Muslim STs: 39.7% (95%CI: 37.2, 42.4). Over the last three decades, Muslims always had higher prevalence of stunting than Hindus across caste groups. But this difference doubled for the most advantaged castes (Others) and reduced for OBCs (less privileged caste group). For SCs, who are the most disadvantaged caste group, the Muslim disadvantage reversed to an advantage. Among tribes (STs), Muslims always had an advantage, which reduced over time. Similar directions and effect sizes were estimated for prevalence of underweight. For prevalence of wasting, effect sizes were in the same range, but not statistically significant for two minority castes-OBCs and SCs.InterpretationHindu children had the highest advantages over Muslim children when they belonged to the most privileged castes. Muslim forward caste children were also disadvantaged compared to Hindu children from deprived castes (Hindu OBCs and Hindu SCs), in the case of stunting. Thus, disadvantages from a socially underprivileged religious identity, seemed to override relative social advantages of forward caste identity for Muslim children. Disadvantages born of caste identity seemed to take precedence over the social advantages of Hindu religious identity, for Hindu children of deprived castes and tribes. The doubly marginalized Muslim children from deprived castes were always behind their Hindu counter parts, although their differentials were less than that of Muslim-Hindu children of forward castes. For tribal children, Muslim identity seemed to play a protective role. Our findings indicate monitoring child development outcomes by subgroups capturing intersectional social experiences of relative privilege and access from intersecting religion and social group identities, could inform policies to target health disparities.

Green CSR Communication to Internal Audiences: The Persuasive Power of Normative Appeals to Employees’ Green Behaviors

Given the increasing attention being paid to companies’ microlevel green efforts, this study aims to provide insights into green corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication targeting internal audiences (i.e., employees). Building on the social identity theory and group engagement model, this research examines the persuasive power of two types of social norms—descriptive and injunctive—in green CSR messages. Also, it investigates the underlying mechanism of individuals’ green behavioral decision making at work. Across two studies, results demonstrate that a descriptive norm message is more effective than a standard or injunctive norm message to enhance employees’ intentions to adopt green actions, engage in the company’s green programs, and help their colleagues to perform green behaviors. Additionally, a descriptive norm message advances three antecedents of motivation—expectancy, instrumentality, and valence—which in turn positively influence green behavioral decisions. This research contributes to developing the literature stream of green message framing by targeting a specific internal audience group and provides empirical implications for practitioners.