Subjective Group Dynamics Theory Research Articles

National identification and control of corruption mediated by socioemotional climate, collective efficacy, and trust in Chilean students: an experimental study

This article analyzes the relationship between successful dealing with deviant acts (i.e., acts of corruption) and social cohesion. We conducted an experimental research with 148 university students based on the subjective group dynamics theory. We informed the research participants of some corruption cases in Chile (ingroup) and Argentina (outgroup) during the last year, with two modes of efficiency in their legal control: high efficiency (95% of the cases were judged and sanctioned) and low efficiency (5% of the cases were judged and sanctioned). The mediational analysis shows that the induced ingroup effectiveness causes a better emotional climate, greater perceived collective efficiency in dealing with deviance, increases confidence in social control and reinforces national identification. We conducted a comparative analysis with a sample of Portuguese university students, finding that Chilean students have a more critical view of collective effectiveness in dealing with deviance and a moderate level of national identification. The results are related to the assumptions of the subjective group dynamics theory and show the psychosocial effects of uncontrolled and unsanctioned corruption.

Collective deviance: Scaling up subjective group dynamics to superordinate categories reveals a deviant ingroup protection effect.

Six experiments examined responses to groups whose attitudes deviated from wider social norms about asylum and immigration (in the United Kingdom), or about taxation levels (in the U.S.). Subjective group dynamics (SGD) theory states that people derogate in-group individuals who deviate from prescriptive in-group norms. This enables members to sustain the subjective validity of those norms and, hence, a positive social identity. Research also shows that in-group deviants who accentuate the difference between the in-group and out-group norm (e.g., extremists) are derogated less than deviants who attenuate that difference (e.g., a member who veers toward the outgroup's norm; Abrams et al., 2000). We hypothesize that these effects and the associated group dynamics should scale up when people evaluate deviant groups that are part of larger in-categories. Consistent with SGD theory, participants in Experiments 1, 2, and 3 derogated an in-category attenuating deviant group and upgraded an out-category attenuating deviant group relative to groups that consolidated or accentuated the respective norms of those categories-thereby reinforcing in-category norms relative to out-category norms. Across all experiments, this pattern of differential evaluation was associated with greater subjective validity of the in-category norm. We also hypothesized a novel Deviant Ingroup Protection (DIP) effect, wherein people should curtail derogation of an in-category deviant group when that group is their own. Consistent with this hypothesis, participants in Experiments 4, 5, and 6 evaluated an accentuating in-group, or an attenuating in-group, equally to or more positively than other in-category groups. Implications for political and organizational entrenchment are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The interactive effect between self social class and target social class on moral judgements

The gap between the rich and the poor is growing, and moral judgements between the rich and the poor will greatly affect their interaction and social stability. Based on subjective group dynamics theory, the current research leveraged two studies to test the interactive effect between self social class and target social class on moral judgements, and explored one important boundary of this interactive effect. The results of Study 1 showed that participants tended to make a stricter moral judgement on a target of the same social class as themselves than on a target of a different social class. The results of Study 2 further showed that people from the same social class and the same university judged each other with stricter moral standards; in contrast, people from the same social class but different universities did not use stricter moral standards. Therefore, individuals would make stricter moral judgements on people from the same social class as themselves, but make looser judgements on people from different social classes. This phenomenon only occurred when the participants and the target came from the same well-defined groups instead of different well-defined groups. Finally, the implications and limitations of this research were discussed.

The future in our hands: How citizenship efficacy ensures commitment to the national group facing institutional inefficacy

ABSTRACT Literature has shown that citizens’ mistrust in national institutions has a negative impact on their involvement with, and commitment to, their national group. We examine the idea that citizenship efficacy beliefs may revert this process. We propose that facing institutional inefficacy to exert social control, beliefs that civic participation is effective, strengthens individuals’ commitment to the national group. Participants (N = 176) were informed that national institutions were effective (vs. ineffective) in reacting to white-collar crime, and that citizens’ civic/political participation had an effective (vs. ineffective) impact on government’s decisions, the political system and their nation’s future. Results suggest that citizenship efficacy beliefs are crucial to counteract or even revert citizens’ disinvestment in the national group caused by the perception that the social control system is ineffective. We discuss the results in light of the theoretical and empirical framework of social psychology of citizenship and subjective group dynamics theory.

“We aren’t idlers”: Using subjective group dynamics to promote prosocial driver behavior at long‐wait stops

AbstractIdling engines are a substantial air pollutant which contribute to many health and environmental problems. In this field experiment (N = 419) we use the subjective group dynamics framework to test ways of motivating car drivers to turn off idle engines at a long wait stop where the majority leave their engines idling. One of three normative messages (descriptive norm, in‐group prescriptive deviance, outgroup prescriptive deviance) was displayed when barriers were down at a busy railway level‐crossing. Compared to the baseline, normative messages increased the proportion of drivers that turned off their engines. Consistent with subjective group dynamics theory, the most effective approach was to highlight instances of in‐group prescriptive deviance (47% stopped idling, compared with 28% in the baseline). Implications for health and environmental outcomes and future research are discussed.

Imagined contact with atypical outgroup members that are anti-normative within their group can reduce prejudice

Can imagining contact with anti-normative outgroup members be an effective tool for improving intergroup relations? Extant theories predict greatest prejudice reduction following contact with typical outgroup members. In contrast, using subjective group dynamics theory, we predicted that imagining contact with anti-normative outgroup members canpromote positive intergroup attitudes because these atypical members potentially reduce intergroup threat and reinforce ingroup norms. In Study 1 (N = 79) when contact was imagined with an anti-normative rather than a normative outgroup member, that member was viewed as less typical and the contact was less threatening. Studies 2 (N = 47) and 3 (N = 180), employed differing methods, measures and target groups, and controlled for the effects of direct contact. Both studies showed that imagined contact with anti-normative outgroup members promoted positive attitudes to the outgroup, relative both to a no contact control condition and (in Study 3) to a condition involving imagined contact with an ingroup antinormative member. Overall, this research offers new practical and theoretical approaches to prejudice reduction.

Tolerance of effective ingroup deviants as a function of moral disengagement / Tolerancia de la disidencia efectiva de los miembros del endogrupo como función de la desconexión moral

The subjective group dynamics theory posits that individuals derogate ingroup members who deviate from prescriptive moral norms. Research on moral disengagement suggests that deviants may, sometimes, be tolerated. This study’s goal was to test whether leniency towards effective ingroup deviants is accounted for by mechanisms of moral disengagement. Portuguese participants (N = 75) judged a Portuguese (ingroup) or Spanish (outgroup) manager whose deviant conduct was either effective (i.e., had positive consequences) or ineffective (i.e., had negative consequences) for a Portuguese company. As predicted, participants favoured deviant but effective ingroup members. This was mediated by an increase in moral disengagement and a decrease in negative emotional reactions. Results suggest that individuals downplay the importance of moral norms when facing ambiguous ingroup deviants, as a means to protect their social identity. We discuss these results in light of subjective group dynamics theory.

Time Heals All (Shallow) Wounds: A Lesson on Forgiveness of Ingroup Transgressors Learned by the Feyenoord Vandal Fans

This paper examines how a social threat posed by a deviant behavior affects second-hand forgiveness over time toward ingroup and outgroup transgressors. In Study 1, using real news reports, we investigated intergroup rivalries between soccer fans in order to understand the role of group membership in predicting the intention to forgive transgressors. Results suggested that transgressors were less likely to be forgiven by ingroup members rather than outgroup members, thus showing evidence of the black sheep effect. In Study 2 (using a different sample), we analyzed the same intergroup rivalries one year after the transgression in order to explore changes in intention to forgive over time. Results showed that, after one year, ingroup members were more likely to forgive ingroup than outgroup transgressors, but only when the threat to the group stereotype was not salient. The implications of the results for the subjective group dynamics theory and for the black sheep effect are discussed.

Adolescents' Judgments of Doubly Deviant Peers: Implications of Intergroup and Intragroup Dynamics for Disloyal and Overweight Group Members

AbstractGroup membership, loyalty, and weight are highly relevant for adolescent peer evaluations at school. This research tested how in‐group/out‐group membership affected judgments of peers who deviated from social norms for weight and loyalty. Two hundred and forty 11–13‐year‐olds (49 percent female; 94 percent Caucasian) judged two in‐group or out‐group peers: one was normative (loyal and average weight) and the other was non‐normative (i.e., ‘deviant’). The deviant target was overweight, disloyal to their own group (school), or both (‘doubly deviant’). Derogation of overweight relative to average weight peers was greater if they were in‐group rather than out‐group members, revealing a strong ‘black sheep effect’ for overweight peers. Disloyal out‐group deviants were judged favorably, but this effect was eliminated if they were doubly deviant, suggesting that their disloyalty was insufficient to overcome the overweight stigma. Consistent with developmental subjective group dynamics theory, effects of group membership and types of deviance on adolescents’ favorability toward peers were mediated by adolescents’ perceptions of how well the deviant members would ‘fit’ with the in‐group school. Implications for theory and strategies to reduce peer exclusion, particularly weight stigmatization, are considered.

Do Ambiguous Normative Ingroup Members Increase Tolerance for Deviants?

Abstract. Subjective group dynamics theory ( Marques, Páez, & Abrams, 1998 ) proposes that deviant ingroup members who threaten the positive value of the group members’ social identity are evaluated negatively. In an experiment, we investigated whether group members evaluate deviant ingroup members less negatively when the normative member’s commitment to the ingroup is ambiguous. Participants evaluated one normative and one deviant ingroup or outgroup member. Two conditions were contrasted, in which the normative target showed high versus low commitment to the group. As predicted, the participants evaluated deviant ingroup targets more negatively and normative ingroup targets more positively than their respective outgroup counterparts – but only when the normative member’s commitment to the ingroup was unambiguous. When presented with a normative member with ambiguous commitment, the deviant ingroup member was evaluated less negatively. We discuss these results in light of subjective group dynamics theory.

Social representation and social identity in the black sheep effect

AbstractThis study tests a new integration of central core theory with subjective group dynamics theory. Specifically, we hypothesized that the type of opinions shared within a group (central vs. peripheral; i.e. central core theory) can moderate the typical processes of the black sheep effect (i.e. subjective group dynamics theory). Our study focused on students expressing opinions with regard to their social representation of studying. We predicted that an in‐group member expressing an opinion against central opinions of the group (but not against peripheral ones) would be judged more negatively than an out‐group member expressing the same opinion. In line with central core theory, the results showed that central opinions, but not peripheral opinions, lead to the typical processes of the black sheep effect. Our findings show that the central elements of a social representation are key to defining the social identity of a group. Future research should thus focus on understanding the socio‐representational nature of cognitions involved in intra‐group and inter‐group relations.

National identification as a function of perceived social control: A subjective group dynamics analysis

Based on subjective group dynamics theory (SGDT; e.g., Marques, Paez, & Abrams, 1998), we examine the effects of a group’s ability to effectively control its deviant members on participants’ ingroup identification. In Studies 1 and 2 ( N = 79 and N = 173) participants were informed that the ingroup (vs. outgroup) dealt with deviant occurrences in an effective (vs. ineffective) way. As predicted, induced ingroup effectiveness generated higher ingroup identification, trust in the ingroup’s social control system, and more positive emotional climate, whereas induced ingroup ineffectiveness generated more negative emotional climate or anomie and weaker ingroup identification as compared to outgroup conditions. In Study 3 ( N = 115), perceived ingroup effectiveness predicted ingroup identification, via emotional climate, ingroup anomie, confidence in the group’s social control system, and ingroup emotions. We discuss the results in light of SGDT and the role of perceived ingroup social control in promoting ingroup identification.

The development of stereotyping and exclusion.

This article reviews the developmental science literature on stereotyping and exclusion, with a focus on gender, race, and ethnicity. Stereotyping of others, which is defined as the attribution of traits to individuals based on group membership, is often used to justify exclusion of others in social group contexts. This review includes a focus on the links between these two constructs. Research on stereotyping and exclusion has drawn on several theoretical traditions, including social domain theory, social identity developmental theory, and subjective group dynamics theory, which are also discussed in the context of the research findings. Key findings on stereotyping include categorization and classification in relationship with decreased in-group bias, and the role of stereotypes in encoding information. Findings on exclusion include the use of available information to make judgments, preferences for in-group members who are normative and out-group members who are deviant, the increased importance, with age, of group functioning in exclusion decisions, and decreased negative evaluation of in-group members who partake in exclusionary behaviors. Though little research has explicitly studied the links between stereotyping and exclusion from groups, this review describes the current literature in both areas and suggests future directions for research. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.