Showing papers on "Ingroups and outgroups published in 1984"

Outgroup analysis and parsimony

Abstract: -Methods that use outgroups in the reconstruction of phylogeny are described and evaluated by the criterion of parsimony. By considering the character states and relationships of outgroups, one can estimate the states ancestral for a study group or ingroup, even when several character states are found among the outgroups. Algorithms and rules are presented that find the most parsimonious estimates of ancestral states for binary and multistate characters when outgroup relationships are well resolved. Other rules indicate the extent to which uincertainty about outgroup relationships leads to uncertainty about the ancestral states. The algorithms and rules are based on "simple parsimony" in that convergences and reversals are counted equally. After parsimony is measured locally among the outgroups to estimate ancestral states, parsimony is measured locally within the ingroup, given the ancestral states, to find the ingroup cladogram. This two-step procedure is shown to find the ingroup cladograms that are most parsimonious globally; that is, most parsimonious when parsimony is measured simultaneously over the ingroup and outgroups. However, the two-step procedure is guaranteed to achieve global parsimony only when: (a) outgroup relationships are sufficiently resolved beforehand; (b) outgroup analysis is taken to indicate the state not in the most recent common ancestor of the ingroup, but in a more distant ancestor; and (c) ancestral states are considered while the ingroup is being resolved, not merely added afterward to root an unrooted network. The criterion of global parsimony is then applied to evaluate procedures used when outgroup relationships are poorly resolved. The procedure that chooses as ancestral the state occurring most commonly among the outgroups can sometimes yield cladograms that are not globally parsimonious. By the criterion of global parsimony, the best procedure is one that simultaneously resolves the outgroups and ingroup with the data at hand. Finally, simple parsimony can choose among competing hypotheses, but it often fails to indicate how much confidence can be placed in that choice. [Phylogeny reconstruction; cladistic methods; outgroup analysis; character polarity; parsimony.] This paper explores the use of outgroup analysis in phylogeny reconstruction. When reconstructing a phylogeny, a systematist asks: Given a group of organisms (the ingroup), what are the monophyletic subgroups? If the members of a subgroup share a character state that is derived within the group, the monophyly of this subgroup is corroborated (Hennig, 1966; Wiley, 1975). Hence, systematists attempting to infer phylogenies have sought methods for determining whether a given character state is derived (apomorphic) or ancestral (plesiomorphic). Many methods for assessing the evolutionary polarity of characters have been proposed, including outgroup analysis, ingroup analysis, the ontogenetic method, and the paleontological method. These approaches have been reviewed recently by Crisci and Stuessy (1980), de Jong (1980), Stevens (1980), Arnold (1981), Nelson and Platnick (1981), and others. The methods perhaps most widely accepted today are outgroup analysis and the ontogenetic method, the relative merits of which are still being debated (contrast Nelson [1978] and Patterson [1982] with Lundberg [1973], Wheeler [1981] and Voorzanger and van der Steen [1982]). In its simplest form, outgroup analysis can be summarized by the following rule (Watrous and Wheeler, 1981): For a given character with two or more states within a group, the state occurring in related groups is assumed to be the plesiomorphic state. This rule is inadequate, however, when characters vary among the related groups (the outgroups). Arnold (1981) and Farris (1982) have dealt with some cases of

The social dimension: Social identification and psychological group formation

Abstract: Introduction: what is a psychological group? The social group is a fundamental but currently neglected topic in social psychology. Group affiliations are a universal feature of human social life. With only the rarest exceptions all human beings live in groups and act as group members. Moreover, the latter may be true psychologically even when an individual chooses to live in physical isolation. Group memberships are basic determinants of our social relations with others (whether positive or negative), our attitudes and values, and the social norms and roles that guide our conduct. In a larger sense, they are vehicles of culture, ideology and social and historical change. A social psychology without an adequate analysis of the group concept is, to a very real extent, like Hamlet without the prince. This chapter considers the problem of psychological group formation. What are the minimal conditions for a collection of individuals to constitute a psychological group – not a sociological, political, biological or some other form of group, but a state of affairs where they feel themselves to be and act as a group, where there is some kind of psychological acceptance of the group membership? The chapter will review some research and outline some tentative hypotheses on the topic. There is a reasonable descriptive consensus in social psychology about the important empirical features of psychological group membership. There are three: firstly, there is the perceptual or ‘identity’ criterion: that a collection of people should define themselves and be defined by others as a group; they should share some collective perception of themselves as a distinct social entity, of ‘us’ as opposed to ‘them’.

The Social Dimension: European Developments In Social Psychology

Abstract: Contributors Part IV Representations of Social Reality: 18 Attitudes in a social context J Richard Eiser and Joop van der Pligt 19 Social dimensions of attribution Miles Hewstone and Joseph M F Jaspars 20 The historical dimension of social psychology: the case of unemployment Peter Kelvin 21 Rationality and social control in orthodox systems Jean-Pierre Deconchy 22 Political ideology: social psychological aspects Michael Billig Part V Group Processes: 23 Social groups, nonsense groups and group polarization Colin Fraser and Donald Foster 24 The influence of minorities: ten years later Gabriel Mugny 25 Social identification and psychological group formation John C Turner Part VI Intergroup Relations: 26 The social psychology of intergroup relations and categorical differentiation Jean-Claude Deschamps 27 Intergroup differences in group perceptions Ad F M van Knippenberg 28 The individual and social functions of sex role stereotypes Carmen Huici 29 The role of similarity in intergroup relations Rupert J Brown 30 Social psychology and political economy Sik Hung Ng 31 Intergroup and interpersonal dimensions of bargaining and negotiation G M Stephenson 32 Second language acquisition: the intergroup theory with catastrophic dimensions Peter Ball, Howard Giles and Miles Hewstone 33 Intergroup relations, social myths and social justice in social psychology Henri Tajfel Subject index Author index

Factors Affecting the Evaluation and Development of Minorities in Organizations.

Abstract: : This paper focuses on potential sources of treatment discrimination in organizations. After establishing the existence of mean differences in the performance evaluations of minorities and majorities, several different explanations for these differences were explored. These explanations were arranged on a continuum of severity. The least severe explanation, managerial rating biases, suggests that the performance differences are not true differences but rather, result only from managerial stereotypes, attributions and judgments processes. The other two explanations are more severe since they are assumed to result in true performance differences between minority and majority group members. The first of these is what is called a 'lost opportunities effect' where, drawing upon the literature on tokenism, mentoring and ingroup/outgroup relationships, it is suggested that minorities may gradually develop lower levels of performance because they are given fewer opportunities to develop job-related skills. The final explanation for the observed evaluation differences is labeled self-limiting behavior, where minority group members may voluntarily limit their behavior and learning because of an expectation of failure. Potential remedies for dealing with these performance differences are discussed.

Group Identification: The Same Thing to All People?

Abstract: The hypothesis derived from Social Identity Theory that strength of group identification would be positively correlated with intergroup differentiation is tested. Data was obtained from 55 workers in a bakery using semistructured interviews. Analysis showed clear differentiation between the factory departments by subgroups of workers along dimensions of perceived contribution to the running of the factory and expressed friendliness towards out-groups. However, multiple regression analyses revealed that the relationship between group identification and intergroup differentiation was not consistently positive but varied between subgroup and between attitude dimensions. The most reliable predictor of differentiation, consistent with Realistic Conflict Theory, was perceived conflict between ingroup and outgroups.

The social dimension: Intergroup differences in group perceptions

Abstract: The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the phenomenon of intergroup differences in group perceptions. My prime concern is with how and why groups differ in their perceptions of their own and other groups or social categories. I intend to provide evidence for two viewpoints. Firstly, it will be argued that categorization theory, taken as an essentially cognitive model, cannot account for observed intergroup differences in perceptions of groups. Social identity theory, however, which combines motivational and cognitive principles, seems to be capable of explaining to a greater extent how the subject's group membership affects his way of describing groups and evaluating group characteristics. Several studies demonstrate that social identity theory has a pervasive capacity to predict intergroup perceptions, particularly – and this is my second point – if one takes into account the role of the stability of an intergroup status relationship as an intervening variable in the study of intergroup perceptions. Furthermore, I will propose two elaborations of social identity theory. Firstly, it will be shown that group descriptions do not simply reflect the subject's desire to depict his own group as comparatively favourable vis-a-vis outgroups. Often, complex presentational strategies are used in group representations. One strategy, for instance, is to describe groups in such a way that one implicitly advocates the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the existing status relationship. Another strategy is to include in one's group representations a definitely positive, though non-threatening, social identity for the outgroup in order to secure the own group's position.

Social comparison, similarity and ingroup favouritism-A replication

Abstract: Studied the effects of different kinds of similarity between social groups on ingroup favouritism using a modified replication of an experiment by Turner (1978). Instead of replicating the results of Turner, the data showed just the opposite. They are discussed within the framework of social identity theory.

Racial Inequality and Salience: An Examination of Blau's Theory of Social Structure

Abstract: Hypotheses derived from Blau's theory of social structure are tested with his 1970 data set. Rates of interracial marriage are inversely associated with various measures of racial inequality across the largest SMSAS. Racial inequality is associated with racial salience, the predominance of ingroup relations, in the positive direction. The concept of salience is explicitly incorporated in the examination of a theoretical paradox in Blau's theory. This paper discusses and examines the relationship between racial inequality and salience-a collective preference for ingroup association. Salience is defined and used as a behavioral measure, rather than an attitudinal one, indicating the extent to which individuals are more likely to interact with individuals who are similar to themselves. Measures of macrosocial structure-in particular, race consolidation or inequality-are used to explain the variability of racial salience. Earlier findings (Blau et al.) and a theoretical paradox in Blau's theory of social structure are discussed while explicitly incorporating the concept of salience. Two complementary approaches to the study of social structure are considered and the relation between them is examined. One approach describes the network structure of role relations or social associations from a positional perspective (see Burt for a discussion of various approaches to studying network structure), and explicitly treats the distribution of positions or attributes as logically prior to social relations. The second approach is Blau's quantitative conception of macrosocial structure as the distribu

The Logic and Limitations of the Outgroup Substitution Approach to Cladistic Analysis

Abstract: The outgroup substitution approach can be used when a well-corroborated hypoth- esis of the more inclusive cladistic relationships of a study group is unavailable. It is particularly appropriate when the set of outgroups, each of which could plausibly be the sister group, includes some that may be only distantly related to others. All plausible sister groups are used as outgroups, alone and in various arrangements, to assess character polarities. In each case an ingroup cladogram is constructed and these are searched for areas of congruence. Through this approach, robust phylogenetic hypotheses can be generated in spite of uncertain outgroup relationships. Caution must be exercised because polarity assessment is sensitive to the exact arrangement of outgroups. Even if completely congruent cladograms are obtained, it may not be possible to specify character support for particular clades. The approach may be most useful when one's primary objective is to establish an outgroup hypothesis for a subsequent cladistic analysis at a lower taxonomic level.

Speech Norms and Attitudes Toward Outgroup Members: A Test of a Model in a Bicultural Context

Abstract: It was hypothesised that the effect of outgroup members' speech style on attitudes toward them varies according to observers' norms for ingroup vs. outgroup speech. Further, ethnocentrism and expos...

The social dimension: The social psychology of intergroup relations and categorical differentiation

Abstract: Hundreds of studies have been conducted to detect, from a more or less ‘sociographic’ viewpoint, how members of different social groups perceive their own groups and those of others. Undoubtedly, much of this research on discrimination, prejudice and social stereotypes, for which the segregationist ideology of the USA and the nazi regime in Europe formed the dark sociological background, has its origin in a will to understand ‘this inhuman but all too human’ behaviour. Nevertheless, important as this area of research may be in trying to reveal the effect of a given ideology, the work deriving from the problems between groups has, for a long time, only enabled us to describe or construe a dated and localized ‘geo-psychological’ chart of the characteristics attributed by different social groups to each other. This chapter proposes to analyse certain tendencies of recent research in social psychology in the area of intergroup relations, research in which the aim is not only descriptive but also explanatory in that it tries to clarify certain mechanisms underlying intergroup relations. Certainly Sherif, in the 1950s, offered a theoretical formulation allowing us to take into account the development of certain types of intergroup relations. However important Sherif's theory may be, he is primarily concerned with competitive and cooperative interaction between groups, and as such his research seems insufficient to explain other forms of relations. One has to wait until the 1960s to find a more general social psychological analysis of intergroup relations.

Male Sex Roles and Epithets for Ethnic Women in American Slang.

Abstract: The historical inventory of derogatory names for women of ethnic outgroups displays, in intensified form, the strains of traditional male sex roles—and subsequent aggression—both in ethnic and gender relations. Epithets for ethnic women derogate both sex and ethnic roles. The words are aimed disproportionately at women of racial minorities; stereotype physical differences between ethnic groups; and make derogatory sexual allusions, often using food and animal metaphors.

On the Ethnolinguistic Identity of Flemish High School Students in Brussels

Abstract: The attitudes of Flemish high school students in Brussels towards different types of Brussels Flemings were registered in five different experimental conditions. The latter were created by varying systematically the following characteristics of the investigator: whether he belonged to the Flemish ingroup or to the Francophone outgroup, whether he was an insider or an outsider in Brussels, and whether he converged linguistically towards his audience or diverged from it. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the ethnic identity of the Ss and to evaluate Tajfel's and Giles's concept of it. It is argued that what their theory calls a positive sense of identity, in the present case, would be much better termed a defence mechanism serving to hide uneasiness and frustration and thereby protecting an uncertain and vulnerable self. Three points are made to show that the Ss' strong positive identification with the ‘consistent’ Brussels Flemings and their equally strong differentiation from the ‘gallicised’ ...

Social Comparison in High- and Low-Status Groups:

Abstract: New Zealand Pakeha (of European descent) and Samoan schoolchildren were asked to name both positive and negative reference others on three dimensions provided by experimenters of their own sex and ethnic group membership. Subjects produced reference others after the standing of their group on either a socioeconomic or a cultural-linguistic dimension had been made salient in order to manipulate status. When a dimension on which their group had low status was made salient, children used group enhancement strategies of social comparison, making more positive references to the ingroup than the outgroup, and more negative references to the outgroup than the ingroup. When group status was high, Samoan children made equal numbers of positive and negative comparisons to the in- and outgroups whereas Pakeha children tended to restrict references to the membership group only. The making of intergroup comparisons favorable to the ingroup when status is low is consistent with research showing that such a pattern of c...

Social Identity, Self-awareness and Intergroup Behaviour

Abstract: Self-awareness theory and social identity theory both concern the impact of the self-concept on behaviour. Self-awareness theory addresses the process of individual self-regulation in terms of private and public standards. Self-focused attention increases the influence of these standards. Social identity theory presumes that the self can be designed in term s of social category membership. Intergroup behaviour ensues when these social identifications are salient. It is theorised that the public/private self-focus and social/personal identity distinctions are orthogonal. Focus on the private aspects of self may include a social identification and lead to intergroup behaviour. Fenigstein, Scheier and Buss' (1975) Self-Consciousness Scale is assessed and discriminates reliably between private and public self-consciousness. The first experiments reveal no impact of self-awareness manipulations on intergroup ratings. In the next experiment, increased attention to social categorisation raises the amount and consistency of discrimination. The finding that private, but not public, self-focus reinforces social identification under relevant conditions also emerges in the next study. Different standards for 'public' behaviour may prevail when different audiences observe, and 'private' standards may depend on identification with the group. In an experiment testing these propositions identification is accurately reflected only to an ingroup audience - a result which is replicated. In the final experiment, video feedback with an ingroup audience minimises, wheras that without maximises, ingroup bias, due to variations in the impact of different aspects of identity. Ingroup bias reflects identification only when private self-consciousness is high or public self-consciousness is low. Across experiments self-esteem reliably affects intergroup behaviour, and referent informational, rather than normative, influence predominates. The social identification and self-awareness approaches are each enriched by the other. A model of identitifaction in group contexts and the view that behaviour may serve self-preserving motives are proposed. The conceptual and empirical ambiguity between 'salience' and 'attention' remain to be resolved. These cognitive factors in intergroup behaviour may not have simple effects because other, social, factors, exert influences to alter their impact.

Intergroup Allocation Bias Before and after Group Discussion

Abstract: Previous research has shown that the amount of reward allocated to the ingroup and outgroup was affected by two factors: recipients' inputs to the reward pool and the group membership of the allocators and recipients. The cross-pressures of these two factors, one in the direction of equity and the other in the direction of ingroup bias, were further examined in the present study together with a third factor—namely, group discussion. Results of an experiment (N = 42) showed that ingroup bias appeared in both private and public allocation decisions prior to the discussion but disappeared afterwards. Accompanying this change was an increase in the confidence of making the postdiscussion decisions. The allocation results did not conform to either the group salience or the group polarization hypothesis. The salience of self, which might have been heightened by the discussion experience, could have accounted for the change.

The Small Group: A Bridge between Sociology and Social Psychology

Abstract: Most experimental social psychologists have attempted to reduce the properties of small groups to the characteristics of individuals comprising those small groups. But social psychology was developed, in part, to bridge the gap between psychological and sociological levels of analysis. We contend that the small group can serve as an experimental unit in experiments that model and manipulate group processes. The small group is an important topic for study and could provide a valuable bridge between psychology and sociology, fulfilling one of the original purposes of the field.

Sex differences in the attribution of socially desirable and undesirable traits to out‐group members*

Abstract: One hundred and forty-four male and female Australian subjects rated an Australian or a Vietnamese target group on the possession of five socially desirable and five socially undesirable personality traits. As predicted, the out-group was perceived less favourably than the in-group, but only by the males, the females not making the distinction.