Showing papers on "Ingroups and outgroups published in 1997"
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of perceived or public-perceived threats to group status or group distinctiveness on self-stereotyping were investigated for people with high or low in-group identification.
Abstract: In four studies, effects of self-perceived or public-perceived threats to group status or group distinctiveness on self-stereotyping (defined as similarity to prototypical in-group members) were investigated for people with high or low in-group identification. The main prediction was that high and low identifiers will respond differentially when their group's status or distinctiveness is threatened such that self-stereotyping is reduced for low identifiers but enhanced for high identifiers. Although the four studies investigated different comparison groups and different kinds of group threat, the results of all studies provided support for the prediction, and this was confirmed by a meta-analysis. This supports the authors' argument that the initial level of group identification determines whether group members are likely to set themselves apart from the rest of their group or to show group solidarity when their identity as group members is threatened.
531 citations
245 citations
TL;DR: This article investigated the role of competence and morality in stereotypes, and found that the perceived desirability of ingroup attributes was primarily competence-based, while desireability perceptions of outgroup attributes were mostly morality-based.
Abstract: To investigate the role of competence and morality in stereotypes, a cross-nationalresearch was set up in six eastern-European countries Study 1 measured theperceived desirability of stereotype attributes in ingroup versus outgroup membersAcross countries, biopolar Competence and Morality components emerged It wasfound that the perceived desirability of ingroup attributes was primarily competence-based, while desirability perceptions of outgroup attributes were mostly morality-based In Study 2, participants in the six countries rated the occurrence ofcompetence- and morality-related stereotype attributes among 10 national and ethnictarget groups Study 2 also assessed general evaluative attitudes and perceptions ofpower and conflict in inter-nation relations Competence and morality dimensionsfully explained the evaluative structure of national and ethnic stereotypes, generatinga four-fold typology of sinful–loser, sinful–winner, virtuous–loser and virtuous–winnerstereotypes This typology was strongly related to perceptions of power and conflictbetween national groups # 1997 John Wiley & Sons, LtdEur J Soc Psychol 27: 703–723 (1997)No of Figures: 3 No of Tables: 2 No of References: 41CCC 0046–2772/97/060703–21$1750 Received 4 July 1996#1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Accepted 4 November 1996European Journal of Social Psychology, Vol 27, 703–723 (1997)
184 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role of category-based expectancy violation in explaining extreme evaluations of ingroup and outgroup members was examined in three experiments, and the results showed that female and male targets were evaluated more positively when they violated stereotyped expectations for their gender group and these outcomes were not modified by the subject's group membership.
160 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the universality hypothesis predicts that social psychological factors operate in similar ways across nations and target groups though the macro-contexts vary widely, and the mediation hypothesis predicts key social psychological predictors of prejudice serve as critical mediators of the effects on prejudice of social factors.
Abstract: Outgroup prejudice has been a major area for social psychological applications. Yet European social psychology has not widely studied prejudice against the continent's new minorities. These groups provide a useful comparison with which to test generalizations concerning prejudice derived largely on African-Americans. This chapter advances two interrelated hypotheses: (1) The universality hypothesis predicts that social psychological factors operate in similar ways across nations and target groups though the macro-contexts vary widely; (2) the mediation hypothesis predicts that key social psychological predictors of prejudice serve as critical mediators of the effects on prejudice of social factors. We test these hypotheses and more specific phenomena with analyses of the rich data of the 1988 Euro-Barometer 30 survey. We find considerable support for both hypotheses. There are remarkable consistencies, with some distinctive features, in prejudice phenomena that operate across nations and outgroups. The ch...
120 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined the impact of groups on the formulation of ultimatum offers, that is, whether the offer was formulated by an individual or by a group, and perspective, which refers to the formulator's beliefs about the criterion the other would use in deciding to accept or reject the offer.
118 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors measured differences in the strength of endorsement for distributively fair and unfair leaders in interpersonal and intergroup situations and found that fairness ratings followed patterns similar to leadership endorsements in Experiments 2 and 3.
Abstract: Differences in the strength of endorsement for distributively fair and unfair leaders in interpersonal and intergroup situations were measured. Fair leaders were expected to receive stronger endorsements than unfair leaders in interpersonal situations. This difference, however, was expected to attenuate, if not reverse in intergroup situations when the unfairness favoured the ingroup. An attenuation effect obtained in Experiment 1 (N=49) using ad hoc groups in a laboratory setting. Attenuation and reversal effects obtained, respectively, in Experiments 2 (N=314) and 3 (N=213) using preexisting groups (students and New Zealanders, respectively) in a scenario setting. Fairness ratings followed patterns similar to leadership endorsements in Experiments 2 and 3. Finally, Experiment 3 showed a reversal in participants' private attitudes toward an issue about which the leader expressed an opinion. These data extend previous research on leadership endorsement and are consistent with predictions derived from Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
109 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the ways in which the World Wide Web text speaks simultaneously to an interpretive community of "ingroup" members who have the interpretive history and strategies to make sense of the pages as well as the outgroup members who happen to surf into the India-related pages.
Abstract: With the increasing presence of Indian Immigrants in the West, there is a tendency among the diasporic people to use the World Wide Web (WWW) to create a cyber community. One of these pages is used as a starting point to examine critically the ways in which the WWW text speaks simultaneously to an interpretive community of “ingroup” members who have the interpretive history and strategies to make sense of the pages as well as the “outgroup” members who happen to surf into the India‐related pages. Several textual strategies are identified that create this ingroup/outgroup tension, including modes of formatting, use of language, specific selections of images and multimedia elements, and the specific links provided by the pages. These combine to produce the multi‐accentuated stylistic of the page that assists in speaking simultaneously to the two groups.
80 citations
TL;DR: Although out-groups were initially perceived as more dispersed than in-groups, decreased out-group dispersion resulted in a shift towardOut-group homogeneity, and Ethnocentrism was present at every wave but decreased because of decreased in-group positivity.
Abstract: Changes in new members' in-group and out-group stereotypes were examined, distinguishing among three stereotype components: stereotypicality, dispersion, and ethnocentrism. Pledges in 4 sororities judged their in-group and out-groups 4 times during their 8-month induction. Overall, out-groups were judged more stereotypically than in-groups at every wave. Although out-groups were initially perceived as more dispersed than in-groups decreased out-group dispersion resulted in a shift toward out-group homogeneity. Ethnocentrism was present at every wave but decreased because of decreased in-group positivity. The authors discuss implications of these results for existing explanations of stereotype development. It is suggested that other aspects of group socialization (R. L. Moreland & J. M. Levine, 1982) are needed to explain fully the development of intergroup perceptions for new group members.
56 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether the positive-negative asymmetry in social discrimination has any correspondence with variations in normative evaluations of positive versus negative outcome allocations, and found that parity choices were perceived as more normatively appropriate than out-or in group favouritism.
Abstract: Data from several recent studies consistently show a positive-negative asymmetry in social discrimination: within a minimal social situation tendencies cowards ingroup favouritism which usually appear in allocations of positively valenced resources are absent in the domain of negatively valenced stimuli. The present study investigates whether this valence-asymmetry has any correspondence to variations in normative evaluations of positive versus negative outcome allocations. For this purpose perceptions of normative appropriateness as well as frequency expectations of outside observers regarding outcome allocations made by categorized group members were investigated. Results show that parity choices were perceived as more normatively appropriate than out- or in group favouritism. While out group favouritism was judged as inappropriate as in group favouritism for positive resources, in group favouring decisions for negative resources were perceived as the least appropriate response within the minimal social situation. In addition, in contrast to results of St. Claire and Turner (1982) non-categorized subjects expected ingroup favouring decisions by group members more frequently than parity or outgroup favouring choices with respect to positively valanced resources. When, however, negative resources were to be allocated outgroup favouritism was predominantly expected. Results are discussed in terms of justice considerations and are linked to a normative account of the positive-negative asymmetry in social discrimination.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors integrate self-enhancement and ingroup bias and analyse the phenomena from the social identity theory and self-categorization theory, and find that self was evaluated more positively than ingroup.
Abstract: These two studies integrate self-enhancement and ingroup bias and analyse the phenomena from the social identity theory and self-categorization theory. In Study 1, the subjects (N=181) evaluated supporters of two presidential candidates on a rating scale. In Study 2, the subjects (N=302) evaluated either Finnish women's and men's positive characteristics (success condition) or negative characteristics (failure condition) which might play a role in achieving equality between the sexes in Finland. Self-evaluations were conducted on the same scale as those of ingroup and outgroup evaluations. The results showed that ingroup was evaluated more positively than outgroup (hypothesis 1) and that self was evaluated more positively than ingroup (in Study 2, however, this main effect was qualified by gender). As expected, group identification did not dilute self-enhancement (hypothesis 2) in either of the studies but strengthened self-enhancement in Study 1. Hypothesis 3 stated that self-enhancement is inversely related to ingroup favouritism but the hypothesis was only partially confirmed in that the correlation was predictably negative in Study 1 but near zero in both conditions of Study 2. Finally, contrary to hypothesis 4, it turned out that high identified group members evaluated self and ingroup more independently than lows which contradicts the idea of depersonalization. Together the results would be plausible if we rejected the unidimensional conception of interpersonal–intergroup behaviour and assumed instead that interpersonal and intergroup behaviour constitute two bipolar continua. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: This paper found that low status groups tended to defer to the high status outgroup on measures perceived as related to the status dimension, but favor the ingroup on status-unrelated measures.
Abstract: To account for the inconsistent findings from previous studies of group status and discrimination, it was hypothesized that low status groups defer to the high status outgroup on measures perceived as related to the status dimension, but favour the ingroup on status-unrelated measures. Subjects randomly assigned to low, equal, or high status minimal groups allocated points to anonymous ingroup and outgroup members using distribution matrices presented as either related or unrelated to the status dimension, and also rated the two groups on traits described as either status-related or status-unrelated. As predicted, low status groups favoured the ingroup more on status-unrelated measures than on status-related measures. Furthermore, while low status groups were less discriminatory than high status groups on status-related matrices, they were no less discriminatory on status-unrelated matrices. In contrast to low status groups, high status groups displayed greater ingroup favouritism when matrices were related to the status dimension than they did when matrices were unrelated. The relatedness manipulation had no significant effect on the discriminatory behaviour of equal status groups. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for research, and relevance to social identity theory. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
TL;DR: This article developed a context/comparison model for the analysis of indirect minority influence, which assumes that minorities generally cannot affect strongly established beliefs, and when the persuasive minority evokes leniency in its message targets, the ingroup minority's message is elaborated, and the minority itself is not derogated.
Abstract: This chapter details the development of the context/comparison model, applied to the analysis of indirect minority influence. The model assumes that minorities generally cannot affect strongly established beliefs. When ingroup, however, the persuasive minority evokes leniency in its message targets. While change is resisted, the ingroup minority's message is elaborated, and the minority itself is not derogated. Such a pattern introduces an imbalance into the attitude structure, and beliefs proximate to the focal attitude may be affected. Research involving norm formation and established attitudes yields results consistent with these expectations, and highlights the cognitive underpinnings of such indirect changes.
TL;DR: Social identification with co-workers was examined as a moderator of the frequently inscrutable link between worker self-esteem and goal setting and strengthening social identity increased perceived similarity to ingroup members regardless of self- esteem.
TL;DR: The authors found that high status members of a group and low status members in a group read information about unfamiliar ingroup and outgroup members more than the outgroup, while low status group members read the information about the ingroup more than outgroup.
Abstract: Perceivers individuate cognitively the ingroup more than the outgroup; that is, perceivers use person categories to process information about the ingroup, but use stereotypic attribute categories to process information about the outgroup. This phenomenon is labelled the differential processing effect (DPE). Is the DPE moderated by relative group status? In two experiments, either high- or low-status members of permeable-boundary groups (i.e. groups that encourage upward mobility) read through information about unfamiliar ingroup and outgroup members. Relative group status moderated the DPE. Clustering indices in recall and confusions in a name-matching task indicated that high-status members individuated the ingroup more than the outgroup, thus replicating the DPE. However, low-status members individuated the outgroup more than the ingroup, thus reversing the DPE. A third experiment suggested that these findings are predicated on the ingroup information being stereotype-consistent. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effect of social orientation on ingroup bias among numerical majority and minority groups and found that the effect was mediated by ingroup identification and cohesion.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the social psychological paradox of learning a language, which in one interethnic situation represents the ingroup language, while in another intra-group context, it ree outgroup language.
Abstract: The article addresses the social psychological paradox of learning a language, which in one interethnic situation represents the ingroup language, while in another interethnic context, it ree outgroup language. This situation characterises the language-learning experience of mostPuerto Rican return migrants (PRRMs)who have found themselves as subordinate members in two different c environments. The study examines the language-learning behaviour of members of this ethnic group by investigating the influence of ethnolinguistic identity on their development of Spanish prn this paradoxicalsituation.Such an investigation identifies three variables which may mediate PRRMs learning of Spanish in Puerto Rico: (a) ethnolinguistic vitality, (b) perceived hardness ofc boundaries, (c) awareness of cognitive alternatives to the status quo. The study reveals problematic relationships between (a) ethnic identity, (b) multiple-group membership and Spanish profa which may be peculiar to PRRMs (and other ethnic minority gr...
TL;DR: This article investigated the differential effects of intercultural acquaintance (based on informal and sporadic contact with members of the other culture) and structured intergroup interaction on group perceptions, finding that initial group attitudes show a tendency to perceive the outgroup less favorably than the ingroup on the personal scale, while a reverse pattern was obtained on the ideological scale.
TL;DR: The authors investigated whether the different nature of ingroup and outgroup stereotypes is reflected in different selective processing of groups and outgroups, and found that when processing ingroup information people will preferentially encode stereotype-inconsistent information as compared to stereotype-consistent information, whereas the reverse pattern will hold when people process outgroup information.
Abstract: The main concern of the two studies presented here is to investigate whether the different nature of ingroup and outgroup stereotypes is reflected in different selective processing of ingroup and outgroup information. It was predicted that when processing ingroup information people will preferentially encode stereotype-inconsistent information as compared to stereotype-consistent information, whereas the reverse pattern will hold when people process outgroup information. In addition to selective processing, response bias due to stereotyping was studied. To measure selective processing and response bias, recognition memory measures derived from the theory of signal detection were used. Results of the two studies confirmed our main prediction. Also, response bias was demonstrated. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: According to as mentioned in this paper, people with high collective self-esteem would be primarily concerned with enhancing the self leading to positive in group evaluation rather than derogation of outgroups, while people with low collective selfesteem would protect the self making outgroup derogation more likely than positive ingroup evaluation.
Abstract: According to Crocker et al. (1993) people with high collective self-esteem would be primarily concerned with enhancing the self leading to positive in group evaluation rather than derogation of outgroups. In contrast, people with low collective self-esteem would be primarily concerned with protecting the self making outgroup derogation more likely than positive ingroup evaluation. These predictions were confirmed among Dutch youth evaluating ethnic minorities.
TL;DR: The reaction of residents of a small district in the Northeast of England to the perceived compromising of existing community boundaries was examined in the light of Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory.
Abstract: The reaction of residents of a small district in the Northeast of England to the perceived compromising of existing community boundaries was examined in the light of Tajfel and Turner's (1986) social identity theory. Social identity theory was found to provide a useful framework for explaining specific psychological reactions of residents and spokespersons to the perception of ingroup status inferiority.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: Stereotypes, symbolic beliefs, affective associations, and the evaluation of possible interactions were used to predict the global evaluation of ethnic outgroups and accounted for much of the variance in ethnic attitudes.
Abstract: The present study was an assessment of attitudes of 410 ethnically Dutch adolescents toward three ethnic minority groups living in the Netherlands. Stereotypes, symbolic beliefs, affective associations, and the evaluation of possible interactions were used to predict the global evaluation of ethnic outgroups and accounted for much of the variance in ethnic attitudes. The relative importance of the four predictors varied by target group and location. Gender differences were found in the structure of attitudes; symbolic beliefs played a greater role in the attitudes of boys, whereas emotions played a more central role in the attitudes of girls. The evaluation of Dutch identity was related to the favorability of ethnic attitudes and also to the underlying structure. Respondents with a positive national identity had less favorable ethnic attitudes, and emotions were more predictive of their attitudes, whereas symbolic beliefs were most predictive among respondents with a less positive national identity.
TL;DR: This article examined the language strategies used in everyday explanation by young heterosexual adults to attribute blame for the transmission of HIV and found that negative stereotypes were used in attributing blame to members of outgroups.
Abstract: This article examines the language strategies used in everyday explanation by young heterosexual adults to attribute blame for the transmission of HIV. Seventy‐two female and 60 male Australian university students took part in the study. They were formed into groups of four, with each group taking part in discussions about HIV, AIDS, and related matters. Transcripts were examined for instances of blaming, and a coding scheme for levels of attributed responsibility applied to those instances found. Language strategies of distancing self from HIV and AIDS were then coded, including checks for who was blamed, whether they were members of participants' ingroups or outgroups, and whether justifications were used. These findings are discussed in terms of positioning the self vis‐a‐vis HIV and AIDS, as well as the ways in which negative stereotypes were used in attributing blame to members of outgroups.
TL;DR: The outgroup homogeneity phenomenon was examined by having majority group members (White Americans) judge the variability in attitudes about intergroup relations in their own group and one outgroup (African Americans).
Abstract: The outgroup homogeneity phenomenon was examined by having majority group members (White Americans) judge the variability in attitudes about intergroup relations in their own group and one outgroup (African Americans). A preliminary study found the threat of the attitude statements to the group doing the judging seemed to affect whether or not participants showed outgroup or ingroup homogeneity. For the present study, statements about ethnic group relations were prerated to obtain two sets of items that aroused either high or low threat to White Americans. White students judged the homogeneity of these items for their own group and for African Americans. Outgroup homogeneity was found for the low threat items and ingroup homogeneity was found for the high threat items. This study demonstrates that the homogeneity effect depends on the threat of the attitude content to the group doing the judging. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the English language situation in Puerto Rico is one of language maintenance and, therefore, an intergroup phenomenon since Spanish is in conflict with another group's language.
TL;DR: This paper found that in an intragroup context, ingroup information was organized significantly more by person than in an intergroup context, while in an outgroup context it was not sensitive to changes in the social context.
Abstract: Self-categorization theory posits that the perception of group members is flexible and determined by the comparative social context as well as by group membership. Subjects read about either four ingroup or outgroup target persons in the context of four additional stimulus persons who were members of either the same group as the target persons (intragroup context) or the other group (intergroup context). Individualized and attribute-wise information organization was assessed on the basis of information clustering in free recall. As predicted, differential processing of ingroup information occurred as a function of the salient social context; in an intragroup context, ingroup information was organized significantly more by person than in an intergroup context. Conversely, ingroup information tended to be clustered more by attribute in an intergroup than in an intragroup context. Clustering of outgroup information was not sensitive to changes in the social context. The results indicate that the perception of group members may be based on more than group membership alone. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: The authors found that outgroup attributions for unemployment tended towards more internal, stable and global causes than for the Ingroup in Northern Irish Catholics and Protestants, and investigated intergroup attribution bias in 294 Northern Irish school age students.
Abstract: Two studies are described which provide evidence forintergroup attribution bias in Northern Irish Catholics and Protestants. In the first study, 209 Northern Irish university students completed a questionnaire designed to assess intergroup attribution bias along the dimensions of internality, stability and globality. It was found that outgroup attributions for unemployment tended towards more internal, stable and global causes than for the Ingroup. Similar results were found in the second study which investigated intergroup attribution bias in 294 Northern Irish school age students.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the limitations of the need-type formulation of the TMT model and propose a non-motivational approach based on the second law of thermodynamics.
Abstract: Terror management theory (TMT) is a very impressive achievement. It is rooted in plausible biological and psychological assumptions and serves a range of integrative functions, both vertically in terms of resurrecting Freud, Rank and Maslow, and horizontally in terms of integrating self-esteem, just-world, cognitive dissonance, social identity and impression management theory and research. Further, at the level of parsimony and integration it really cannot be faulted; as a descriptive framework it buys a great deal with a relatively small number of assumptions. For example, it is able to keep the essence of cognitive dissonance-the importance of the consistency motive as well as finding a place for self-esteem and self-presentational motives by relating all of them to "the more basic goal of maintaining the integrity of the cultural anxiety buffer." The experimental research establishing the specificity of the salience of mortality concerns relative to other aversive experiences or failures is also impressive. Given all of these positive features of integrative power, parsimony specificity of mortality salience effects, and unique predictions, what are the limitations of the terror management model? At a metatheoretical level, perhaps the basic issue is the need for a need-type formulation. At heart, all need-type models involve a type of tension-reduction dynamic. In this case we seek to avoid facing our mortality. In effect we have a psychological version of the second law of thermodynamics-the entropy principle. Everything eventually comes down to avoiding the terror that recognizing death would bring. I find this somewhat ironic, because terrorists all over the world seem to seek death readily to destroy the evil nonbelievers. Indeed, the continued existence of the outgroup seems a much greater threat than their own death as they strap explosives to their bodies for a higher religious cause. Similarly, the mass media describes events everyday in which people risk their lives daily for petty reasons, in which guns are pulled at the slightest provocations. Indeed, I see a world where for many people preserving life-their own or other peoples'-has no meaning. The present theory would seem obliged to account for such behaviors. Let me leave the pop sociology, however, and point to scholarly critiques regarding motive-type explanations, Perhaps the most famous is that of the British philosopher Peters (1958), who systematically reinterprets Freudian type-motivational assumptions from a rule-based model. For example, there is nothing motivational about assuming that primary and secondary processes involve different rules of information processing. In this context, we invoke motivational concepts when rule following breaks down. Moreover, although one would not know it from Pyszczynski, Greenberg, and Solomon's description of social identity theory, the current model as elaborated by Turner (1987) is a nonmotivational formulation fueled by metacontrast and assumptions about the role of shared social categories. Within the context of this model, for example, social influence is interpreted in terms of attempts to maximize ingroup similarity, with members attempting to resemble the prototypic ingroup position. Moreover, Turner derived from this model a condition where social identity increases even when one's ingroup fails; thus at issue is no simple self-enhancement through ingroup success. At the level of specific claims, I am somewhat uncomfortable with the authors' interpretation of Swann's self-verification effects as support for dissonance theory. For example, as elaborated by Brehm and Cohen (1962), dissonance is more than consistency seeking. It involves adding parameters of choice and commitment to any attitude-discrepant position, which is not true of the Swann paradigm. Indeed, in Swann's view an information-processing-overload avoidance explanation is favored over a motivational interpretation. At a more basic level, I have the following kinds of concerns. The concept of a cultural worldview anxiety buffer strikes me as rather vague conceptually-is this a schema of values, beliefs, attitudes? Can it be measured, manipulated, primed? Can this assumption be
TL;DR: The relationship between argumentation and social identity is a largely unexplored topic as discussed by the authors, and the role of public discourse or argument in the construction of social identity has not yet been examined.
Abstract: The relationship between argument and social identity is a largely unexplored topic. In general, social psychologists examining this issue tend to view language from the perspective of one's cultural heritage, rather than examining the role of public discourse or argument in the construction of social identity. Even within this restricted focus on language, the rhetorical force is missed. As Taylor and Moghaddam (1994) assert: "Although language can contribute to the demarcation of group boundaries and the development of group identity, many groups exist without a common language. In short, language is a contributor to, but not a prerequisite for, intergroup behavior. Consequently, any theory of intergroup relation that focuses on language will necessarily be restricted to a small number of cases, which may not even be the more important cases" (p. 92). Even Edwards (1992), who is arguably the strongest proponent for an analysis of language within social identity, focuses on its role in terms of constructing ethnic identity (and while arguing for a cross-disciplinary approach, remains unaware of intercultural communication studies relevant to ethnicity). It should be noted that this state of affairs is not unique to the present subject; even within social psychology, identity theory and social identity theory developed in general isolation from one another while focusing on similar concerns (Hogg, Terry, & White, 1995). Our approach will necessarily be preliminary in relating argumentation to social identity. We assume at the outset that social identity is a "multiple construct"-just as a person contains a multiplicity of "selves" so too does one's relation to a social group admit of multiple facets (Deaux, 1992, 1993; Deaux, Reid, Mizrahi, & Ethier, 1995; Mouffe, 1993). We also assume that ingroup/outgroup relationships of solidarity/differentiation (Brewer, 1991) are a product, in part, of the discourse that constructs and names (thereby giving meaning to) the relational matrix in which a social identity is located. A review of the basic tenets of social identity theory is presented below. Following that discussion, we will employ two illustrations to examine the relationship between argument and the creation and maintenance of social identity. The first illustration focuses on nationalism as given expression in the divided city of Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovena during the recent warfare in that troubled land. The second focuses on environmentalism as given expression in the dispute over the status of the Brent Spar oil rig in the North Sea. SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY The basic premise of social identity theory (Breakwell, 1992; Deaux, 1992; Edwards, 1992; Hogg, 1992, Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Taylor & Moghaddam, 1994) - including self-categorization theory (Oakes, Haslam, & Turner, 1994; Turner, 1982, 1985, 1991; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987) - is that the defining characteristics of a social category (such as nationality) may become part of one's self-concept and influence perception and conduct (Hogg, Terry, & White, 1995, pp. 259-260). Since a person may fit into several social categories (even contradictory ones) at one and the same time, the importance of participation in any one category will be dependent on the salience of that category at that moment in time. For example, a Serbian in Sarajevo may perceive himself to be a loyal Serb and at the same time be in love with a Muslim woman; given the contradictory nature of these impulses within that country at this time, choosing to act as a Serb or a man in love will suggest which impulse is more salient (as was demonstrated in the death of two young lovers as they sought "safe passage" out of Sarajevo on October 25, 1993 [Drakulic, 1996b]). Social Identity Principles: Self-Categorization and Self-Enhancement Social identity theory further postulates the operation of two underlying processes: categorization and self-enhancement (Hogg et al. …
TL;DR: This article investigated the influence of situational pragmatics on the selective use of specific instances and generalized knowledge structures to make social inferences and found that either one or another of the features of the situation was more pragmatically important for deriving inferences about appropriate social behaviour.
Abstract: Two experiments investigated the influence of situational pragmatics on the selective use of specific instances and generalized knowledge structures to make social inferences. In Experiment 1, social inferences were made in an unfamiliar domain similar in structure to a typical situation of social greetings and address, but devoid of useful cues to social schemas. Participants were told that either one or another of the features of the situation was more pragmatically important for deriving inferences about appropriate social behaviour; consistent with predictions from a computational model of analogical mapping (ACME), they made reliable inferences based on analogies to specific instances, with the situational importance of relations guiding the selection of the optimal analogue. In Experiment 2, social inferences were examined in the more familiar domain of predicting social behavior between low and high status persons and between members of an ingroup and an outgroup in Japan. The availability of speci...