Interpersonal attraction, social identification and psychological group formation

Asymmetric cognitive learning mechanisms underlying the persistence of intergroup bias

Intergroup bias, the tendency to favor ingroups and be hostile towards outgroups, underlies many societal problems and persists even when intergroup members interact and share experiences. Here we study the way cognitive learning processes contribute to the persistence of intergroup bias. Participants played a game with ingroup and outgroup bot-players that entailed collecting stars and could sacrifice a move to zap another player. We found that intergroup bias persisted as participants were more likely to zap outgroup players, regardless of their zapping behavior. Using a computational model, we found that this bias was caused by asymmetries in three learning mechanisms. Participants had a greater prior bias to zap out-group players, they learned more readily about the negative behavior of out-groups and were less likely to attribute the positive behavior of one out-group player to other out-group players. Our results uncover the way cognitive social learning mechanisms shape and confound intergroup dynamics.

Knowledge Transfer Within Organizations: Mechanisms, Motivation, and Consideration

Knowledge transfer-the extent to which one unit learns from or is affected by the experience of another-has the potential to improve the performance of organizations. Through knowledge transfer, developments made in one unit of an organization can benefit others. Studies have found, however, considerable variation in the extent to which knowledge transfers across organizational units. In some cases, knowledge transfers seamlessly, whereas in others, knowledge transfer is far from complete. This article reviews research with the aim of explaining the variation observed in knowledge transfer. Key factors identified as explaining the variation include knowledge transfer opportunities, knowledge characteristics, mechanisms for knowledge transfer, motivation for transfer, and the depth of consideration of knowledge. These factors are integrated into a theoretical framework that predicts when knowledge transfer will be successful. The article concludes with a discussion of directions for future research to increase our understanding of knowledge transfer in organizations.

Inducement factor of talent agglomeration in the manufacturing industrial sector: A survey on the readiness of Industry 4.0 adoption

China's economy has progressed from a rapid growth phase to one of high-quality development and innovation. Industry 4.0 manufacturing technology and processes include cyber-physical systems (CPS), Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Cognitive Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CCAI) as advancements in computerization and information exchange the relevant variables data, and a survey questionnaire are used to accumulate three-year data from 2017 to 2019. The Structured Equation Modeling (SEM), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and mediating variable in a SOBEL test are applied. The results show that Industry 4.0 is the primary practical corridor to official and familiar in sequence substitute policy and collaboration for talent agglomeration on research projects. It lowers the fixed price of human capital and significant factors active long-term innovation and profit at the end of the inferential test results. Hypotheses findings show that the associations between dependent and independent variables are essential, and latent variables GFI, CFI, TLI, and IFI have acceptable values. CMINDF and RMR fulfill the fit criteria and results will assist managers and policymakers in spotting talent agglomeration activities implemented to increase manufacturing businesses' readiness to reap the most benefits from Industry 4.0 adoption.

Activity and Interconnections of Individual and Collective Actors: An Integrative Approach to Small Group Research

In this article, we attempted to integrate and further develop theoretical ideas in the area of the small group research about all group activity levels (types of actors) - individual, informal subgroup, and group - and about connections among them. We have touched upon such issues as (a) modes of group activity represented by activities of each type of the actors; (b) structural and functional associations among the actors; (c) functions that each type of actors carries out with respect to another type of actors; (d) direct and indirect links among actors; (e) the influence of links between some actors on links among other actors; and (f) processes of integration and disintegration as the main mechanism for changing connections among actors. Special attention is paid to direct (immediate) personalized and depersonalized connections among actors, as well as to connections mediated by actors' connections with another actor or some object. Discussion of these issues leads to formulation of some specific propositions. Simultaneous research coverage of all three types of actors and various connections among them should allow for creating a more complete picture of small group activities and various psychological phenomena within it, including multifaceted and complex ones. It should also enable considering group structure and the essence of group dynamics differently. We conclude this article by presenting both theoretical and practical implications of the proposed integrative perspective and by posing some important questions in line with it for further discussion.

Reducing discrimination against job seekers with and without employment gaps

Past research shows that decision-makers discriminate against applicants with career breaks. Career breaks are common due to caring responsibilities, especially for working mothers, thereby leaving job seekers with employment gaps on their résumés. In a preregistered audit field experiment in the United Kingdom (n = 9,022), we show that rewriting a résumé so that previously held jobs are listed with the number of years worked (instead of employment dates) increases callbacks from real employers compared to résumés without employment gaps by approximately 8%, and with employment gaps by 15%. A series of lab studies (an online pilot and two preregistered experiments; n = 2,650) shows that this effect holds for both female and male applicants-even when compared to applicants without employment gaps-as well as and for applicants with less and more total job experience. The effect is driven by making the applicant's job experience salient, not as a result of novelty or ease of reading.

Perceived socially responsible-HRM on talent retention: The mediating effect of trust and motivation and the moderating effect of other-regarding value orientation

Introduction

Studies have shown that there is a growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and talent management, and the identified links between their aspects. Thus, the current study examined the relationship between socially responsible human resource management (SRHRM)-identified as CSR strategies and practices directed at employees to underpin the effectiveness of CSR implementation-and talent retention. In addition, this study employed a mediation-moderation framework with employee attitude (motivation and trust) as a mediating variable and other-regarding value orientation (ORVO) as a moderating variable. Thus, the current study contributes to talent management and CSR current knowledge by analyzing the depth of the relationship by way of exploring the moderating and mediating process. It answers the "how" and "when" questions and explains the mechanism through which an organization can use its socially responsible HRM practices for retaining talented employees.

Methods

A total of 418 people from the Klang Valley area in Malaysia participated in the study. The hypotheses in the study were tested using PLS structural equation modeling.

Results

The results of the study showed that (a) perceived SRHRM was positively related to talent retention, (b) this relationship was partially mediated by the employee's attitude (motivation and trust), and (c) ORVO did not moderate the relationship between perceived SRHRM and talent retention.

Discussion

Furthermore, the study findings provide concrete and actionable recommendations on how to formulate and implement appropriate SRHRM policies and practices as they are not only essential for the successful implementation of external CSR programs but also essential for retaining talented employees and for improving their motivation and organizational trust.

A study on the factors influencing old age identity among the Chinese elderly

Background

Old age identity is the self-perception of when old age begins, reflects public age values and acceptance of aging. Not all elderly people aged 60 and above identify with their old age status. The aging society in the traditional sense may not be "aging". Therefore, redefining old age is crucial. Different from Western countries, China is a country with a long-standing culture of respect for the elderly and filial piety norms, and the influence of the cultural background on the old age identity is worthy of attention.

Data and method

Data were drawn from the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS). A total of 7400 participants answered questions about old age identity. Based on old age identity, we obtained two other types of indicators of perceived old age: elderly group identity and aging degree. For the continuous variable old age identity and aging degree, an OLS linear regression model was established. A binary logistic regression model was established for the binary variable elderly group identity.

Result

The average old age identity of Chinese people aged 60 and above is 70 years. Health status, psychological status, behavior, socioeconomic status, and some demographic characteristics significantly affect the old age identity of the Chinese elderly.

Conclusion

The traditional Chinese cultural background of respect for the elderly and the norms of filial piety have an impact on the old age identity of the Chinese elderly through family intergenerational support. The various forms of support provided by children to the elderly can help them achieve a positive age identity-enter old age later, raise the likelihood of identification with non-elderly groups, and reduce aging degree. The number of children of the elderly, the children's economic conditions and care support for grandchildren have negative effects. A positive old age identity can help the elderly improve their self-esteem.

Role of celebrity endorsement in promoting employees' organization identification: A brand-based perspective

Celebrity endorsement has been used for decades to promote products to consumers. As employees are one of the primary stakeholders and are known as second consumers, their concerns about celebrity endorsement effectiveness and pride need attention for building their identification with an organization. This study investigated the internal branding process by examining employees' brand orientation, celebrity-organization value congruence, and the accuracy of employee portrayal. Data are collected from a leading multinational bank in Pakistan through a structured questionnaire. The results of the study showed that when employees felt celebrity endorsement matched organizational values, the celebrity successfully portrayed actual corporate values. Thus, employees believed that endorsement effectively gained consumers' attention and built a strong corporate image. The study affirmed that employees' sense of pride toward their organization motivates them to identify with it. Furthermore, the results showed that value congruence mediates the relationship between brand orientation and endorsement effectiveness, while pride mediates the relationship between endorsement effectiveness and organization identification. Service organizations could use brand orientation to gain accurate employee portrayal that revives their pride and attachment with the organization and enhances corporate identification. The future directions and limitations are discussed.

How and When Can Robots Be Team Members? Three Decades of Research on Human–Robot Teams

Artificial intelligence and robotic technologies have grown in sophistication and reach. Accordingly, research into mixed human–robot teams that comprise both robots and humans has expanded as well, attracting the attention of researchers from different disciplines, such as organizational behavior, human–robot interaction, cognitive science, and robotics. With this systematic literature review, the authors seek to establish deeper insights into existing research and sharpen the definitions of relevant terms. With a close consideration of 150 studies published between 1990 and 2020 that investigate mixed human–robot teams, conceptually or empirically, this article provides both a systematic evaluation of extant research and propositions for further research.

Rational inference strategies and the genesis of polarization and extremism

Polarization and extremism are often viewed as the product of psychological biases or social influences, yet they still occur in the absence of any bias or irrational thinking. We show that individual decision-makers implementing optimal dynamic decision strategies will become polarized, forming extreme views relative to the true information in their environment by virtue of how they sample new information. Extreme evidence enables decision makers to stop considering new information, whereas weak or moderate evidence is unlikely to trigger a decision and is thus under-sampled. We show that this information polarization effect arises empirically across choice domains including politically-charged, affect-rich and affect-poor, and simple perceptual decisions. However, this effect can be disincentivized by asking participants to make a judgment about the difference between two options (estimation) rather than deciding. We experimentally test this intervention by manipulating participants' inference goals (decision vs inference) in an information sampling task. We show that participants in the estimation condition collect more information, hold less extreme views, and are less polarized than those in the decision condition. Estimation goals therefore offer a theoretically-motivated intervention that could be used to alleviate polarization and extremism in situations where people traditionally intend to decide.

How Ethical Leadership Prompts Employees' Voice Behavior? The Roles of Employees' Affective Commitment and Moral Disengagement

Previous literature has demonstrated that ethical leadership could predict employees' voice behavior. However, it's not clear how to heighten these positive effects of ethical leadership on employees' voice behavior. Building on the AET and moral disengagement studies, we developed an integrated model. A three-wave field study (N = 232) investigated the relationship between ethical leadership and voice behavior by focusing on the mediating role of employees' affective commitment and the moderating role of employees' moral disengagement. Our matched data analysis results indicated that: (1) employees' affective commitment partly mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and employees' voice behavior. In addition, employees' moral disengagement moderated (2) the effect of ethical leadership on employees' affective commitment and (3) the effect of employees' affective commitment on voice behavior, similarly, (4) the indirect effect of ethical leadership on employees' voice behavior via employees' affective commitment. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

The Relationship Between Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee-Related Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

Although there is much research on the relationships of corporate social responsibility and employee-related outcomes, a systematic and quantitative integration of research findings is needed to substantiate and broaden our knowledge. A meta-analysis allows the comparison of the relations of different types of CSR on several different outcomes, for example to learn what type of CSR is most important to employees. From a theoretical perspective, social identity theory is the most prominent theoretical approach in CSR research, so we aim to investigate identification as a mediator of the relationship between CSR and employee-related outcomes in a meta-analytical mediation model. This meta-analysis synthesizes research findings on the relationship between employees' perception of CSR (people, planet, and profit) and employee-related outcomes (identification, engagement, organizational attractiveness, turnover (intentions), OCB, commitment, and job satisfaction), thereby distinguishing attitudes and behavior. A total of 143 studies (N = 89,396) were included in the meta-analysis which was conducted according to the methods by Schmidt and Hunter (except of the meta-analytical structural equation model). Mean effect sizes for the relationship between CSR and employee-related attitudes and behaviors were medium-sized to large. For attitudes, the relationships were stronger than for behavior. For specific types of CSR, average effect sizes were large. Identification mediated the relation between CSR and commitment, job satisfaction, and OCB, respectively. Based on our results, we give recommendations concerning the design of CSR initiatives in a way that benefits employees.

The I and We of Team Identification: A Multilevel Study of Exhaustion and (In)congruence Among Individuals and Teams in Team Identification

The social identity approach to stress proposes that the beneficial effects of social identification develop through individual and group processes, but few studies have addressed both levels simultaneously. Using a multilevel person–environment fit framework, we investigate the group-level relationship between team identification (TI) and exhaustion, the individual-level relationship for people within a group, and the cross-level moderation effect to test whether individual-level exhaustion depends on the level of (in)congruence in TI between individuals and their group as a whole. We test our hypotheses in a sample of 525 employees from 82 teams. Multilevel polynomial regression analysis revealed a negative linear relationship between individual-level identification and exhaustion. Surprisingly, the relation between group-level identification and exhaustion was curvilinear, indicating that group-level identification was more beneficial at low and high levels compared with medium levels. As predicted, the cross-level moderation of the individual-level relationship by group-level identification was also significant, showing that as individuals became more incongruent in a positive direction (i.e., they identified more strongly than the average team member), they reported less exhaustion, but only if the group-level identification was average or high. These results emphasize the benefits of analyzing TI in a multilevel framework, with both theoretical and practical implications.

Multinational enterprises and the governance of sustainability practices in emerging market supply chains: An agile governance perspective

Advanced economy multinational enterprises (AMNEs) face idiosyncratic challenges related to the governance of their sustainability practices in their emerging market supply chains. One way for AMNEs to address these challenges would be by adopting agile sustainability governance mechanisms. Drawing on the theories of experimentalist governance and deliberation, we propose a processual framework suited to develop agile sustainability governance mechanisms. We explore the challenges to supplier participation and the factors that enable an authentic dialogue in the process. We contribute to the scholarship on transnational governance and strategic agility, and offer practical implications which are also relevant for disruptions like COVID-19.

CSR and identification: the contingencies of employees’ personal traits and desire

Purpose

Micro corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an emerging concept in management that relates to the examination of employees’ reaction to CSR initiatives. In this stream of literature, this study aims to investigate the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of CSR and employees’ organizational identification relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

The data of middle managers (n = 187) were collected from a large hospitality and real estate organization actively involved in CSR activities in Pakistan. The authors conducted two surveys using the self-administered questionnaire with a temporal break. Structural equation modeling was run using AMOS to analyze the data.

Findings

The authors found that organizational pride meditates while desire to have a significant impact through work (DSIW), gender and organizational tenure moderates the relationship between CSR and organizational identification.

Practical implications

The study implies that the management can take the opportunity to make use of the positive response of the employees by investing in social and environmental causes.

Originality/value

The study contributes to CSR, organizational behavior literature, and person-organization fit theory by explaining the complete path of CSR and identification. It unfolds the underlying mechanism and contingencies of CSR-Identification link that are overlooked in the literature .

Tensions Between Diversity and Shared Leadership: The Role of Team Political Skill

Maintaining workplace diversity is an important legal and ethical issue in modern organizations. However, demographic heterogeneity might discourage the development of shared leadership in work teams as individuals are inherently not inclined to share leadership roles with dissimilar others. The present study is designed to investigate how political skill assists team members to overcome interpersonal dissimilarities and become engaged in mutual influence with their peers. By studying 63 student project teams using multiwave, multisource surveys, we find that team demographic faultlines on gender and race are negatively associated with shared leadership magnitude and therefore discourage team task performance. However, such destructive direct (on shared leadership magnitude) and indirect (on team performance) effects of team demographic faultlines can be mitigated when the team is staffed with many politically skilled members. Our findings bring important implications for organizations in building and encouraging shared leadership, especially in newly formed professional work teams.

Reducing stress: Social support and group identification

Three studies systematically explored the relationship between social support and group identification in the context of how individuals cope with stress. In Study 1, 101 participants took part in a simulated group task where they either received social support or not under conditions of either high or low demand. Social support was associated with higher group identification, and this mediated the effect of social support on more positive appraisals and task satisfaction. In Study 2, 83 participants were either made aware of their group membership or worked as individuals on a group task under high or low demand. In this study, group membership salience was associated with greater perceived support, which was associated with greater group identification, and subsequently more positive primary and secondary appraisals, more problem-focused coping, and task satisfaction. Study 3 assessed the perceived social support and group identification reported by 71 volleyball team members before and after a game. Results were more consistent with the notion that support and identification were two concurrent perceptions associated with being in a group, rather than identification priming the recognition of support or support increasing identification.

Self-Evaluative and Other-Directed Emotional and Behavioral Responses to Gossip About the Self

Gossip, or informal talk about others who are not present, is omnipresent in daily interactions. As such, people who are targeted are likely to hear some gossip about themselves, which may have profound implications for their well-being. We investigated the emotions and behavioral intentions of people who hear performance-related gossip about themselves. Based on the affective events theory, we predicted that gossip incidents have strong emotional consequences for their targets and that these emotional responses trigger different behaviors. Two scenario studies (N₁ = 226, M_age = 21.76; N₂ = 204, M_age = 34.11) and a critical incident study (N = 240, M_age = 37.04) compared targets' responses to positive and negative gossip. Whereas, targets of positive gossip experienced positive self-conscious emotions (e.g., pride), targets of negative gossip experienced negative self-conscious emotions (e.g., guilt), especially when they had low core self-evaluations. In turn, these negative self-conscious emotions predicted repair intentions. Positive gossip also led to positive other-directed emotions (e.g., liking), which predicted intentions to affiliate with the gossiper. Negative gossip, however, also generated other-directed negative emotions (e.g., anger), especially for targets with high reputational concerns, which in turn predicted retaliation intentions against the gossiper. This pattern of emotional reactions to self-relevant gossip was found to be unique and different from emotional reactions to self-relevant feedback. These results show that gossip has self-evaluative and other-directed emotional consequences, which predict how people intend to behaviorally react after hearing gossip about themselves.

Gender as a historical kind: a tale of two genders?

Is there anything that members of each binary category of gender have in common? Even many non-essentialists find the lack of unity within a gender worrying as it undermines the basis for a common political agenda for women. One promising proposal for achieving unity is by means of a shared historical lineage of cultural reproduction with past binary models of gender (e.g. Bach in Ethics 122:231-272, 2012). I demonstrate how such an account is likely to take on board different binary and also non-binary systems of gender. This implies that all individuals construed as members of the category, "women" are in fact not members of the same historical kind after all! I then consider different possible means of modifying the account but conclude negatively: the problem runs deeper than has been appreciated thus far.

Ensuring supplier participation toward addressing sustainability-oriented objectives of the mid-day meal supply chain

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and further explain the phenomena of supplier participation in addressing the sustainability-oriented objectives of a supply chain. Specifically, the paper explains how a buyer can integrate sustainability concerns among its suppliers. The study is based in the context of the Indian school feeding (mid-day meal) program and approaches the issue from the perspective of a mid-day meal provider.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper first explains how the mid-day meal providers in India explicitly address the social and economic dimensions of sustainability. Thereby, it conducts an exploratory case study on a renowned meal provider with the objective to understand the nature of its efforts toward supplier participation through in-depth interviews.

Findings

As evident in the case, from the buyer’s perspective, the key to success in winning supplier participation in addressing the sustainability-oriented supply chain objectives largely revolves around efforts along the critical aspects of policy development, policy implementation, and intent building with suppliers.

Originality/value

This paper propagates a threefold value by outlining the central importance of the focus on efforts and challenges for understanding supplier participation in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). First, the paper is among the initial studies to focus on ground-level efforts and challenges for a mid-day meal provider, and outlines best practices. Second, the case presents revelatory insights on SSCM from the perspective of supplier participation. For example, it demonstrates the relevance of supply-chain-based social identification in governing supplier willingness to participate in a buyer’s SSCM. Third, the findings also extend critical implications toward SSCM theory and practice.

Impact of perceived corporate social responsibility on attitudes and behaviors of pharmacists working in MNCs

Purpose

This study aims to find out how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives are perceived by pharmacists and how it influences employees’ organizational commitment and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and role of perceived supervisor support in the study.

Design/methodology/approach

Pharmacists of different hierarchical levels from five multinational pharmaceutical industries in Pakistan were selected as study samples. Data were collected from 136 pharmacists working in Punjab Region. PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results from this study found that CSR was a predictor of affective organizational commitment (AOC) and OCB. AOC fully mediates the relationship between CSR and OCB. While perceived supervisory support did not moderate the relationship between AOC and OCB. Pharmaceutical firms can promote commitment toward organization and OCBs by initiating CSR activities.

Research limitations/implications

This research is one of the innovative studies that empirically examine the predicting role of CSR and moderating role of perceived supervisory support on employees’ attitude and behaviors in the pharmaceutical companies’ context. Moreover, this research will also help the management by adopting CSR activities as core element in shaping employees attitudes and behaviors.

Originality/value

It is a significant study shifting the focus of research into organizational behavior context and further influences employee’s attitudes and behavior because of perceived CSR in the pharmacy industry.

When Task Conflict Becomes Personal: The Impact of Perceived Team Performance

Although potentially beneficial, task conflict may threaten teams because it often leads to relationship conflict. Prior research has identified a set of interpersonal factors (e.g., team communication, team trust) that help attenuate this association. The purpose of this article is to provide an alternative perspective that focuses on the moderating role of performance-related factors (i.e., perceived team performance). Using social identity theory, we build a model that predicts how task conflict associates with growth in relationship conflict and how perceived team performance influences this association. We test a three-wave longitudinal model by means of random coefficient growth modeling, using data from 60 ongoing teams working in a health care organization. Results provide partial support for our hypotheses. Only when perceived team performance is low, do task conflicts relate with growth in relationship conflict. We conclude that perceived team performance seems to enable teams to uncouple task from relationship conflict.

Generational perceptions at work: in-group favoritism and out-group stereotypes

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between stereotypes, in-group favoritism, and in-group bolstering effects across generations.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the trends found in a qualitative study on generational stereotypes, questions on work ethic, work-life balance, and use of technology were administered to 255 participants identified as Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers. Hypotheses predicted that with a strong stereotype, traditional in-group favoritism will not be found; however, an in-group bolstering effect will emerge. In the absence of a strong stereotype, traditional in-group favoritism is expected.

Findings

Generally, there was a strong stereotype that Baby Boomers are worse at technology than Generation X and Generation X is worse than Millennials. There was also a strong stereotype that Millennials do not do what it takes to get the job done as much as other generations. In the presence of these stereotypes, traditional in-group favoritism was not found, but in-groups bolstered themselves by rating themselves more favorably than other groups rated them. Although these findings did not hold for every item studied, there was moderate support for all three hypotheses.

Practical implications

As employees become aware of their biases, they can collaborate better with employees who are different than they are. Practical recommendations are suggested.

Originality/value

The paper applies theory of in-group favoritism to the perceptions of generational cohorts.

How Moving Together Brings Us Together: When Coordinated Rhythmic Movement Affects Cooperation

Although it is well established that rhythmically coordinating with a social partner can increase cooperation, it is as yet unclear when and why intentional coordination has such effects. We distinguish three dimensions along which explanations might vary. First, pro-social effects might require in-phase synchrony or simply coordination. Second, the effects of rhythmic movements on cooperation might be direct or mediated by an intervening variable. Third, the pro-social effects might occur in proportion to the quality of the coordination, or occur once some threshold amount of coordination has occurred. We report an experiment and two follow-ups which sought to identify which classes of models are required to account for the positive effects of coordinated rhythmic movement on cooperation. Across the studies, we found evidence (1) that coordination, and not just synchrony, can have pro-social consequences (so long as the social nature of the task is perceived), (2) that the effects of intentional coordination are direct, not mediated, and (3) that the degree of the coordination did not predict the degree of cooperation. The fact of inter-personal coordination (moving together in time and in a social context) is all that's required for pro-social effects. We suggest that future research should use the kind of carefully controllable experimental task used here to continue to develop explanations for when and why coordination affects pro-social behaviors.

Assimilation and Diversity: An Integrative Model of Subgroup Relations

A model of sociostructural relations among subgroups within a superordinate category is presented. Contextualized by discussion of political and social psychological models of intergroup contact, we extend principles of social identity theory to address structural differentiation within groups. Subgroup identity threat plays a pivotal role in the nature of subgroup relations, as do the social realities of specific subgroup relations (i.e., inclusiveness, nested vs. crosscutting categories, leadership, instrumental goal relations, power and status differentials, subgroup similarity). Our analysis suggests that subgroup identity threat is the greatest obstacle to social harmony; social arrangements that threaten social identity produce defensive reactions that result in conflict. Social harmony is best achieved by maintaining, not weakening, subgroup identities, and locating them within the context of a binding superordinate identity.

To participate or not to participate in a brand micro-blog

Customers’ participation is crucial to the brand micro-blog. However, many brand micro-blogs still face the challenge of low interactive or non-interactive participation. In this paper, we propose a conceptual model that specifies four facilitators (information quality, entertainment value, service quality, and social interaction) and two inhibitors (information overload and advertising reactance) as the key determinants of brand micro-blog participation intention, and we propose that these facilitators and inhibitors in combination determine followers’ identification with the brand micro-blog, and identification eventually determines whether the followers will participate in the brand micro-blog. The data of this study was collected through a quasi-experiment conducted within the Sina micro-blog. The findings confirm that information quality, entertainment value, service quality, and social interaction are four significant facilitators of brand micro-blog participation intention. The findings also show that information overload is a significant inhibitor of brand micro-blog participation intention.

Defining Group Cohesiveness

Cohesiveness remains a critical group-level variable, and while it may seem unnecessary to suggest that investigators should link their nominal definition of this construct with its operationalization, few researchers make this important connection. Group cohesiveness has proven to be astonishingly difficult to define precisely and consistently. Perhaps as a consequence, many contemporary researchers leave this construct undefined. Many others rely on classic definitions of cohesiveness developed during the 1950s, without necessarily being aware of the confusion and inconsistencies embodied in these definitions. Greater focus on the definitional issue should improve the quality of future research.

Generating Agreement in Computer-Mediated Groups

Agreement is an important social outcome often poorly handled by computer-mediated groups, presumably because the computer cannot transmit the necessary rich information. A recently proposed cognitive model suggests richness is not the key to social agreement and that group agreement can be generated by the exchange of anonymous, lean text information across a computer network. This experiment investigates this theory. Self-chosen groups of 5 completed three answer rounds on limited choice problems while exchanging a few characters of position information. These asynchronous, anonymous computer-mediated groups generated agreement without any rich information exchange. The key software design criteria for enacting agreement is proposed to be not richness but dynamic many-to-many linkage. The resulting “electronic voting” may be as different from traditional voting as e-mail is from traditional mail. It may also imply a new generation of groupware that recognizes social influence.

Attitudes toward Work in Project Groups as Predictors of Academic Performance

The use of groups has become an integral part of management education as a mechanism to help students learn through interaction with others as well as to become accustomed to working in a group environment that emulates the work place. The present study examined the amountof time spentworkingas a group and individuals 'attitudes toward work ingroups, and how these may affect academic performance. Both the time involved in group work and attitudes toward group work explained significant amounts of variance in grade point average (GPA) beyond that due to background variables such as previous grade point average, standardized test scores, and work experience. Exploratory analyses using aggregate group GPA measure revealed differences in attitudes toward group work between high-performing and low-performing groups, with time involved in group work as the main predictor of group GPA.

Defensive Reactions to Group-Relevant Information

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that possession of a strong social identity would motivate people to arrive at a conclusion which supported their previous beliefs when responding to information that threatened their group. In a pre-measure, participants were classified as either weak or strong in social identity. After reading a threatening or non-threatening (fictitious) report about their group, participants were asked to evaluate the report. The results showed that participants with a strong social identity evaluated the threatening information more negatively than those with a weak social identity. Participants who had a strong social identity evaluated the non-threatening information more positively than those with a weak social identity. These results are discussed in the context of motivated reasoning and social identity theory.

Moving Beyond Gender to Discover Differences in Sensitivity to Disempowering Acts

The purpose of this study is to examine levels of perceived offensiveness based on observations of disempowering acts and to identify any differences in perceptions based on gender, ethnicity, and a social context in which respondents held majority versus minority status. Gender emerged as a strong determinant of differences in levels of perceived offensiveness, with women reporting higher levels of perceived offensiveness when viewing disempowering acts than did men. However, when comparing groups of the same ethnicity (i.e., African American) on differences in perceived offensiveness based on social context, social context had a significant effect on perceptions, and men, not women, reported higher levels of perceived offensiveness.

Changing Interracial Evaluations and Behavior: The Effects of a Common Group Identity

Two studies examined whether developing a common ingroup identity among Blacks and Whites can improve Whites’ interracial evaluations. In Study 1, White participants interacted with a Black or White confederate under conditions designed to produce cognitive representations as fellow group members or as separate individuals. Consistent with the Common Ingroup Identity Model, Whites evaluated Blacks more favorably when they interacted with them as members of the same group than as separate individuals. Study 2, conducted as fans entered a football stadium, revealed that Whites complied more frequently with a Black interviewer’s request to interview them when they shared common university affiliation, relative to when the Black interviewer was affiliated with the opposing team.

Social Attraction, Personal Attraction, and Self-Categorization-, A Field Study

A distinction based on social identity theory and self-categorization theory is made between depersonalized (i.e., group prototypical, stereotypical) social attraction and idiosyncratic personal attraction. Only the former; as the affective component of group cohesiveness, is considered to be related to group belongingness. A questionnaire administered after a training session to 28 members of an Australian football team supported the hypotheses. As predicted, group prototypicality was significantly more closely related to social attraction and to social (group-based) popularity than to personal attraction and personal (non-group-based) popularity. Furthermore, members who were morestrongly identified with the team (e.g., rated themselves as highly prototypical) employed prototypicality as a stronger basis for social attraction than other members did.

Group Prototypically and Depersonalized Attraction in Small Interactive Groups

Two studies of mixed-sex interactive groups (N = 173) investigated the self-categorization theory hypothesis that positive attitude (liking) among group members is depersonalized in terms of the group prototype. Subjects ranked fellow members in terms of liking under conditions accentuating or diminishing group membership salience and rated the group's cohesiveness, described the group prototype, ranked fellow members and themselves on prototypically, and rated the subjective clarity of the prototype. In Study 2 they also ranked members in terms of interpersonal similarity to self. The results generally supported the hypotheses. Group liking was independent from interpersonal liking and was positively associated with perceptions of self and others that were depersonalized in terms of the group prototype and with perceptions of elevated group cohesiveness and a clear group prototype. Interpersonal attraction was unrelated or negatively related to these variables but was more strongly associate with perceptions of interpersonal similarity.

Group Representations and Intergroup Bias: Positive Affect, Similarity, and Group Size

This study examined how social (group size: two, three, or four persons), appearance (similar or dissimilar dress), and affective (positive or neutral mood) factors can influence social categorization and, consequently, intergroup bias. As expected, positive affect increased the extent to which subjects formed inclusive group representations, anticipating that the members of two groups would feel like one, superordinate group. Also as predicted, subjects in dissimilarly dressed groups expected the memberships to feel less like one group. Consistent with the common in-group identity model, stronger superordinate group representations, in turn, predicted more positive out-group evaluations and lower levels of intergroup bias. The conceptual and applied implications of affect and social representations for improving intergroup relations are considered.

Asymmetries in Attachments to Groups and to their Members: Distinguishing between Common-Identity and Common-Bond Groups

Two studies sought to validate the distinction between common-identity groups, which are based on direct attachments to the group identity, and common-bond groups, which are based on attachments among group members. Study 1 focused on members of selective and nonselective university eating clubs. Study 2 focused on members of a diverse sample of campus groups. Both studies revealed asymmetries in group and member attachments: Individuals in common-identity groups were more attached to their group than to its members, whereas individuals in common-bond groups were as attached to the members as to the group (or more so). Study 2 also demonstrated that attachment to the group was more strongly related to various evaluations of individual group members in common-bond than in common-identity groups. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the development of groups over time and speculate on how the dynamics of the two types of groups might differ.