A social identity approach to the investigation of group-based reactions to a merger is outlined, in which a merger is analyzed in terms of the continuation or change of the pre-merger group identity. In two experiments, the relationship between pre-merger identification, post-merger identification, and ingroup bias was investigated using a minimal group paradigm. Results from both studies showed that the perceived continuation of the premerger group identity in the post-merger group strengthened the positive relationship between pre-merger identification and identification with the superordinate post-merger group. Moreover, perceived continuation strengthened, rather than reduced, ingroup bias at the subordinate level of the merged groups. Some theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The Strategic Side of Out-Group Helping The act of helping is a way of sharing information and expertise, a means of redistributing wealth, and the primary tool by which people take care of less fortunate others. We often do this, as a society, out of genuine empathic concern for others (Batson, 1994), sometimes augmented by reciprocity beliefs (

In this paper, the December 2004 tsunami tragedy was used as a background to investigate beliefs about intergroup helping. The general aim of the research was to test the proposal that helping can be used to reaffirm a threatened social identity. Two experiments conducted with Dutch participants (N ¼ 78 and N ¼ 73) tested the hypothesis that a threatened Dutch national identity would result in stronger preferences for help to the victims of the tsunami, but only in a domain that is positively and distinctly related to that national identity (i.e. water management). Results from both studies confirmed this hypothesis. Study 2 also showed a reversal of this effect in a domain negatively related to that identity. Moreover, perceived identity threat in Study 2 reduced over time in the high threat condition but not in the low threat condition, and this reduction was positively associated with the endorsement of water management help. Also, as predicted, in both studies a threatened national identity resulted in stronger beliefs that Dutch relief organisations should stay in control over their aid.

International audienceWe examined, in two experiments, the notion that members of low status groups, more than members of high status groups, use outgroup helping as a strategic tool to demonstrate their group's knowledge and boost its reputation. In Study 1 (=103), we compared outgroup helping in response to requests for help with offering help. As predicted, participants' knowledge was positively related to outgroup helping in response to requests, but only among members of low status groups. Knowledge also predicted the offering of help among members of high status groups. The second study (=75) replicated the findings from the requested help condition and showed that the effect disappeared in a condition in which help could not reflect ingroup knowledge. Additional data support a conclusion in terms of a collective strategy to boost the ingroup's reputation by demonstrating ingroup knowledge to the outgroup. The implications for promoting outgroup helping in a salient intergroup context are discussed

In 42 patients with autoimmune thrombocytopenia (AITP) and a positive direct platelet suspension immunofluorescence test (PSIFT), the antigenic specificity of the autoantibodies was studied. Because the autoantibodies were often not detectable in the serum and additional HLA antibodies may disturb the reaction pattern with the platelet panel, we used eluates prepared from the patients' platelets for this study. Thirty-five patients had antibodies equally reactive with normal platelets, irrespective of their antigenic make-up, but not with the platelets from two Glanzmann's disease patients. Absorption and elution experiments in two patients showed that his was probably not due to the presence of a combination of anti-Zwa and anti-Zwb antibodies. Thus, the majority of autoantibodies against platelets seems to be directed against antigenic determinants not present on Glanzmann's disease platelets, but perhaps located on the platelet-membrane glycoproteins IIb and/or IIIa. In ten patients, antibodies of no, or still unknown, specificity were detected. Three of these had additional antibodies not reactive with the platelets of the two Glanzmann patients.

Prior studies of the effect of group identification on cooperation in social dilemmas have advanced 2 competing accounts: the goal‐transformation hypothesis, which holds that identification makes personal and collective goals interchangeable; and the goal‐amplification hypothesis, which states that identification induces positive expectations about others’ cooperative behavior. However, prior studies have neglected to assess the process measures necessary to pit the one account against the other. The present study showed that the effect of identification was moderated by participants’ social value orientation. Identification influenced proselfs’ cooperation more than prosocials’ cooperation. Mediational analyses further showed that the effect of our identification manipulation was mediated by participants’ sense of collective self, and not by their expectations.

Informational interventions were employed to promote two behaviors relevant for efficient heating of individual offices in a large office building. In two successive winter seasons, interventions were applied during 4-week periods. Short-term effects were assessed weekly, and long-term effects were assessed 1 year after each of the two intervention periods. Improvements were observed in each intervention period, with partial behavior maintenance 1 year later. The changes observed in the individual offices across conditions are suggestive of the program's capacity to correct relapses in earlier proenvironmental behavior. DESCRIPTORS: energy conservation, informational interventions, behavior maintenance, office buildings A substantial proportion of a nation's total energy use is consumed in office buildings and other utility buildings like hospitals and schools. Nevertheless, behavioral interventions for energy saving in this domain are relatively unexplored (Kempton, Darley, & Stern, 1992).In a university building we investigated whether simple and low-cost informational interventions, applied periodically, might affect proenvironmental behavior change and long-term maintenance of change (the latter being a frequently neglected issue; see, e.g., De Young, 1993) of the office occupants. The interventions targeted two heating-related behaviors that were tied to easily observable attributes of each individual office, addressing a population whose members This research project was partially sponsored by NOVEM (the Netherlands' Organization for Energy Saving and the Environment). We thank Giulio Lancioni, Hans Knegtmans, and Terry Hartig for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.Correspondence should be addressed to Henk Staats, Centre for Energy and Environmental Research, Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands (E-mail: staats@fsw.leidenuniv. nl).were constantly identifiable across experimental phases. METHOD Setting, Target Behaviors, and Data CollectionIn each of the 384 offices of the building, two or three radiators heat the air through grates in the windowsill above. Each radiator has its own thermostat with six settings (0 through 5). To reduce natural gas consumption, the grates above the radiators should be uncovered and the thermostats of the radiators in each office should be on identical settings. These behavioral targets require that office occupants resist using the windowsill as a bookshelf or adjusting only one thermostat to change temperature.The grate coverings and thermostat settings in each of the offices were unobtrusively observed 11 times (T1 through T11) on weekends, when the building was closed. Radiators covered by objects less than 10% were scored as uncovered, and radiators covered 10% or more were scored as covered. Scores were dichotomized per office as uncovered (all radiators in an office uncovered)

We examined how appeals to collective guilt and pride can motivate people to help members of a disadvantaged outgroup. Results from two experiments supported the prediction that appeals to collective pride are more effective than appeals to collective guilt in prompting high identifying group members', but not low identifying group members' willingness to help the outgroup. Study 2 demonstrated that, as expected, pride appeals generated more empathy for the disadvantaged group than guilt appeals, particularly among high identifiers, and empathy mediated the relationship between emotional appeals and helping. The results complement existing research on collective guilt by demonstrating how high identifiers can be persuaded to help members of a disadvantaged outgroup even in the context of historical harmdoings.