Self-affirmation theory proposes that people can respond to threats to the self by affirming alternative sources of self-integrity, resulting in greater openness to self-threatening information. The present research examines this at a group level by investigating whether a group affirmation (affirming an important group value) increases acceptance of threatening group information among sports teams and fans. In Study 1, athletes exhibited a group-serving attributional bias, which was eliminated by the group affirmation. In Study 2, the most highly identified fans exhibited the most bias in terms of their attributions, and this bias was eliminated by the group affirmation. These studies suggest that groups can serve as resources from which people can draw in response to threatening group events.

A qualitative study was conducted to explore "cliff effects," the overall dip in household resources when working poor families become ineligible for government work supports. The study included a survey of 78 low-income women and 32 social service providers, followed by interviews with smaller subsets of each. We asked how low-income women who are either on the verge of government support loss or who have recently experienced government support loss manage this circumstance and explored the effects on families' well-being. We found that the participants with the highest average income ($34,000/year) were doing worse in terms of their wellbeing than those with lower incomes. We recommend updating eligibility work support criteria and increasing support levels, developing "cliff effect trainings" for social service providers, and improving accessibility to higher education for working parents.