Effects of the legitimacy of low group or individual status on individual and collective status-enhancement strategies.

Ellemers, Naomi; Wilke, Henk; Knippenberg, Ad van

doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.766

Cited by 429 publications

(435 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…On the one hand, the current research extends the work of Ellemers et al (1988) and Ellemers, Wilke, and van Knippenberg (1993), which manipulates group boundary permeability based on a fictitious situation, whereas the current research manipulated group permeability based on the real situation in China. On the other hand, our successful manipulation revealed the covariation between objective group boundary permeability and perceived group boundary permeability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Group Boundary Permeability on Intergroup Prejudice: The Case of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

Zhang

Zheng

et al. 2014

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

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T he developing world is witness to a major urban transformation. How to facilitate intergroup relations between new migrants and long-time urban residents is a critical issue in developing societies globally. The current research explored the effect of group boundary permeability on intergroup prejudice by the case of rural-to-urban migration in China. As the boundary between rural-to-urban migrants and permanent urban residents in China can be ascribed to China's unique hukou system, we conducted three interrelated studies to approach the topic from the perspective of the hukou system and its reforms. Study 1 used a correlational investigation and found a negative correlation between group boundary permeability and prejudice against rural-to-urban migrants. In Study 2, we manipulated the group boundary permeability using the points accumulation system scheme of the hukou system reform, and found a causal effect of the group boundary permeability on the social distance of urban dwellers to migrants. In Study 3, using a more general hukou reform scheme, that of gradually abolishing the hukou system, we replicated the findings from Study 2 and further found that a permeable group boundary could reduce prejudice. These three studies suggest that the group boundary based on the Chinese hukou system is an institutional cause of prejudice against rural-to-urban migrants. Our experimental manipulations can be interpreted as analogues to potential policy arena actions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Group Boundary Permeability on Intergroup Prejudice: The Case of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

Zhang

Zheng

et al. 2014

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

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“…There is an influential body of literature which shows that individuals' beliefs about the stability of the status structure affects individuals' perception, attitudes, decisions and behaviors (e.g., Ellemers, Wilke, & van Knippenberg, 1993).…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Squeezed in the middle: The middle status trade creativity for focus.

Duguid

Goncalo

2015

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middle of a status hierarchy as opposed to the top or bottom. Yet, this promising line of research was abandoned before the psychological mechanism behind middle status conformity had been identified. Moving beyond the early focus on conformity, we propose that the threat of status loss may make those with middle status more wary of advancing creative solutions in fear that they will be evaluated negatively. Using different manipulations of status and measures of creativity, we found that when being evaluated, middle status individuals were less creative than either high status or low status individuals (Studies 1 & 2). In addition, we found that anxiety at the prospect of status loss also caused individuals with middle status to narrow their focus of attention and to think more convergently (Study 3). We delineate the consequences of power and status both theoretically and empirically by showing that, unlike status, the relationship between power and creativity is positive and linear (Study 4). By both measuring status (Studies 2 & 3) and by manipulating it directly (Study 5), we demonstrate that the threat of status loss explains the consequences of middle status. Finally, we discuss the theoretical implications of our results for future research on status and problem solving on tasks that require either focus or flexibility.

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“…According to SIT, the perception of the structural characteristics of intergroup relations provides a crucial determinant of the strength of in-group identification, and of the preference for different strategies to cope with an unfavorable in-group position (for experimental results, see, e.g., Ellemers, 1993;Ellemers, Wilke, & van Knippenberg, 1993). Thus, identification with one's own group works as a mediating variable (see Mummendey et al, in press, for a more detailed discussion of SIT).…”

Section: Social Identity Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to cope with negative social identity: Predictions by social identity theory and relative deprivation theory.

Mummendey¹,

Kessler²,

Klink³

et al. 1999

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

515

574

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Predictions by social identity theory (SIT) and relative deprivation theory (RDT) concerning preferences for strategies to cope with a negative in-group status position were tested. The focus of the present research was a comparison of the theories regarding their differential patterns of prediction. For this purpose, a natural sample within a specific historical situation was investigated: East Germans after the German unification. First, the predictive power of SIT and RDT variables was tested separately. In a second step, a possible integration of the theories was addressed. Combining the SIT variables and RDT variables led to an integrated model indicating a differential pattern of prediction for intergroup strategies. The RDT components explained the collective responses, whereas SIT constructs were related to individual strategies. People prefer a positive self-evaluation that is based on their own judgments as well as those of others (Taylor & Brown, 1988). They try to differentiate themselves positively from others. One important source of self-evaluation is the relative status position of the groups people belong to and identify with. Depending on the outcome of a comparison with relevant out-groups, this status position may be characterized as advantaged or as disadvantaged. Such an unsatisfactory status position leads to engagement in strategies to cope with and overcome an unsatisfactory status position. Likewise, if questioned, people tend to defend a satisfactory status position and maintain a positive in-group evaluation. These strategic responses are modes of intergroup behavior. Theories of intergroup relations provide explanatory concepts to understand and, more important, to predict preferences for various kinds of intergroup behavior. Two prominent theories in this domain are social identity theory (

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Effects of the legitimacy of low group or individual status on individual and collective status-enhancement strategies.

Cited by 429 publications

References 36 publications

The Effect of Group Boundary Permeability on Intergroup Prejudice: The Case of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

The Effect of Group Boundary Permeability on Intergroup Prejudice: The Case of Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

Squeezed in the middle: The middle status trade creativity for focus.

Strategies to cope with negative social identity: Predictions by social identity theory and relative deprivation theory.

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