Processing of Social Identity Threats

The underlying process of reactions to social identity threat was examined from a defense motivation perspective. Two studies measured respondents’ social identification, after which they read threatening group information. Study 1 compared positive and negative group information, attributed to an ingroup or outgroup source. Study 2 compared negative and neutral group information to general negative information. It was expected that negative group information would induce defense motivation, which reveals itself in biased information processing and in turn affects the evaluation of the information. High identifiers should pay more attention to, have higher threat perceptions of, more defensive thoughts of, and more negative evaluations of negative group information than positive or neutral group information. Findings generally supported these predictions.

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A threat in the network: STEM women in less powerful network positions avoid integrating stereotypically feminine peers

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations ◽

10.1177/1368430219888274 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 136843021988827 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hilary B. Bergsieker ◽

Matthew O. Wilmot ◽

Emily N. Cyr ◽

Charnel B. Grey

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Identity ◽

Friendship Networks ◽

Stem Fields ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Structural Hole ◽

Stigma By Association ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Identity Threats ◽

Female Target

Integrating social identity threat and structural hole theories, this work examines how social network positions affect group-based identity threats. For individuals less well positioned to bridge (or “broker”) relations between unconnected friends, stigma-by-association concerns may constrain affiliation with stereotypic targets. Three experiments ( Ns = 280, 232, 553) test whether women (vs. men) in male-dominated STEM (vs. female-dominated) majors avoid befriending a female target with feminine-stereotypic (vs. STEM-stereotypic) interests. Only STEM women with less brokerage (i.e., less ability to manage introductions to unconnected friends) in their existing friendship networks avoided befriending (pilot experiment) and socially integrating (Experiments 1 and 2) feminine- (vs. STEM-) stereotypic targets, despite standardized target similarity and competence. STEM women in particular anticipated steeper reputational penalties for befriending stereotypically feminine peers (Experiment 2). Social identity threat may lead women in STEM—especially those lacking brokerage—to exclude stereotypically feminine women from social networks, reinforcing stereotypes of women and STEM fields.

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Coping With Intergroup Threat via Biased Attributions to Low Group Effort

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000083 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 47-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sandro Costarelli

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Group Performance ◽

The Self ◽

Negative Group ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Group Outcomes ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Poor Group ◽

Group Members ◽

Over Time

Two studies demonstrate that, in order to cope with social identity threat, strongly but not weakly group-identified individuals make attributions of relatively poor group performance to low group effort rather than ability. However, this only takes place when such group members perceive negative group outcomes of intergroup comparisons as relatively illegitimate and unstable. Results demonstrate that such biased attributions were stronger for highly but not weakly identified participants when perceptions of the ingroup’s low status were induced to be illegitimate (but not when they were induced to be legitimate) – as their perceptions of the group low status as being unstable over time increased in parallel. This, in turn, ameliorated their subsequent affect. These findings point to a fairness-based account of coping with social identity threat through biased effort attributions: Perceived low effort on the part of the ingroup may suggest factors potentially within group control in the future ( Weiner, 1986 ) (as opposed to the less controllable low ability), which may in turn suggest that the ingroup does not deserve the self-threatening low status.

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Managing a Social Identity Threat

Social Psychology ◽

10.1027/1864-9335/a000079 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 41-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Stefano Pagliaro ◽

Francesca Romana Alparone ◽

Maria Giuseppina Pacilli ◽

Angelica Mucchi-Faina

Keyword(s):

Social Identity ◽

Identity Threat ◽

Status Group ◽

Social Identity Threat ◽

Social Creativity ◽

Threatening Situation

We examined how members of a low status group react to a social identity threat. We propose that expressing an ambivalent evaluation toward the ingroup may represent a way to manage such a threatening situation. For this study, 131 undergraduates’ identification with Italians was assessed. Participants were divided into groups, according to a situational identity threat (high vs. low). In line with hypotheses, low identifiers expressed more ambivalence toward the ingroup in the high (vs. low) threat condition. The reversed pattern emerged for high identifiers. This effect was mediated by the perception of intragroup variability, a well-known social creativity strategy. Results confirmed our interpretation of ambivalence as a form of social creativity, and are discussed in terms of social identity concerns.

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