scholarly journals From I to We: Group formation and linguistic adaption in an online xenophobic forum

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma A. Bäck ◽  
Hanna Bäck ◽  
Marie Gustafsson Sendén ◽  
Sverker Sikström

Much of identity formation processes nowadays takes place online, indicating that intergroup differentiation may be found in online communities. This paper focuses on identity formation processes in an open online xenophobic, anti-immigrant, discussion forum. Open discussion forums provide an excellent opportunity to investigate open interactions that may reveal how identity is formed and how individual users are influenced by other users. Using computational text analysis and Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC), our results show that new users change from an individual identification to a group identification over time as indicated by a decrease in the use of “I” and increase in the use of “we”. The analyses also show increased use of “they” indicating intergroup differentiation. Moreover, the linguistic style of new users became more similar to that of the overall forum over time. Further, the emotional content decreased over time. The results indicate that new users on a forum create a collective identity with the other users and adapt to them linguistically.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Pianezzi

PurposeThis study offers a critical inquiry into accountability vis-à-vis organizational identity formation. It investigates how accountability evolves in the transformation of an NGO operating in the field of migration management from an informal grassroots group into a fully-fledged organization.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is the outcome of a participatory action research project on Welcome Refugees (WR), a UK-based NGO. The project involved documentary analysis, focus group and semi-structured interviews, field notes, and participant observation. The analysis draws from poststructuralist theorization to explain the interplay between organizational identity and different forms of NGO accountability over time.FindingsThe study shows how different forms of accountability became salient over time and were experienced differently by organizational members, thus leading to competing collective identity narratives. Organizational members felt accountable to beneficiaries in different ways, and this was reflected in their identification with the organization. Some advocated a rights-based approach that partially resonated with the accountability demands of external donors, while others aimed at enacting their feelings of accountability by preserving their closeness with beneficiaries and using a need-based approach. These differences led to an identity struggle that was ultimately solved through the silencing of marginalized narratives and the adoption of an adaptive regime of accountability.Practical implicationsThe findings of the case are of practical relevance to quasi-organizations that struggle to form and maintain organizational identity in their first years of operation. Their survival depends not only on their ability to accommodate and/or resist a multiplicity of accountability demands but also on their ability to develop a shared and common understanding of identity accountability.Originality/valueThe paper problematizes rather than takes for granted the process through which organizations acquire a viable identity and the role of accountability within them.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Ungureanu ◽  
Fabiola Bertolotti ◽  
Elisa Mattarelli ◽  
Francesca Bellesia

We investigate how collective identity formation processes interplay with collaboration practices in an inter-organizational partnership promoting regional innovation. We found that initial collaboration challenges are dealt with by setting up an early “swift identity” which is associated with material artifacts to increase its strength and stability (“swift identity reification”). However, as the partnership evolves, the reified identity becomes misaligned with partners’ underdeveloped collaboration practices. To ensure realignment, new attempts at reification are performed, as partners buy time for learning how to collaborate. Our findings contribute to extant identity research by proposing alternative (i.e. “swift” and “reified”) mechanisms of identity formation in contexts characterized by both heterogeneity challenges and integration imperatives. They also integrate the debate about the role of identity formation in the evolution of interorganizational partnerships. For both literatures, we highlight the important role of materiality.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Taylor ◽  
Ron Levi ◽  
Ronit Dinovitzer

AbstractConcern over intergenerational ethnic continuity, with members of minority groups seeking to ensure that youth become invested in and committed to religious, cultural, or ethnic identities, is long-standing and inherent to group boundary formation. In recent years, this concern has been particularly pronounced in the North American Jewish community, with socialization and retention of Jewish young adults emerging as one of its central preoccupations. This emphasis on Jewish continuity emerged as a central concern following the legacy of experiences with anti-Semitism and discrimination. The most significant program to emerge from this agenda is Taglit-Birthright Israel, a program that has provided over 250,000 free ten-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults from over fifty countries. Homeland tours of this sort are increasingly common across diasporic groups, and this paper attends to the emotional work that underlies collective identity formation in these tours. Through focus groups with Taglit-Birthright participants, we find that these tours engage and mobilize competing sets of emotions, and that tour members experience dimensions of closeness and distance at once. The result is that participants are engaged in a form of identity labor: they grapple with the questions of how they should affiliate as Jews, and how they can forge an identity that carves a role for themselves in the diaspora. Drawing on the sociological concept of ambivalence, we find that collective identity is successfully forged in these trips by interrupting the notion of effortless ethnic belonging, and providing participants with a deeper understanding of the commitment required for intra-ethnic group identification and attachments.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Debbie MacLellan ◽  
Jacqui Gingras ◽  
Daphne Lordly ◽  
Jennifer Brady

This paper explores beginning dietetic practitioners’ perspectives on the process of becoming dietetics professionals through the use of vignettes to illuminate the complex process of professional socialization.  Embedded in these vignettes are three themes related to the socialization process that occurs in the early years of dietetic practice: congruence, resilience, and relationships.  Our findings indicate that new dietitians struggle to develop their dietitian identity.  They feel unprepared for the relational and practice realities of the workplace and find the transition from dietetic intern to dietitian challenging.  They seek many ways to cope including seeking support from others and planning for the future but some consider leaving the profession.  It is important to understand the professional socialization and identity formation processes that occur during the early years of practice to ensure that dietitians feel prepared and supported as they begin their careers.


Author(s):  
Larysa Kovryk-Tokar

Every nation is quite diverse in terms of his historical destiny, spiritual priorities, and cultural heritage. However, voluntary European integration, which is the final aim of political integration that began in the second half of the twentieth century from Western Europe, provided for an availability of large number of characteristics in common in political cultures of their societies. Therefore, Ukraine needs to find some common determinants that can create inextricable relationship between the European Community and Ukraine. Although Ukrainian culture is an intercultural weave of two East macrocivilizations, according to the author, Ukraine tends to Western-style society with its openness, democracy, tolerance, which constitute the basic values of Europeans. Keywords: Identity, collective identity, European values, European integration


2021 ◽  
pp. 030802262110177
Author(s):  
Seyed Alireza Derakhshanrad ◽  
Emily F Piven ◽  
Bahareh Zeynalzadeh Ghoochani

Introduction The development of professional attitude evolves over time and contributes to the formation of professional identity. This study tracked formation of professional identity by comparing professional attitudes of three cohorts: new graduates, final-year, and first-year students of occupational therapy. Method The online survey, including a 5-point Likert scale 17-item questionnaire and one qualitative inquiry using an incomplete statement, revealed the perception and future career prospects of 144 novice practitioners and students of occupational therapy. Written statements were compared to each other to provide insight about the participants’ perspectives during the three time periods. Findings One-way ANOVA indicated that there were significant differences in professional attitudes among the three cohorts (F (2, 141) = 14.32, p < 0.0001), demonstrating a downward trend in professional identity formation. The comparison analysis of statements confirmed the quantitative results and highlighted an issue of negative professional identity through indicating great concerns over the future career prospects. Conclusion Despite increased awareness of occupational therapy over time, these participants seemed to have had trouble developing a sound sense of professional identity. Possible sources and solutions for this issue were discussed, to better facilitate a clear sense of professional identity in occupational therapy students and practitioners.


Author(s):  
Qian Hui Chew ◽  
Yvonne Steinert ◽  
Kang Sim

Abstract Introduction Conceptual frameworks for professional identity (PI) formation highlight the importance of developmental stages and socialization as the learner progresses from legitimate peripheral to full participation. Based on extant literature and clinical impressions, the authors aimed to explore factors associated with PI formation in psychiatry residents over time, and hypothesized that time in training, seniority status, and duration of exposure to psychiatry prior to residency would be associated with PI formation. Methods Eighty out of 96 psychiatry residents (response rate, 83.3%) from the National Psychiatry Residency Program in Singapore participated and rated their PI development using the Professional Self Identity Questionnaire (PSIQ) across four timepoints from January 2016–December 2019. The residents were classified as junior (first 3 years) or senior residents (years 4–5). Linear mixed model analyses were conducted, with time in training, seniority status (junior versus senior residents), duration of psychiatry postings prior to residency, and their interaction as associated factors with PI over time. Results Time in training, seniority, and duration of psychiatry postings before residency (all p < 0.01) were significantly associated with higher PSIQ scores at baseline. Over time, although all residents had increases in PSIQ scores, this rate of change did not differ significantly between junior and senior residents. Discussion Exposure to psychiatry postings before residency, time in learning, and seniority are factors which influence PI development in residents. This has implications for psychiatry residency selection and training, adequate clinical exposure during training rotations, and continual support for new and senior residents to foster PI formation over time.


2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwin A. Schmidl

Geographically, Austria's position during the Cold War differed significantly from that of Switzerland or Sweden, let alone Ireland. Austria, like Finland, was situated along the Iron Curtain. In 1945, Austria was divided between East and West, and the Soviet Union hoped that the Austrian Communists could quickly gain power by largely democratic means. This effort failed, however, when the Communists lost decisively in the November 1945 elections. Over the next decade, Austria remained under Soviet and Western military occupation. The formal adoption of a neutral status for Austria in May 1955, when the Austrian State Treaty was signed, was a compromise needed to ensure the departure of Soviet forces from Austria. Although some other orientation might have been preferred, neutrality over time became firmly engrained in Austria's collective identity.


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