Motivations for group membership: The role of subjective importance and uncertainty reduction

An experiment was conducted to investigate the idea that an important motive for identifying with social groups is to reduce subjective uncertainty, particularly uncertainty on subjectively important dimensions that have implications for the self-concept (e.g., Hogg, 1996; Hogg & Mullin, 1999). When people are uncertain on a dimension that is subjectively important, they self-categorize in terms of an available social categorization and, thus, exhibit group behaviors. To test this general hypothesis, group membership, task uncertainty, and task importance were manipulated in a 2 x 2 x 2 between-participants design (N = 128), under relatively minimal group conditions. Ingroup identification and desire for consensual validation of specific attitudes were the key dependent measures, but we also measured social awareness. All three predictions were supported. Participants identified with their group (H1), and desired to obtain consensual validation from ingroup members (H2) when they were uncertain about their judgments on important dimensions, indicating that uncertainty reduction motivated participants towards embracing group membership. In addition, identification mediated the interactive effect of the independent variables on consensual validation (H3), and the experimental results were not associated with an increased sense of social awareness and, therefore, were unlikely to represent only behavioral compliance with generic social norms. Some implications of this research in the study of cults and totalist groups and the explication of genocide and group violence are discussed.

Group membership, power and social rules: A study of doctor-nurse relationship

The purposes of this research are: (1) to compare the similarides and differences in intra-group and inter-group social rules of hospital doctors and nurses; (2) to compare rule following, rule breaking & tolerance of rule breaking of doctors and nurses with respect to different work reladonships. Professional discipline and idendficadon, ingroup-outgroup membership and reladve status were used as predictors. In-depth interview of 20 doctors and 20 nurses were conducted to elicit social rules and goals. In the second study, 30 rules and 10 goals with high consensus were selected from study one and developed into a quesdonnaire which measured their applicadon to four different work reladonships, namely, padents, peers, seniors and doctors/nurses. Forty-three doctors and one hundred and seven nurses completed this questionnaire. In the third study, the frequency and goals of violation and tolerance of violation of five different social rules were measured. One hundred and thirty-six doctors and one hundred and sixty-six nurses completed the questionnaire.

Suppressing the negative effect of devaluation on group identification: The role of intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect

We examined (N = 76) how social creativity strategies such as intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect suppress the negative impact of threat to an ingroup's value on group identification. Threat was manipulated through false feedback concerning how other groups perceived an ingroup. Both intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect were higher when participants learned that the ingroup was devalued compared to when it was valued. Mediational analyses demonstrated that these factors suppressed the direct negative relationship between value threat and group identification. Discussion focused on the consequences of these social creativity strategies for group identification and collective action. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Linear models of simple cells: Correspondence to real cell responses and space spanning properties

Despite their limitations, linear filter models continue to be used to simulate the receptive field properties of cortical simple cells. For theoreticians interested in large scale models of visual cortex, a family of self-similar filters represents a convenient way in which to characterise simple cells in one basic model. This paper reviews research on the suitability of such models, and goes on to advance biologically motivated reasons for adopting a particular group of models in preference to all others. In particular, the paper describes why the Gabor model, so often used in network simulations, should be dropped in favour of a Cauchy model, both on the grounds of frequency response and mutual filter orthogonality.

Not being what you claim to be: impostors as sources of group threat

We examine the notion of impostors within groups, defined in this paper as people who make public claims to an identity while disguising their failure to fulfil key criteria for group membership. In Experiment 1, vegetarians showed heightened levels of negative affect toward vegetarians who ate meat occasionally compared to an authentic vegetarian. In contrast, non-vegetarians saw the impostor to be marginally more likeable than the authentic vegetarian. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants evaluated only a vegetarian who ate meat. Evaluations of the target were influenced by group attachment, such that participants who identified strongly as vegetarians downgraded the target more strongly and experienced more negative affect than did moderate identifiers and non-vegetarians. Participants were also sensitive to the size of the gulf between the target's claims for identity and their behaviour. Thus, targets who made public claims to being a vegetarian but ate meat were evaluated more negatively than were people who kept their claims for identity private (Experiment 2). Similarly, targets who tried to keep their deviant behaviour secret were evaluated more negatively than were people who openly admitted their deviant behaviour (Experiment 3). The reasons why impostors might threaten the integrity of group identities are discussed. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Investigation of psychological and neuropsychological factors associated with clinical outcome following a group rehabilitation programme

The present study investigated neuropsychological and psychological factors associated with successful treatment outcome following a group intervention for individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). Participants were classified into two groups (Clinically Improved and Not Improved) based upon the findings of a previous study (Ownsworth, McFarland, & Young, 2000a). A discriminant analysis was used to predict group membership on three outcome measures (Awareness and Strategy Behaviour indices of the Self-Regulation Skills Interview and the Psychosocial Dimension of the Sickness Impact Profile) between pre-assessment and post-assessment, and between pre-assessment and 6 months follow-up. Neuropsychological factors involved measures of executive functioning and psychological factors were assessed using measures of personality-related denial and coping-related denial. Overall, the results indicated that individuals with impaired executive functioning were most likely to be classified as Clinically Improved on measures of awareness, strategy behaviour and psychosocial functioning. Individuals who deny or minimise their ABI symptoms were less likely to improve their psychosocial functioning following the group intervention. Future research needs to evaluate interventions for enhancing self-regulation skills and improving psychosocial functioning for individuals who employ denial as a main strategy for coping following ABI.

Demographic category membership and leadership in small groups: A social identity analysis

Developing the social identity theory of leadership (e.g., [Hogg, M. A. (2001). A social identity theory of leadership. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 184-200]), an experiment (N=257) tested the hypothesis that as group members identify more strongly with their group (salience) their evaluations of leadership effectiveness become more strongly influenced by the extent to which their demographic stereotype-based impressions of their leader match the norm of the group (prototypicality). Participants, with more or less traditional gender attitudes (orientation), were members, under high or low group salience conditions (salience), of non-interactive laboratory groups that had instrumental or expressive group norms (norm), and a male or female leader (leader gender). As predicted, these four variables interacted significantly to affect perceptions of leadership effectiveness. Reconfiguration of the eight conditions formed by orientation, norm and leader gender produced a single prototypicality variable. Irrespective of participant gender, prototypical leaders were considered more effective in high then low salience groups, and in high salience groups prototypical leaders were more effective than less prototypical leaders. Alternative explanations based on status characteristics and role incongruity theory do not account well for the findings. Implications of these results for the glass ceiling effect and for a wider social identity analysis of the impact of demographic group membership on leadership in small groups are discussed. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding the multidimensionality of group development

This article presents a three-dimensional definition space of the group development literature that differentiates group development models on three dimensions: content, population, and path dependency. The multidimensional conceptualization structures and integrates the vast group development literature, enabling direct comparison of competing theories. The utility of this definition space is demonstrated by using the relative positioning of two seemingly competing group development models-the punctuated equilibrium model and the integrative model-to demonstrate their complementarity. The authors also show how organizational researchers and practitioners can use the three-dimensional definition space to select an appropriate theoretical model for the group or group process with which they are working.

Effects of group status on responses to sustainable land use campaigns

A number of survey studies were conducted with landholders throughout Queensland to assess the effectiveness and perceived influence of campaigns promotng sustainable land use. While previous studies have addressed the role of group membership in persuasive communications, the current line of research extends this by focusing on the intergroup context, namely, the perceptions of group status. Across a range of samples it was found that landholders' perceptions of lower status in relation to urban people were associated with increased support for ingroup messages and decreased support for outgroup messages. These results are broadly consistent with research that suggests that threats to group identity (such as an infiuence attempt by a higher status group) will be responded to in a negative way and highlights the importance of considering relations between groups when attempting to change attiutudes.