Browsing by Subject "Social identity"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Basking In reflected glory and the tactics of self-esteem maintenance
    (2013-04) Miller, Christopher Bradley
    "Basking in reflected glory" (BIRG) is the tendency to create, magnify or promote one's association with successful or desirable others. This tendency has been linked to some of the more prominent motivational drives researched in social psychology over the 20th century, including the drive to maintain cognitive consistency, the drive to be viewed positively by others (i.e., impression management), and the drive to maintain positive self-esteem. This research represents the first attempt to systematically investigate the effects of basking in reflected glory on self-esteem. In doing so, this research will rely not only on self-report measures of self-esteem, but also on a research paradigm designed to document self-esteem involvement in the absence of self-report assessment. Study 1 is a conceptual replication of prior basking in reflected glory research that includes the self-reported self-esteem. The study replicates the basking in reflected glory effect, but does not document any effect on self-esteem. Studies 2 and 3 are an attempt to demonstrate that BIRG affects self-esteem by showing that other self-esteem palliatives reduce the tendency to bask in reflected glory (Study 2), and that basking in reflected glory reduces the tendency to use other self-esteem palliatives. Studies 2 and 3 did show this substitution of self-esteem palliatives, yet continue to show no self-reported effects on self-esteem. In short, mixed results leave the self-esteem role of BIRG uncertain. The implications of these findings for basking in reflected glory, and more broadly, the self-esteem motive, are discussed.
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    The Best of Friends, the Worst of Friends: Interpersonal and Intergroup Consequences of Seeking the Best
    (2018-07) Olson, Nicholas
    I examine the effect of maximizing on consumers’ conduct toward others in two essays. In essay 1, I explore how the goal of attaining the best influences the word of mouth that consumers share with others. Building on the notion that attaining the best is associated with not only getting the best, but also being the best relative to others, I show in seven studies that maximizing increases consumers’ propensity to share favorable word of mouth about unsatisfactory purchases, specifically in an effort to encourage others to make the same poor choices, as this enhances relative standing and subjective feelings toward their own choice. I further demonstrate that individuals particularly exhibit this behavior when sharing with interpersonally close (vs. distant) others, as close others tend to be especially relevant to relative standing. Finally, I consider the downstream consequences of such behavior, showing that when individuals are successful in their attempts to bring close others down to their level, they feel subjectively better about their decisions, but they are also burdened with feelings of guilt that erode their overall wellbeing. In essay 2, I shift my focus from consumers’ behavior to their perceptions, examining maximizing’s potential impact on consumers’ perceptions of their social groups (i.e., in-groups) and their fellow group members. I demonstrate in six studies that because maximizers’ in-groups provide a relevant arena in which the best may be realized by outdoing in-group members, maximizers identify strongly with their in-groups. That is, they feel highly connected with their in-groups because they want to be the best within those groups. Although past research assumes this enhanced identification should subsequently have a positive impact on maximizers’ evaluations of fellow group members, I show that because such identification is rooted in maximizers' motivation to best in-group members, they instead view fellow members as a comparison target to be bested, and are actually less favorable (vs. non-maximizers) in their assessments of in-group members relative to non-members. However, I further demonstrate that when maximizers evaluate their in-groups at the aggregate rather than the individual level, thereby limiting their capacity to engage in individual comparisons, they are especially favorable in their in-group assessments, consistent with their heightened in-group identification.
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    Leaders' behavior and workers' social identity: "alternative ways of leading and being in organizations"
    (2013-03) Harewood, Earl Angelinus
    This study used an inter-method mixing approach with one-group categorized as the research population (subdivided into team leaders, coordinators and team members) from financial service entity in Trinidad and Tobago. A correlational design was used using four instruments and interviews Problem -- Followers behave like outer-group members and estrange from the leader and the organization when they perceive their leaders as out-group members. Therefore, understanding the philosophical underpinnings of leadership and followship is imperative in developing suitable criteria for selecting, developing and retaining suitable leaders and for understanding the outcomes of leaders’ behavior. Purpose -- The purpose of this study is 1) to investigate the relatedness of leaders’ behavior with followers’ social identity and 2) to describe how participants feel about the way leading and following are being experienced by financial service employees working in a private sector (business) environment in Trinidad and Tobago. Design/Methodology – the study used an intermixing survey research design to examine the relationship between leaders’ behavior and followers’ social identity using quantitative and qualitative measures. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, the General Leadership Questionnaire (sub-scale: II-A, II-B, IM, IS, IC, CR, ME-A, ME-P and LF). Interviews were used to measure leaders’ behavior and the Individualism-Collectivism Scale (subscale: VC, VI, HC, HI) was used to evaluate followers’ social identity and test six hypotheses derived from the hypothesized relationship between leaders’ behavior and followers social identity. Findings – Found was a positive relationship with leaders’ laissez-faire leadership behavior and followers’ tendencies to engage in collectivism behavior but no relationship with individualism was observed. A weak negative relationship was noted with leaders’ transformational behavior and followers’ collectivistic orientation. No statistical significant relationship was seen with leaders’ transactional leadership behaviors and followers individualistic and collectivistic propensities. These results were confirmed through Pearson Correlation. The paired-sample t-test indicated variations in the way leaders (self) and followers (other) though of leaders’ behavior. Both these sets of results were corroborated but the qualitative feedback received from interviews, MLQ and I-C Scale comments and General Leadership Questionnaire (GLQ). Research Limitations/implications – Excluded from the study were senior leaders of the company and would have add another level of analysis. Future studies should be expanded to include comparison groups from similar industries as well as different sectors in Trinidad and Tobago of comparable size and then to expand these studies cross-culturally to better understand leadership-followership behaviors in a changing globalized environment. As well, this study should be repeated as a national study to get a better sampling of leaders’ behavior in difference industries, organization and persons with different leadership-followership experiences. Practical Implication – Leaders’ success centers on how well they understand the cultural implications of the global environment in which they lead, the people they lead and the complex nature of the environment within which they function. Hence, this study provide some baseline confirmatory information to identify areas of leadership inconsistencies and for conducting future leadership- followership enquiries to evaluate leadership models associated with some of the failed organizations and countries to see where the gaps exist. Policy Implication: The findings from this study can be used to develop focused leadership academic programs, leadership development programs and to formulate clear policies for wholesome leader-follower interaction. Social implications – Leaders’ behavior identified and how these relate to followers’ social identity have potent implications for selecting, developing and retaining leaders capable of cultivating a work climate that enhances followers’ social identity where identities are in a constant state of undulation and change from globalization. Originality/value –The findings in this study may provide an added resource for understanding, selecting, developing and retaining leaders who acknowledge followers’ needs, are able to align with the organizational values, goals and objectives, and can operate in the ever changing operational environment with a commitment to self-improvement.
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    Pulling Back The Curtain On Stereotype Threat: Testing A Mediation Framework Of Identity Change And Belongingness
    (2020-05) Schulzetenberg, Anthony
    At a time when earning a bachelor’s degree is becoming increasingly necessary for jobs that pay a living wage, college completion rates for marginalized populations continue to lag behind those of their non-marginalized counterparts. Scholars suggest that stereotype threat (ST) is partially responsible for these stubborn academic performance disparities. ST theory suggests that internalized distress associated with a negative stereotype concerning one’s social group can inhibit stereotyped students’ academic performance. The mechanisms responsible for this relationship between ST and poor performance have not been definitely established. As such, this dissertation tested a theoretical framework proposing that ST initiates a self-protective process, leading college students to fence their social identities by differentiating themselves from non-stereotyped others. This was predicted to mediate students’ sense of belonging on campus, perceived in-group norms, and performance on a difficult math test. Utilizing a mixed model randomized control trial design with 133 stereotyped college students, this study could not replicate findings of previous ST studies. The ST manipulation technique used in previous lab-based ST studies (stating a test is diagnostic of ability) did not induce a discernible ST in this naturalistic study. This study, however, is one of the first to find that social identity is malleable and predictive of students’ sense of belonging and perception of in-group norms. As stereotyped students felt less similar to other students, they felt less like they belonged on campus and believed their group would do more poorly in college. Furthermore, an intervention designed to normalize college-related struggles and worries significantly improved students’ test performance. These findings are discussed in relation to recently articulated oversights in ST research. To continue to inform ST’s real-world impact, future research should continue to use naturalistic settings to investigate the processes underlying interventions and social identity changes to further explain performance differences among college students.
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    The relationship between multiple identity attributes and diversity, and individual decision making and group performance: experimental evidence.
    (2009-08) Kramer, Amit
    The effect of diversity on individual behavior and team and organizational performance is a rapidly growing field of study. Another growing field of study involves the effect of identity-based behavior on individual, team, and organizational outcomes. Diversity and identity, although related to each other, have not been combined in a single framework. A serious of lab studies is used to explore the effect of similarity across different identity attributes at the individual and group level, and diversity of the group, on decisions, behavior, and performance within the context of (a) multiple identity attributes and both deep and surface-level diversity; (b) task complexity; and (c) task interdependence. The results indicate that individuals do make decision and act based on similarity across multiple identity attributes and multiple diversity dimensions. Furthermore, the effect of attribute similarity is cumulative: similarity across multiple deep-level attributes, simultaneously, increases favoritism toward similar others. In addition, homogeneous groups outperformed diverse groups in tasks that were characterized by high interdependence when communication between group members was not allowed, but diverse groups outperformed homogeneous groups in the same tasks when communication between group members was allowed.
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    Singing Arminius, imagining a German Nation:narratives of the liberator Germaniae in Early Modern Europe
    (2012-05) Skarsten, Roger Christian
    This dissertation investigates early modern European musical/dramatic narratives of the ancient Germanic chieftain Arminius, a figure onto which cultural discourses and images of Germanness continue to imprint themselves today. Just as modern historians characterize the post-Westphalian Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation as an active (if not always amicable) interdependence between the states and the imperial institutions, so do the Arminius narratives of this era demand re-evaluation apart from the nineteenth-century nationalistic ideologies that have colored the figure's reception. This investigation accordingly contextualizes the Arminius figure in the company of the Holy Roman Emperor as well as the German princes whose sovereignty had received official confirmation after 1648. The first part explores the notion of a Roman-German identity as it relates to the Habsburg dynasty's self-representations, and the ways in which an understanding of this duality affects interpretations of operatic/dramatic works on the subject of Arminius that were dedicated to representatives of the Habsburg family or performed in territories where Habsburg influence was immediate. The second part turns to the princes of the Empire and considers how narratives of Arminius and the ancient Germanic tribes function within contexts of political particularism. Through concepts linked with geographical space, the continuity of ancestral ties, and the essential nature of the German character, these works construct and advocate cohesive notions of an imagined German social identity among their audiences while also upholding the affirmed freedom of the princes. A series of case studies (focused on the performance of Arminius narratives at various courts) builds on a referential network between the cultural reception of the figure (including the legacies of the ancient Germanic peoples in general) and other literary, pedagogical, and pictorial sources that were produced for the benefit of German princes. The case studies reveal the complex and sometimes contradictory ways in which these narratives interacted with contemporary political and cultural worldviews concerning the manifestation of the German nation within the Holy Roman Empire. The dissertation contains a substantial annotated catalog of musical/dramatic works on the subject of Arminius.
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    “Stronger With Each Other”: A Case Study of a Shared Superintendency and Multi-District Partnership in Rural Minnesota
    (2020-09) Chamberlain, Rachel
    This study of a multi-district superintendency in rural Minnesota reveals how schools act as spaces where community boundaries expand as a result of partnership and collaboration. The project, informed by grounded theory, seeks to fill a key gap in understanding the experiences of school staff and community members in multi-district resource sharing. In addition, it provides insight into how the sensemaking of rural community identity is negotiated through the school-community relationship. I used theories of positive psychology (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Mukund, 2016; Biddle & Azano, 2016), critical theory (Delpit, 1988; Foucault; 1977) and social frontiers (Burt, 1992; Miller, Scanlan, & Phillippo, 2017) as conceptual tools. The notion of boundary-spanning (Tajfel & Turner, 1985; Lamont & Molnár, 2002) was utilized in the analysis of how school staff and community members defined rurality and who was considered an insider or outsider in their communities. This qualitative case study utilizes interviews, observation, and document analysis to provide an in-depth look at how rural community members and school personnel perceive the efforts of their district to share resource and staff positions with a neighboring district. A consideration of history and the significance of place in rural communities provides context for findings that reveal the ways community identity is shaped by shared struggle and survival. When this experience is extended to a neighboring district, community identity expands to include those outside the traditional boundaries of geography. School leaders, including the district superintendent, are key actors in boundary-spanning and the bridging of resources between districts. However, this study also shares how students, families, and community members play equally important roles in increasing the permeability of community boundaries.