The idea that economic downturns and economic deprivation provoke tensions and intergroup hostility is remarkably pervasive. These accounts often work from the premise that economic crises and ...poverty provide “fertile soil” for populist parties and leaders with an anti‐immigrant agenda. This may explain why we intuitively expect that “hard times” produce “harsh attitudes” towards minorities. However, there is also robust empirical evidence showing that intergroup hostility (and anti‐immigration sentiments more specifically) can (i) surge in times of economic prosperity, and (ii) be widespread among relatively affluent groups. In this article, I will review evidence showing that intergroup hostility (such as anti‐immigrant sentiments) can be equally prevalent in times of relative gratification as well as in times of relative deprivation (accounting for the “Wealth Paradox”). In the second part of this contribution, I will explore these processes through the lens of classic social identity theorising focusing on the way that status anxiety, status threat, and fear of falling among members of wealthier groups are shaped by the permeability of group boundaries and the security of wealth positions. I argue that social identity theorising, typically applied to explain the behaviour of low status groups, can provide a parsimonious and integrative account for why and when high status (i.e., as a result of affluence and prosperity) may be associated with hostility towards minorities rather than with greater tolerance.
The Social Cure Catherine Haslam; Jolanda Jetten; Alexander, S. Haslam
2012, 20120125, 2011, 2012-01-25, 20120101
eBook
A growing body of research shows that social networks and identities have a profound impact on mental and physical health. With such mounting evidence of the importance of social relationships in ...protecting health the challenge we face is explaining why this should be the case. What is it that social groups offer that appears to be just as beneficial as a daily dose of vitamin C or regular exercise?
This edited book brings together the latest research on how group memberships and the social identities associated with them determine people's health and well-being. The volume provides a variety of perspectives from clinical social organisational and applied fields that offer theoretical and empirical insights into these processes and their consequences. The contributions present a rich and novel analysis of core theoretical issues relating to the ways in which social identities and factors associated with them (such as social support and a sense of community) can bolster individuals' sense of self and contribute to physical and mental health. In this way it is shown how social identities constitute a 'social cure' capable of promoting adjustment coping and well-being for individuals dealing with a range of illnesses injuries trauma and stressors. In addition these theories provide a platform for practical strategies that can maintain and enhance well-being particularly among vulnerable populations.
Contributors to the book are at the forefront of these developments and the book's strength derives from its analysis of factors that shape the health and well-being of a broad range of groups. It presents powerful insights which have important implications for health clinical social and organisational psychology and a range of cognate fields.
The present research aims at gaining a better insight on the psychological barriers to the introduction of social robots in society at large. Based on social psychological research on intergroup ...distinctiveness, we suggested that concerns toward this technology are related to how we define and defend our human identity. A
threat to distinctiveness hypothesis
was advanced. We predicted that too much perceived similarity between social robots and humans triggers concerns about the negative impact of this technology on humans, as a group, and their identity more generally because similarity blurs category boundaries, undermining human uniqueness. Focusing on the appearance of robots, in two studies we tested the validity of this hypothesis. In both studies, participants were presented with pictures of three types of robots that differed in their anthropomorphic appearance varying from no resemblance to humans (mechanical robots), to some body shape resemblance (biped humanoids) to a perfect copy of human body (androids). Androids raised the highest concerns for the potential damage to humans, followed by humanoids and then mechanical robots. In Study 1, we further demonstrated that robot anthropomorphic appearance (and not the attribution of mind and human nature) was responsible for the perceived damage that the robot could cause. In Study 2, we gained a clearer insight in the processes underlying this effect by showing that androids were also judged as most threatening to the human–robot distinction and that this perception was responsible for the higher perceived damage to humans. Implications of these findings for social robotics are discussed.
The assumption that populist right-wing parties (PRWPs) thrive when the economy slows down is remarkably pervasive. What is often neglected is evidence showing PRWPs can thrive in times of economic ...prosperity. To examine this, we conducted an experiment in which participants were exposed to different appraisals of the future of the national economy and were subsequently asked to evaluate an anti-immigration speech (Study 1). Results showed stronger anti-immigrant sentiments when the national economy was presented as prospering rather than contracting. We then analyzed speeches by PRWP leaders who secured electoral victories during economic prosperity (Study 2) and found that these leaders encourage a sense of injustice and victimhood by portraying ordinary citizens as the victim of an alliance between powerful groups (the elite) and less powerful groups (refugees, immigrants, minorities). More specifically, Study 2 showed that PRWP leaders are crafty identity entrepreneurs who are able to turn objective relative gratification into perceived relative deprivation. We conclude that it is hence problematic to treat PRWP support as evidence of "resonance" with public sentiments and urge PRWP scholars interested in supply-side factors to engage with the social identity literature on leadership, follower ship, and social influence.
Deviance and dissent in groups Jetten, Jolanda; Hornsey, Matthew J
Annual review of psychology,
01/2014, Letnik:
65
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Traditionally, group research has focused more on the motivations that make people conform than on the motivations and conditions underpinning deviance and dissent. This has led to a literature that ...focuses on the value that groups place on uniformity and paints a relatively dark picture of dissent and deviance: as reflections of a lack of group loyalty, as signs of disengagement, or as delinquent behavior. An alternative point of view, which has gained momentum in recent years, focuses on deviance and dissent as normal and healthy aspects of group life. In this review, we focus on the motivations that group members have to deviate and dissent, and the functional as well as the dysfunctional effects of deviance and dissent. In doing so we aim for a balanced and complete account of deviance and dissent, highlighting when such behaviors will be encouraged as well as when they will be punished.
Building on theories explaining social outcomes of economic inequality, our research examined the psychological impact of inequality on the desire for wealth and status. Our studies provide both ...experimental (Studies 1 and 3, Ns = 321 and 596) and correlational (Study 2; N = 141,477 from 73 countries and regions) evidence that higher inequality heightens people’s desire for wealth and status. Notably, this effect of inequality on desire is independent of the influence of societal wealth. Moreover, our results reveal social class differences in why inequality fuels motivations: Lower-class individuals are more likely to respond to higher inequality with a heightened desire reflecting self-improvement concerns, whereas upper-class individuals are more likely to respond with a heightened desire reflecting social comparison concerns. These findings suggest that higher inequality creates an environment of restlessness in which both the poor and the rich feel obliged to seek wealth and status, albeit for different reasons.
Previous research has shown that negative attitudes towards immigrants and support for anti-immigrant parties are observed both among those experiencing relative deprivation and those experiencing ...relative gratification (so called v-curve). Whereas the effect of relative deprivation is intuitive, the effect of relative gratification is more difficult to explain. Why would economic prosperity provoke negative attitudes towards immigrants? We first present correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Study 2) support for the v-curve. In Study 1, in a national Swiss referendum, a higher percentage anti-immigrant voting was found in cantons with relatively lower and relatively higher relative disposable income. In Study 2, in a hypothetical society, more opposition to 'newcomers' joining society was found among poor or above average wealth group members than among those in a moderate wealth group condition. In Study 3, we replicate this finding and also show that opposition to immigration is higher for all wealth groups when societal inequality is growing rather than declining. In a final study, we examine different forms of relative gratification and mediators of the relationship between relative gratification and opposition to immigration (i.e., identification, collective self-definition as competent and cold, and fear about future wealth). Only fear about future wealth mediates this relationship. We conclude that, paradoxically, relative gratification effects are partly due to the fear of future deprivation.
Two pre-registered experiments (Total N = 822) explored the effect of economic inequality on social class stereotyping and the social mechanisms driving this relationship. In both experiments, ...participants were randomly assigned to a fictitious society with high or low levels of inequality and rated a wealthy and a poor individual on Vertical (i.e., assertiveness and competence) and Horizontal stereotype dimensions (i.e., friendliness and morality). We found that higher (versus lower) inequality caused both social classes to be perceived as more incompetent, immoral, and unfriendly, and the poor to be perceived as more unassertive. Moreover, we found that high (versus low) inequality caused stereotypes of the wealthy and poor to be more different on unique dimensions (i.e., in relation to the poor, the wealthy were stereotyped as more assertive, but also more unfriendly and immoral). Importantly, inequality affected the stereotype dimensions through distinct mechanisms. We found evidence of class-based categorization mediating the effect of inequality and social class stereotypes on the Vertical dimension, and evidence of negative intergroup relations (i.e., increased competition and reduced trust) explaining stereotypes on the Horizontal dimension. Further, we found that social class stereotypes influenced support for redistributive wealth policies. Our work contributes to the literature by identifying the mechanisms through which inequality affects perceptions of the social classes.
•High (versus low) inequality causes more negative social class stereotyping.•High (versus low) inequality causes more distinctive social class stereotyping.•Economic inequality affects stereotype dimensions through distinct mechanisms.•Social class stereotypes influence support for redistributive wealth policies.
Previous research has demonstrated that nostalgia for the past can have positive consequences for individuals' psychological well-being and their perceived ability to cope with challenges in the ...present (Wildschut, Sedikides, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006). We propose that this effect is limited to circumstances in which individuals have maintained identity continuity between the past and the present. Support for this moderation hypothesis is obtained in a longitudinal survey (Study 1) and two experiments (Studies 2 and 3) among students entering university. Whereas previously observed positive effects of nostalgia were confirmed when identity continuity had been maintained, feeling nostalgic about the past in the context of lower identity continuity had negative consequences for well-being (Studies 1 and 3), perceived ability to cope with challenges (Studies 1 and 2), and interest in new opportunities (Studies 2 and 3) rather than focusing on familiar experiences (Study 3). Taken together, results indicate that the extent to which individuals view the present as linked to the past has important implications for the outcome of their nostalgia.
There is evidence that in more economically unequal societies, social relations are more strained. We argue that this may reflect the tendency for wealth to become a more fitting lens for seeing the ...world, so that in economically more unequal circumstances, people more readily divide the world into “the haves” and “have nots.” Our argument is supported by archival and experimental evidence. Two archival analyses reveal that at times of greater inequality, books in the United Kingdom and the United States and news media in English-speaking countries were more likely to mention the rich and poor. Three experiments, two preregistered, provided evidence for the causal role of economic inequality in people’s use of wealth categories when describing life in a fictional society; effects were weaker when examining real economic contexts. Thus, one way in which inequality changes the world may be by changing how we see it.
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