week 11 Flashcards
Social change
Transformation of the institutions and culture of a society.
Rupture in the equilibrium of social structures (de la Sablonnière et al, 2013).
Two main psychological models of social change: prejudice reduction and collective action.
From prejudice reduction to collective action
Prejudice reduction
A prejudice reduction approach assumes that negative attitudes are at the heart of intergroup inequality.
It aims at improving the attitudes of the advantaged.
Social justice is inextricably tied to strengthening intergroup harmony.
Positive effects on members of the advantaged group.
Collective action
Many procedures used to reduce prejudice may also serve to undermine collective action by the disadvantaged group (Wright & Baray, 2012).
Collective action is about strengthening social movements by the disadvantaged.
Two psychological social change models
Prejudice reduction
Low salience of category membership
Weak collective identification
Low salience of group-based inequality
Perceive group boundaries to be permeable
Generally positive characterizations of the outgroup
Collective action
High salience of category membership
Strong collective identification
High salience of group-based inequality
Perceive group boundaries to be impermeable
Generally negative characterizations of the outgroup
Social Identity Theory (SIT)
Explains intergroup relations as a function of group-based self-definitions.
Individuals define their own identities regarding social groups, and such identifications work to protect and bolster self-identity.
Social identity as those aspects of a person’s self-concept or image that derive from the social categories to which they belong (Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Spears & Tausch, 2015).
Social identity as places in society
We occupy many different “places” (e.g., student, friend, partner).
Some of those places are exclusive, occupied only by a small number of people (e.g., football team).
Some places are mutually exclusive (e.g., employed vs unemployed).
Others are inclusive, encompassing large numbers of people (e.g., British).
Some are nested (e.g., Italian, European) and/or cross-cutting (e.g., men and teacher).
- Interpersonal-intergroup continuum
Personal Identity
Characteristics that define us as individuals as distinct from other individuals (e.g., personality).
Social Identity
That part of our self-concept corresponding to group memberships, and the value and emotional significance attached to those memberships (Spears & Tausch, 2015).
Personal and social identity as two extremes by which behaviour can be defined.
In group situations, we shift from personal to social identity.
- Positive self-esteem and intergroup differentiation
Central principle of SIT: People seek to maintain positive social identities.
To maintain or enhance their self-esteem, members of social groups will base their comparisons on relevant outgroups with which they can make a favourable comparison on behalf of the ingroup.
- Strategies to avoid (negative) social identities
There is a possibility that groups to which one belongs may not satisfy the motivational principle of maintaining a positive self-esteem and intergroup differentiation.
Members of the group avoid negatively evaluated social identity by:
Individual mobility (e.g., leaving the group).
Social creativity (e.g., changing the comparison).
Social conflict (e.g., engaging in collective action).
Importantly, the type of strategy used is dependent on external factors.
Permeability, legitimacy and cognitive alternatives
Perceptions of permeability of group boundaries
Groups’ status legitimacy
Cognitive alternatives: Groups’ status stability
Individual mobility
Individual behaviour aimed at achieving a more positive situation for oneself – not for the group.
Boundaries are perceived to be permeable and there is the possibility for an upward change in the social status of the individual.
Social creativity
Group boundaries are perceived as impermeable, group relationships as legitimate and/or no cognitive alternatives can be envisaged.
Selecting a new comparison dimension.
Engaging in downward comparison.
Re-evaluating a negative group attribute by changing in a positive way.
Social conflict
Group boundaries are impermeable (individual mobility is impossible).
Group relationships are perceived as illegitimate and cognitive alternatives can be envisaged.
Social conflict as the struggle for agency and power in society.
Collective action is often the route used to contest and change the relationships between groups.
How do these strategies affect intergroup relations?
Individual mobility
It does not affect intergroup relations.
It is mainly about individual change.
Social creativity
It helps coping with social disadvantage, BUT group-based inequality is not actively challenged.
Social conflict
Directly attempts to change the group’s position in the social hierarchy.
Collective action: The only strategy that may result in a change in the objective reality of group relations.
Collective action/protest
Protest can take diverse forms: demonstrations, blockades, or strikes.
It can also be engaged in by single individuals (e.g., by signing a petition or voting on an issue) or take on more radical forms, such as property damage or physical violence (Becker & Tausch, 2015).
Nonviolent collective action = strikes, demonstrations, sit-ins, petitions, boycotts.
Violent collective action = unorganized (e.g., riots) or organized (e.g., militia / acts of terrorism).
Collective action as a socio-psychological phenomenon
What moves and motivates people to engage in such action is both academically and societally relevant, as an expression of human agency may change the social structure in which individuals are embedded (van Zomeren et al., 2018).
Why do people engage in collective action?
Injustice: Subjective sense of disadvantage, unjust treatment, or the violation of important moral standards.
Efficacy: Pragmatic and instrumental elements
Identity: Importance of identification with the aggrieved group.
Social Identity Model of Collective Action (SIMCA) (van Zomeren et al., 2008).
A meta-analysis tested the predictive role of these three dimensions.
It places social identity at the very heart of explaining collective action.
Injustice
People participate in protests to express their grievances stemming from relative deprivation, frustration, or perceived injustice (van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2013).
A sense of violation of important moral standards (Becker & Tausch, 2015).
Emotional dimension: Individual’s perceptions of unfairness or experience of anger (i.e., group-based anger).
How well does injustice predict protest?
2008 economic and political crisis led to new movements (e.g., Indignados) and revitalized older ones (e.g., the Catalonian Movement for independence).
Sabucedo et al. (2017) analysed the manifestos of the groups involved in the anti-austerity movement in Spain and surveyed 919 participants during the mobilisations.
The role of perceived injustice
Perceived injustice distinguished participants and non-participants.
Participants in the demonstrations feel more unfairly treated than non-participants.
Efficacy
Pragmatic and instrumental aspects of collective action.
Multiple forms of efficacy: Agency, collective, individual, and participative.
Group efficacy – when people believe their group can achieve its goals through joint action, they experience the collective agency that is lacking when people merely feel hopeful (Van Zomeren et al., 2008).
How does group efficacy influence collective action?
An experimental study manipulated students’ group efficacy beliefs (van Zomeren et al., 2010).
Group efficacy beliefs increased their collective action intentions against raising tuition fees in the Netherlands.
How? Group efficacy beliefs increased identification with the disadvantaged group by increasing their collective action tendencies (Van Zomeren et al., 2010).
Identity/group identification
Individuals’ psychological ties with the relevant group.
Identification with the aggrieved group in mobilising action and sustaining solidarity and group commitment (van Zomeren et al., 2008).
Group/social identity (e.g., women) vs politicised identity (e.g., politicised movement).
The role of identity processes
Longitudinal study (n=199) in the context of the German gay movement (Stürmer & Simon, 2004).
Members of the largest formal organization.
Results shown a clear support for the role of collective identity processes above and beyond efficacy dimensions (Stürmer & Simon, 2004).
Stronger effect of identification with the specific social movement organization (i.e., politicised identity).
