The system-stabilizing role of identity management strategies: Social creativity can undermine collective action for social change

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Volumn 103, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 647-662

  Becker, Julia C ^a  

^a PHILIPPS UNIVERSITY MARBURG   (Germany)

Author keywords

Collective action; Relative deprivation; Social change; Social creativity; Social identity theory

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; COMPARATIVE STUDY; CREATIVITY; FEMALE; GROUP PROCESS; HUMAN; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; SOCIAL BEHAVIOR; SOCIAL CHANGE; SOCIAL ISOLATION;

ADOLESCENT; ADULT; AGED; CREATIVITY; FEMALE; GROUP PROCESSES; HUMANS; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; PSYCHOSOCIAL DEPRIVATION; SOCIAL CHANGE; SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84874494040     PISSN: 00223514     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/a0029240     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. Abele, A. E., & Wojciszke, B. (2007). Agency and communion from the perspective of self vs. others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 751-763. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.93.5.751
2. Barreto, M., Ryan, M., & Schmitt, M. (2009). The glass ceiling in the 21st century: Understanding barriers to gender equality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/11863-000
3. Baumeister, R. F., & Jones, E. E. (1978). When self-presentation is constrained by the target's knowledge: Consistency and compensation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 608-618. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.36.6.608
4. Becker, J. C. (2012). Virtual special issue on theory and research on collective action in the European Journal of Social Psychology. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 19-23. doi:10.1002/ejsp.1839
5. Becker, J. C., Tausch, N., & Wagner, U. (2011). Emotional consequences of collective action participation: Differentiating self-directed from outgroup-directed emotions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 1587-1598. doi:10.1177/0146167211414145
6. Becker, J. C., & Wright, S. C. (2011). Yet another dark side of chivalry: Benevolent sexism undermines and hostile sexism motivates collective action for social change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 62-77. doi:10.1037/a0022615
7. Blanton, H., George, G., & Crocker, J. K. (2001). Contexts of system justification and system evaluation: Exploring the social comparison strategies of the (not yet) contented female worker. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 4, 126-137. doi:10.1177/1368430201004002004
8. Blanz, M., Mummendey, A., Mielke, R., & Klink, A. (1998). Responding to negative social identity: A taxonomy of identity management strategies. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 697-729. doi:10.1002/(SICI)10990992(199809/10)28 :5<697::AID-EJSP889>3.0.CO;2-#
9. Breinlinger, S., & Kelly, C. (1994). Women's responses to status inequality: A test of social identity theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 1-16. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1994.tb00293.x
10. Brown, R. (2000). Social identity theory: Past achievements, current problems and future challenges. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 745-778. doi:10.1002/1099-0992(200011/12)30:6<745::AIDEJSP24 >3.0.CO;2-O
11. Cadinu, M. R., & Cerchioni, M. (2001). Compensatory biases after ingroup threat: 'Yeah, but we have a good personality'. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 353-367. doi:10.1002/ejsp.46
12. Crocker, J., & Major, B. (1989). Social stigma and self-esteem: The self-protective properties of stigma. Psychological Review, 96, 608-630. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.96.4.608
13. Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108, 593-623. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.593
14. Cuddy, A. J. C., Norton, M., I., & Fiske, S. T. (2005). This old stereotype: The stubbornness and pervasiveness of the elderly stereotype. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 267-285. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2005.00405.x
15. Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2006). Striving for success in outgroup settings: Effects of contextually emphasizing ingroup dimensions on stigmatized group members' social identity and performance styles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 576-588. doi:10.1177/0146167205283336
16. Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2007). Social creativity strikes back: Improving low status group members' motivation and performance by valuing ingroup dimensions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 470-493. doi:10.1002/ejsp.375
17. Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2009). Working for the self or working for the group: How personal and social self-affirmation promote collective behavior among members of devalued groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 183-202. doi:10.1037/a0013068
18. Dion, K. L. (1986). Responses to perceived discrimination and relative deprivation. In: J. M. Olson, C. P. Herman, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Relative deprivation and social comparison: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 4, pp. 159-179). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
19. Eagly, A. H., & Mladinic, A. (1994). Are people prejudiced against women? Some answers from research on attitudes, gender stereotypes, and judgments of competence. European Review of Social Psychology, 5, 1-35. doi:10.1080/14792779543000002
20. Ellemers, N. (1993). The influence of socio-structural variables on identity enhancement strategies. European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 27-57. doi:10.1080/14792779343000013
21. Ellemers, N. (2001). Individual upward mobility and the perceived legitimacy of intergroup relations. In J. T. Jost & B. Major (Eds.), The psychology of legitimacy (pp. 205-222). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
22. Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (2002). Self and social identity. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 161-186. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135228
23. Ellemers, N., & Van Rijswijk, W. (1997). Identity needs versus social opportunities: The use of group-level and individual-level identity management strategies. Social Psychology Quarterly, 60, 52-65. doi:10.2307/2787011
24. Ellemers, N., Wilke, H., & van Knippenberg, A. (1993). Effects of the legitimacy of low-status group on individual and collective status enhancementstrategies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 766-778. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.766
25. Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., & Glick, P. (2007). Universal dimensions of social cognition: Warmth and competence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11, 77-83. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2006.11.005
26. Galinsky, A. D., Hugenberg, K., Groom, C., & Bodenhausen, G. B. (2003). The reappropriation of stigmatizing labels: Implications for social identity. In M. A. Neale, E. A. Mannix, & J. Polzer (Eds.). Research on managing in teams and groups (Vol. 5, pp. 221-256). Greenwich, CT: Elsevier Science Press.
27. Jackson, L. A., Sullivan, L. A., Harnish, R., & Hodge, C. N. (1996). Achieving positive social identity: Social mobility, social creativity, and permeability of group boundaries. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 241-254. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.2.241
28. Jetten, J., Schmitt, M. T., Branscombe, N. R., & McKimmie, B. M. (2005). Suppressing the negative effect of devaluation on group identification: The role of intergroup differentiation and intragroup respect. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 208-215. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2004.07.008
29. Jost, J. T., & Banaji, M. R. (1994). The role of stereotyping in system justification and the production of false-consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1-27. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1994.tb01008.x
30. Jost, J. T., Chaikalis-Petritsis, V., Abrams, D., Sidanius, J., van der Toorn, J., & Bratt, C. (2012). Why men (and women) do and don't rebel: Effects of system justification on willingness to protest. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 197-208. doi:10.1177/0146167211422544
31. Jost, J. T., & Kay, A. C. (2005). Exposure to benevolent sexism and complementary gender stereotypes: Consequences for specific and diffuse forms of system justification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 498-509. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.498
32. Kay, A. C., & Jost, J. T. (2003). Complementary justice: Effects of "poor but happy" and "poor but honest" stereotype exemplars on system justification and implicit activation of the justice motive. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 823-837. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.5.823
33. Kervyn, N., Yzerbyt, V. Y., & Judd, C. M. (2010). Compensation between warmth and competence: Antecedents and consequences of a negative relation between the two fundamental dimensions of social perception. European Review of Social Psychology, 21, 155-187. doi:10.1080/13546805.2010.517997
34. Klandermans, B. (1997). The social psychology of protest. Oxford, England: Blackwell.
35. Lalonde, R. N. (1992). The dynamics of group differentiation in the face of defeat. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 336-342. doi:10.1177/0146167292183010
36. Lane, R. E. (2003) The fear of equality. In J. T. Jost & J. Sidanius (Eds.), Political psychology: Key readings. New York, NY: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis. (Reprinted from American Political Science Review, pp. 35-51, 1959. Washington, DC: American Political Science Association. doi:10.2307/1951729
37. Leach, C. W., van Zomeren, M., Zebel, S., Vliek, M. L. W., Pennekamp, S. F., Doosje, B.,... Spears, R. (2008). Group-level self-definition and self-investment: A hierarchical (multi-component) model of in-group identification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 144-165. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.144
38. Lemaine, G. (1974). Social differentiation and social originality. European Journal of Social Psychology, 4, 17-52. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420040103
39. Lemyre, L., & Smith, P. M. (1985). Intergroup discrimination and selfesteem in the minimal group paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 660-670. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.49.3.660
40. Lerner M. (1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. New York, NY: Plenum.
41. Levin, J., & Spates, J. L. (1970). Hippie values: An analysis of the underground press. Youth and Society, 2, 59-73.
42. Luhtanen, R., & Crocker, J. (1992). A collective self-esteem scale: Selfevaluation of one's social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 302-318. doi:10.1177/0146167292183006
43. Martin, J. (1986). The tolerance of injustice. In: J. M. Olson, C. P. Herman, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), Relative deprivation and social comparison: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 4, pp. 217-242). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
44. Mummendey, A., Kessler. T., Klink, A., & Mielke, R. (1999). Strategies to cope with negative social identity: Predictions by social identity theory and relative deprivation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 229-245. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.76.2.229
45. Mummendey, A., & Schreiber, H.-J. (1983). Better or just different? Positive social identity by discrimination against or by differentiation from outgroups. European Journal of Social Psychology, 13, 389-397. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420130406
46. Mummendey, A., & Schreiber, H.-J. (1984). "Different" just means "better": Some obvious and some hidden pathways to in-group favouritism. British Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 363-367. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1984.tb00652.x
47. Mummendey, A., & Simon, B. (1989). Better or different? The impact of importance of comparison dimension and relative in-group size upon intergroup discrimination. British Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 1-16. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1989.tb00840.x
48. Oakes, P. J., & Turner, J. C. (1980). Social categorization and intergroup behavior: Does minimal intergroup discrimination make social identity more positive? European Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 295-302. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420100307
49. Reinhard, M.-A., Stahlberg, D., & Messner, M. (2008). Failure as an asset for high-status persons: Relative group performance and attributed occupational success. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 501-518. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2007.07.006
50. Rosenberg, M. J. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
51. Rubin, M., & Hewstone, M. (1998). Social identity theory's self-esteem hypothesis: A review and some suggestions for clarification. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2, 40-62. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0201_3
52. Runciman, W. G. (1966). Relative deprivation: A study of attitudes to social inequity in twentieth-century England. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Books.
53. Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7, 422-445. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.7.4.422
54. Simon, B., & Klandermans, B. (2001). Politicized collective identity: A social psychological analysis. American Psychologist, 56, 319-331. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.56.4.319
55. Spears, R., Jetten, J., Scheepers, D., & Cihangir, S. (2009). Creative distinctiveness: Explaining in-group bias in minimal groups. In: S. Otten, T. Kessler, & K. Sassenberg (Eds.), Intergroup relations: The role of motivation and emotion. A festschrift in honor of Amélie Mummendey. (pp. 23-40). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
56. Spears, R., & Tausch, N. (in press). Prejudice and intergroup relations. In M. Hewstone, W. Stroebe, & K. Jonas (Eds.), Introduction to social psychology.
57. Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behavior. Social Science Information/sur les sciences sociales, 13, 65-93. doi:10.1177/053901847401300204
58. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
59. Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In: S. Worchel & W. Austin (Eds.), The psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed., pp. 7-24). Chicago. IL: Nelson-Hall.
60. Tausch, N., Becker, J., Spears, R., Christ, O., Saab, R., Singh, P., &Siddiqui, R. N. (2011). Explaining radical group behavior: Developing emotion and efficacy routes to normative and non-normative collective action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 129-148. doi:10.1037/a0022728
61. Turner, J. C., & Brown, R. J. (1978): Social status; cognitive alternatives; and intergroup relations: In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 201-234). London, England: Academic Press.
62. Tyler, T. R., & Smith, H. J. (1998). Social justice and social movements. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindsey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 595-629). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
63. van Knippenberg, A. (1989). Strategies of identity management. In J. E. van Oudenhoven & T. M. Willemsen (Eds.), Ethnic minorities: Social psychological perspectives (pp. 59-76). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
64. van Knippenberg, A., & van Oers, H. (1984). Social identity and equity concerns in intergroup perceptions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 351-361. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1984.tb00651.x
65. van Zomeren, M., Postmes, T., & Spears, R. (2008). Toward an integrative social identity model of collective action: A quantitative research synthesis of three socio-psychological perspectives. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 504-535. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.504
66. van Zomeren, M., Spears, R., Fischer, A. H., & Leach, C. W. (2004). Put your money where your mouth is! Explaining collective action tendencies through group-based anger and group efficacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 649-664. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.649
67. Wagner, U., & Zick, A. (1993). Selbstdefinitionen und Intergruppenbeziehungen: Der social identity approach [Self-definitions and intergroup relations: The social identity approach]. In B. Pörzgen & E. Witte (Eds.), Selbstkonzept und Identität: Beiträge des 8. Hamburger Symposiums zur Methodologie der Sozialpsychologie (S. 109-129). [Self-concept and identity: Contributions of the eighth Hamburger Symposium on the Methodology of Social Psychology (pp. 109-129)]. Braunschweig, Germany: Braunschweiger Studien zur Erziehungs-und Sozialwissenschaft.
68. Walker, I., & Smith, H. J. (Eds.). (2002). Relative deprivation: Specification, development, and integration. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
69. Wright, S. C. (2001). Restricted intergroup boundaries: Tokenism, ambiguity and the tolerance of injustice. In J. T. Jost & B. Major (Eds.), The psychology of legitimacy (pp. 223-254). Cambridge, England: University Press.
70. Wright, S. C., & Taylor, D. M. (1998). Responding to tokenism: Individual action in the face of collective injustice. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 647-667. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199807/08)28: 4<647::AID-EJSP887>3.0.CO;2-0
71. Wright, S. C., & Taylor, D. M. (1999). Success under tokenism: Co-option of the newcomer and the prevention of collective protest. British Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 369-396. doi:10.1348/014466699164220
72. Wright, S. C., Taylor, D. M., & Moghaddam, F. M. (1990). Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: From acceptance to collective protest. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 994-1003. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.58.6.994
73. Yzerbyt, V. Y., Kervyn, N., & Judd, C. M. (2008). Compensation versus halo: The unique relations between the fundamental dimensions of social judgment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1110-1123. doi:10.1177/0146167208318602
74. Zagefka, H., & Brown, R. (2005). Comparisons and perceived deprivation in ethnic minority settings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 467-482. doi:10.1177/0146167204271711