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This new volume is the first to bring together social and organizational psychologists to explore social identity theory in organizational contexts. The chapters are wide ranging - they deal with basic social identity theory, organizational diversity, leadership, employee turnover, mergers and acquisitions, organizational identification, cooperation and trust in organizations, commitment and work, and socialization and influence within organizations. This book is an integrative platform for a closer relationship between social psychologists and organizational psychologists who study social ide

Adopting an intergroup perspective, the research was designed to examine predictors of employee responses to an organizational merger. Data were collected from 120 employees of a newly merged scientific organization. As predicted from social identity theory, the most negative responses to the merger were apparent among the employees of the low status premerger organization. There was also evidence of ingroup bias among both groups of employees involved in the merger—as expected, the bias was most marked on the status-irrelevant dimensions for the employees of the lower status organization, but most marked on the status-relevant dimensions for the employees of the high status organization. Also, in support of social identity theory, the perceived legitimacy of the basis for the status differentiation between the groups was associated with more positive responses to the merger among employees of the low status premerger organization, but with poorer responses among employees of the high status premerger organization. There was consistent evidence that the status by legitimacy interaction was mediated through the extent to which employees of the newly merged organization perceived a common ingroup identity

Subjective intergroup beliefs and authoritarianism were assessed in a field study ( N = 255) of White Australians' anti-Asian stereotyping and prejudice. A social identity analysis of intergroup prejudice was adopted, such that perceptions of the intergroup structure (instability, permeability, legitimacy and higher ingroup status) were proposed as predictors of higher prejudice (blatant and covert) and less favorable stereotyping. Consistent with the social identity approach, both independent and interacting roles for sociostructural predictors of Anti-Asian bias were observed, even after demographic and personality variables were controlled. For example, perceived legitimacy was associated with higher prejudice when White Australians' status position relative to Asian Australians was valued. Moreover, when participants evaluated Whites' position as unstable and high status or legitimate, perceptions of permeable intergroup boundaries were associated with anti-Asian bias. The present findings demonstrate status protection responses in advantaged group members in a field setting, lending weight to the contention that perceptions of sociostructural threat interact to predict outgroup derogation. Implications for theories of intergroup relations are discussed.

Subjective intergroup beliefs and authoritarianism were assessed in a field study (N = 255) of White Australians' anti-Asian stereotyping and prejudice. A social identity analysis of intergroup prejudice was adopted, such that perceptions of the intergroup structure (instability, permeability, legitimacy and higher ingroup status) were proposed as predictors of higher prejudice (blatant and covert) and less favorable stereotyping. Consistent with the social identity approach, both independent and interacting roles for sociostructural predictors of Anti-Asian bias were observed, even after demographic and personality variables were controlled. For example, perceived legitimacy was associated with higher prejudice when White Australians' status position relative to Asian Australians was valued. Moreover, when participants evaluated Whites' position as unstable and high status or legitimate, perceptions of permeable intergroup boundaries were associated with anti-Asian bias. The present findings demonstrate status protection responses in advantaged group members in a field setting, lending weight to the contention that perceptions of sociostructural threat interact to predict outgroup derogation. Implications for theories of intergroup relations are discussed.

AbstractThe present research tested Thoits' (1986) proposal that coping mediates in the relationship between social support and adjustment to stress in two different contexts, namely adjustment to work stress and women's adjustment to the birth of their first child. The research was also designed to examine whether sources of support are more likely to influence coping if they are similar to the support recipient or proximal to the source of stress. In the first study, 137 employees from a large retail organization participated. Measures of social support (from supervisor, work colleagues, nonwork network members) and coping were obtained at Time 1. Two weeks later (Time 2), measures of employee adjustment were obtained. The second study was conducted on 197 expectant mothers. The measures of social support (from partner, family members, nonfamily members) were obtained at Time 1, coping was assessed at Time 2, and adjustment (self‐report and husband ratings) was assessed at Time 3. Results of structural equation analyses revealed, in the first study, that the effects of colleague support on levels of adjustment were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, the effects of supervisor support on adjustment (job satisfaction) were direct. In Study 2, there was evidence that the effects of partner support on women's adjustment to new parenthood were mediated through coping responses. In contrast, levels of family support had direct effects on self‐reported and external measures of adjustment.

The compelling quality of the Global Change simulation study (Altemeyer, 2003), in which high RWA (right‐wing authoritarianism)/high SDO (social dominance orientation) individuals produced poor outcomes for the planet, rests on the inference that the link between high RWA/SDO scores and disaster in the simulation can be generalized to real environmental and social situations. However, we argue that studies of the Person × Situation interaction are biased to overestimate the role of the individual variability. When variables are operationalized, strongly normative items are excluded because they are skewed and kurtotic. This occurs both in the measurement of predictor constructs, such as RWA, and in the outcome constructs, such as prejudice and war. Analyses of normal linear statistics highlight personality variables such as RWA, which produce variance, and overlook the role of norms, which produce invariance. Where both normative and personality forces are operating, as in intergroup contexts, the linear analysis generates statistics for the sample that disproportionately reflect the behavior of the deviant, antinormative minority and direct attention away from the baseline, normative position. The implications of these findings for the link between high RWA and disaster are discussed.

The current research examines how peripheral group members differ from prototypical group members in reacting to procedural discrimination (favoring self vs. favoring other procedures). Results of two experiments reveal that peripheral members react more negatively when the authority procedurally favors a prototypical member over them than when the authority favors them over a prototypical member. In contrast, reactions to procedural discrimination do not differ among prototypical members, and peripheral members paired with another peripheral member. The current research provides support for the literature on ingroup prototypicality, which argues that peripheral members are highly insecure about their inclusion in the group. It also furthers our insights into how group members' responses to procedural experience are qualified by social identity concerns.

The present study investigated whether the impact of expert testimony was influenced by the congruency between the gender of the expert and the gender orientation of the case. Participants ( N = 62) read a trial transcript involving a price-fixing allegation in either a male or female oriented domain. Within the case, the gender of the expert was manipulated. As predicted, the impact of the expert (e.g. damage awards) was greater when the gender of the expert and domain of the case were congruent as opposed to incongruent. Results also indicated that the impact of gender-domain congruency was particularly pronounced following group discussion. In addition, there was evidence that this effect was mediated through participants' evaluations of the expert witness.

The present research examined whether reactions to procedural discrimination (favoring self vs. favoring other procedures) are qualified by whether the authority is an ingroup or an outgroup member. We argue that because we tend to demonstrate ingroup bias in an intergroup context, we should react more positively when we are favored over an outgroup other than when an outgroup other is favored over us. Furthermore, we reason that because compared with outgroup authorities, ingroup authorities are perceived to be more related to us, we should react more strongly to procedural discrimination exercised by the ingroup authority. Across the two studies, results support our predictions. Results are discussed with reference to the social identity perspective and the group-value model.

We examined intergroup predictors of cultural adjustment among Asian international students in Australia. Sociostructural beliefs (status, legitimacy, and permeability) and initial adjustment were assessed ( N= 113) at Time 1, and measures of adjustment were obtained ( N= 80) at Time 2 eight weeks later. International students who perceived their cultural group to be relatively low in status experienced lower levels of psychological adjustment. Also, as expected, the effects of status were moderated by perceptions of both the permeability of intergroup boundaries and the legitimacy of the status differential. At high levels of legitimacy, perceptions of permeable group boundaries were associated with better psychological, sociocultural, and academic adjustment among international students perceiving their group to be low in status, but lower levels of adjustment among students who perceived their group to be high in status. At low levels of legitimacy, irrespective of group status position, perceived permeability was not related to adjustment.

Previous research indicates that people who are highly identified with their groups tend to remain committed to them under threat. This study examines the generalizability of this effect to (a) a real-life context involving the perception that others view the ingroup (Australians) as intolerant of minorities and (b) various dimensions of social identification. The sample comprised 213 respondents to a random mail survey. Perceived threat was inversely related to self-stereotyping (i.e. perceptions of self-ingroup similarity), but only for individuals with weak subjective ties to other group members. Threat perceptions were also predictive of enhanced judgments of within-group variability on threat-relevant dimensions, particularly for individuals with weaker ingroup ties. Various strategies for coping with a threatened social identity are linked to different facets of social identification.

Previous research indicates that people who are highly identified with their groups tend to remain committed to them under threat. This study examines the generalizability of this effect to (a) a real-life context involving the perception that others view the ingroup (Australians) as intolerant of minorities and (b) various dimensions of social identification. The sample comprised 213 respondents to a random mail survey. Perceived threat was inversely related to self-stereotyping (i.e. perceptions of self-ingroup similarity), but only for individuals with weak subjective ties to other group members. Threat perceptions were also predictive of enhanced judgments of within-group variability on threat-relevant dimensions, particularly for individuals with weaker ingroup ties. Various strategies for coping with a threatened social identity are linked to different facets of social identification.