Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Self-categorization theory'

The theories of orthogonal cultural identification and self-categorization are offered as links in examining the possible racioethnic differences in job satisfaction. It is posited that racioethnicity (Cox & Blake, 1991) is multidimensional with at least three conceptually distinct dimensions. Since there is a need for consistent terminology with respect to these distinct dimensions, the following new terms are offered to differentiate among them: " physioethnicity" refers to the physiological dimension of racioethnicity; "socioethnicity" refers to the sociocultural dimension; and "psychoethnicity" refers to the psychological dimension.

Psychology
Ph.D.
High quality interactions with racial outgroup members have been shown to improve explicit racial attitudes. However, the links between high quality interracial interactions with other cognitive and social factors have received less attention in the research literature. Contact theory posits that more contact with outgroup members leads to less bias towards outgroup members. The disclosure-liking effect posits that we like those who we have disclosed to and those who have disclosed to us. Therefore, some researchers have explored whether intimate self-disclosure in contact experiences can be used as a strategy to foster better interracial interactions. The current study found support for the use of self-disclosure as a strategy in interracial interactions to reduce executive functioning impairments typically found for both African-Americans and Caucasians following interracial interactions. This strategy was not as effective for other interracial interaction outcomes. Although implicit trust for the outgroup increased for Caucasians who interacted with an outgroup member, it decreased for African-Americans following an outgroup interaction. Intimacy of self-disclosure was unrelated to these observed changes in implicit outgroup trust. Furthermore, while this strategy reduced the salience of racial category differences for those who interacted with an outgroup member with high intimacy, the strategy also increased racial category salience for African-Americans. The study's results suggest that for some outcomes the quantity of contact may be as important as quality of contact and highlights the importance of studying effects for both minority and majority group members in interracial interactions.
Temple University--Theses

Computer models are used to simulate pedestrian behaviour for safety at mass events. Previous research has indicated differences between physical crowds of co-present individuals, and psychological crowds who mobilise collective behaviour through a shared social identity. This thesis aimed to examine the assumptions models use about crowds, conduct two studies of crowd movement to ascertain the behavioural signatures of psychological crowds, and implement these into a theoretically-driven model of crowd behaviour. A systematic review of crowd modelling literature is presented which explores the assumptions about crowd behaviour being used in current models. This review demonstrates that models portray the crowd as either an identical mass with no inter-personal connections, unique individuals with no connections to others, or as small groups within a crowd. Thus, no models have incorporated the role of self-categorisation theory needed to simulate collective behaviour. The empirical research in this thesis aimed to determine the behavioural effects of self-categorisation on pedestrian movement. Findings from a first study illustrate that, in comparison to a physical crowd, perception of shared social identities in the psychological crowd motivated participants to maintain close proximity with ingroup members through regulation of their speed and distance walked. A second study showed that collective self-organisation seemed to be increased by the presence of an outgroup, causing ingroup members to tighten formation to avoid splitting up. Finally, a computer model is presented which implements the quantified behavioural effects of self-categorisation found in the behavioural studies. A self-categorisation parameter is introduced to simulate ingroup members self-organising to remain together. This is compared to a physical crowd simulation with group identities absent. The results demonstrate that the self-categorisation parameter provides more accurate simulation of psychological crowd behaviour. Thus, it is argued that models should implement self-categorisation into simulations of psychological crowds to increase safety at mass events.

Media effects research has yet to shed light on the effects of exposure to the stereotype of Latinos as passionate and seductive (i.e., Latin lovers). Research on priming ethnic group stereotypes indicates that the activated stereotype affects subsequent evaluations of members of the ethnic group. This study looked at the effects of priming the Latin lover stereotype on participants' judgments of unrelated targets. A self-categorization theory approach was invoked to account for individual differences in priming effects, by assessing the role that ethnicity salience and stereotype endorsement play in priming effects. The experiment found little support for the effects of priming the Latin lover stereotype. Ethnicity accessibility and stereotype endorsement mainly moderated priming effects dealing with perceptions of an unrelated White male target's romanticism, perceptions of an unrelated Latino male target's relational commitment, perceptions of a relationally-committed female target's ethnicity, and compatibility ratings involving the relationally-committed female target. Reasons for the weak priming results are discussed.

This thesis examines the way in which traditional accounts of gender differences in the self-concept have relied on distal explanatory factors, and have thus conceptualised the gendered self as stable across both time and situation. This notion of a stable, gendered self has been implicated as underlying of a range of psychological gender differences (e.g., Cross & Madson, 1997), such as those in moral reasoning (e.g., Gillian, 1982) and ways of knowing (e.g., Belenky et al., 1989). As a result, these behaviours are also seen to be stable across time and context.¶ An alternative perspective is investigated, which looks to social identity theory and self-categorisation theory for a conceptualisation of both gender and the self-concept as being malleable and context-dependent (e.g., Turner et al., 1987). The social identity perspective describes the way in which proximal aspects of the social context affect the expression of gender-related behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs. In this way, the social identity perspective provides an analysis of group membership, group norms, and social influence which can not only account for the differences that are observed between men and women, but can also offer an analysis of the context-dependence of these difference and an approach by which gender differences can be mollified.¶ A series of nine empirical studies are reported, investigating the way in which individuals (a) define themselves, (b) approach moral reasoning, and (c) approach knowledge and learning, across a number of different social contexts. Together, the results suggest that the self-concept, moral orientation, and ways of knowing are neither stable nor inherently gendered, but are malleable and dependent on the nature of the self-other relationship as defined by the proximal aspects of the social context. The implications for traditional theories of gender differences are discussed, as are the broader implications for feminism and social change.

The present study employed a novel approach to extend current knowledge of how ideal leader prototypes and self-concepts solely and dually influence leader categorization and effectiveness judgments. Cluster analysis and policy-capturing were employed to examine independent and dependent variables as patterns. Findings partially supported hypotheses and corroborated previous research. Leader categorization and effectiveness judgments were self-affirming across multiple managerial performance scenarios; implicit policies varied based on the pattern of traits exhibited within their self-concepts and ideal leader prototypes. On average, people who endorsed prototypical ideal leader prototypes and self-concepts were more stringent compared to individuals with less prototypical patterns. They categorized fewer managers as leaders, perceived them as less effective, and weighed Planning, Motivating, and Controlling performance behaviors more in their judgments. The study also showed ideal leader prototypes explained variance in implicit policies for leader categorization and effectiveness beyond the variance accounted for by self-concepts; however, the self-concept remained a significant predictor of implicit policies for leader effectiveness. This novel finding suggests the self-concept, like the ideal leader prototype, is relevant in weighting performance behaviors for effectiveness judgment.
Ph. D.

This thesis examines how Palestinian ethnicity is negotiated and embodied in different contexts by young people with Palestinian background in Sweden. It is based on semi-structured interviews and uses Social Identity and Self Categorization theory. A main result is that the Palestinian ethnicity of the respondents play an essential role for their identity building, regardless of context. While being “Palestinian” is fore-fronted by all the interviewees as central to their identities, they ascribe somewhat different meanings to the concept of Palestinian-ness - what actually makes them “feel Palestinian” or can claim a Palestinian identity. Further, the interviewees’ perception of how Palestinian-ness is generally regarded in different contexts matter. Lastly, their notion of Palestinian ethnicity is strongly connected to the Palestinian territory and the historical-political situation and conflict with Israel. Together, these themes show the complexity of identity and ethnicity, however, the interviewees relation to their Palestinian background is solid.

This research develops the social psychological study of lay perception of human rights and of rights-based reactions to perceived injustice. The pioneering work by social representation theorists is reviewed. Of particular interest is the use of rights-based responses to perceived relative subgroup disadvantage. It is argued that these responses are shaped by the historical development of the legal concept of unique subgroup rights; rights asserted by a subgroup that cannot be asserted by outgroup members or by members of a broader collective that includes all subgroups. The assertion of unique subgroup rights in contrast to individual rights was studied by presenting participants with scenarios suggestive of human rights violations. These included possible violations of privacy rights of indigenous Australians (Study 1), civil and political rights of indigenous Australians under mandatory sentencing schemes (Study 2), privacy rights of students in comparison to public servants (Study 3), refugee rights (Study 4), and reproductive rights of lesbians and single women in comparison to married women and women in de facto relationships (Study 5). The scenarios were based on real policy issues being debated in Australia at the time of data collection. Human rights activists participated in Studies 4 and 5. In Study 5, these activists participated via an online, web-based experiment. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A social identity theory perspective is used drawing on concepts from both social identity theory and self-categorization theory. The studies reveal a preference for an equality-driven construal of the purpose of human rights law (i.e. that all Australians be treated equally regardless of subgroup membership) in contrast to minority support for a vulnerable groups construal of the purpose of human rights (i.e. that the purpose of human rights law is to protect vulnerable subgroups within a broader collective). Tajfelian social belief orientations of social mobility and social change are explicitly measured in Studies 3-5. Consistent with the social identity perspective, these ideological beliefs are conceptualised as background knowledge relevant to the subjective structuring of social reality (violation contexts) and to the process of motivated relative perception from the vantage point of the perceiver. There is some indication from these studies that social belief orientation may determine construals of the purpose of human rights. In Study 5 the observed preference for using inclusive human rights rhetoric in response to perceived subgroup injustice is explained as an identity-management strategy of social creativity. In Studies 4 and 5, explicit measurement of activist identification was also made in an attempt to further explain the apparently-dominant preference for an equality-driven construal of the purpose of human rights law and the preferred use of inclusive, individualised rights rhetoric in response to perceived subgroup injustice. Activist identification explained some action preferences, but did not simply translate into preferences for using subgroup interest arguments. In Study 5, metastereotyping measures revealed that inclusive rights-based protest strategies were used in order to create positive impressions of social justice campaigners in the minds of both outgroup and ingroup audiences. Ideas for future social psychological research on human rights is discussed.

Workplace misbehaviour is seen to be a neglected feature of organizational study (Ackroyd and Thompson; Vardi and Weitz, 2004). Where research has been undertaken into misbehaviour the emphasis tends fall into two broad categories. First of all, organizational behaviour theorists use the term misbehaviour as a means to highlight how the ‘negative’ behaviour of employees gets in the way of formal organizational goals. Secondly, radical sociologists tend to use the term misbehaviour as a means to critique Foucauldian labour process theory. Here an argument is made that suggests the disciplinary affects of new management practices associated with human resource management and total quality management have been overstated. Furthermore, radical sociologists also use the term misbehaviour as means to critique organizational behaviour accounts, which are believed to paint overly optimistic accounts of organizational life. However, on further examination it was discovered that neither a radical sociological approach, nor a traditional organizational behaviour approach, sufficiently addresses the current deficit in our understandings and explanations for workplace misbehaviour. Hence, one of the main themes of this thesis was to design a theoretical and methodological framework to address the deficit in our understandings and explanations. As such, a view was taken of how a radical sociological approach (orthodox labour process analysis) combined with an emerging social psychological perspective (a social identity approach (Haslam, 2001)) could help overcome previous theoretical problems associated with researching misbehaviour. Empirical support for this approach is provided by the detailed examination of the objective and subjective working conditions of four different sets of low status workers. The findings are based on longitudinal covert participant observations, as well as covert interviews and the covert gathering of company documents. The findings depart from previous insights into workplace misbehaviour in stressing the importance of acknowledging and investigating both the organizational and sub-group social identities of low status workers, in relation to such activities. As such, a great deal of the misbehaviour noted in the findings can be attributed to the poor treatment of low status workers by management, yet misbehaviour is equally if not more attributable to the empowering or inhibitive qualities of the many psychological groups that worker can associate with or disassociate themselves from. Recommendations are made about the direction of future research into workplace misbehaviour. There are many suggestions made and include examining misbehaviour in a wider range of settings, sectors and levels of organizations.

Categorization is a process that simplifies thoughts into manageable pieces by grouping related entities. This reductive analysis can lead to internal harm in individuals’ overarching identities, or Ganzheiten, which is the focus of this thesis. Given that categorization is necessary to our conceptual management of the world, is there a way to counteract the internal harms it can cause? Because acts of self-affirmation can have healing effects, I argue that one manifestation of permanent self-affirmation—custom tattooing—can be an effective repudiation of the divisiveness and reduction categories cause. Custom tattooing’s permanence, individualization, and personal significance make it a great choice as a method of healing internal damage caused by external categorization. Though tattoos might not be the answer for every person experiencing internalized categorization, I have shown that it should be considered as a valid source for the self-affirmation needed to heal from or counteract such internalized harms.

This thesis examines the role of mood in the social psychological process of stereotyping. We ask the question: how does an individual's mood affect the way in which they perceive both others and themselves in terms of their social identity? This area of research originally developed as an attempt to integrate findings from two important fields: affect and cognition, and group behaviour and stereotyping. Importantly, the overarching meta-theory in which these areas of research have traditionally been embedded is that of the cognitive miser (Fiske & Taylor, 1984). Previous research has conceptualised stereotypes as somewhat rigid, inflexible by-products of the way in which we perceive our social world. Research has focussed largely on the categorization process as an information reduction mechanism that enables us to cope with our cognitive limitations. Along with this emphasis, stereotyping has been inextricably linked to prejudice and discrimination. About the same time as the cognitive miser metaphor was dominant in stereotyping research, a resurgence of interest into the effects of mood on cognition was in place. This quickly grew into a large and influential body of work that focussed on the way in which mood influences information processing strategies. Positive moods were linked to heuristic processing and negative moods to substantive processing. The integration of these areas of research led to the examination of mood's effects on stereotyping. As stereotypes were seen as a form of cognitive shortcut, they were associated with heuristic processing while individuation was associated with substantive processing strategies. Findings in the area reflected the idea that happy moods are more likely to lead to stereotyping and sad moods to individuation due to these associations. An alternative to the cognitive miser approach however, is that of the perceiver as meaning-seeker (Bruner, 1957; Oakes, 1987; Oakes & Turner, 1991). This conceptualisation is critical to the understanding of categorization within both social identity theory and self-categorization theory. This thesis examines mood and stereotyping from this alternative point of view. We conclude that previous research has failed to account for the truly social psychological context within which stereotypes are formed, maintained and applied, and the social reality of group membership of which stereotypes are a product. Further, the prevailing analysis of mood almost exclusively in terms of its effects on information processing, ignores the link between mood and self-concept which could create a more meaningful interpretation of the role of mood in stereotyping. This thesis presents four experiments which show support for its main argument: that mood influences the use of stereotypes not due to its effect on information strategy choice, but through a context dependent process of self-definition as a group member. Specifically, this thesis argues and shows support for, the idea that mood serves as a contextually relevant aspect of self-concept at the level of social identity due to the match (fit) between perceived in-group valence and valence of the prevailing mood-state.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
Self disclosure, or sharing personal details about oneself with another, is an important communication construct that can impact relationship development, workplace satisfaction, mental health, and physical health, among other aspects of an individual’s life (Clevinger, Ablert & Raiche, 2019; Hyman, & McQuitty, 2000; Jourard, 1971; Rosenfeld, Civikly, & Herron, 1979). Much of the research on self disclosure has focused on why people choose to self disclose, how self disclosure impacts relationship development, or the risks individuals experience in regards to self disclosure (Greene, Derlega & Matthews, 2006; Smith & Brunner, 2017). The levels of self disclosure have also been studied (Harper & Harper, 2006; Morton, 1978). What has been overlooked thus far in academic research is the manner which individuals disclose information to one another. The benefits of filling this gap in self disclosure research by establishing self disclosure categories is multi-faceted. First, understanding how individuals self disclose increases the accessibility of self disclosure for non-academic circles. Categorizing self disclosure will provide individuals with the language to talk about how they make themselves known to others. Understanding how individual’s self disclose also creates new opportunities for self disclosure research among the academic realm.

This thesis examines the way in which traditional accounts of gender differences in the self-concept have relied on distal explanatory factors, and have thus conceptualised the gendered self as stable across both time and situation. This notion of a stable, gendered self has been implicated as underlying of a range of psychological gender differences (e.g., Cross & Madson, 1997), such as those in moral reasoning (e.g., Gillian, 1982) and ways of knowing (e.g., Belenky et al., 1989). As a result, these behaviours are also seen to be stable across time and context.¶ ...

Transference and social categorisation Abstract: This thesis concerns transference as a social psychological phenomenon, where transference has come to mean inferring that further characteristics of a significant other are present in a newly encountered target person after some observation of shared characteristics between those two figures. This thesis argues for the adoption of a social categorisation based approach to transference that is heavily informed by the social identity approach, and self-categorisation theory in particular. This approach is contrasted with the social cognitive model of transference, which is currently the dominant theoretical account of transference in social psychology. In terms of the empirical contribution of this thesis, three studies are reported that each attempt to test the predictive advantages of a proposed social categorisation model of transference. Study 1 leverages the social identity approach concept of comparative fit and consequently tests whether the characteristics of other people in the perceiver’s frame of reference (i.e., in addition to the target of transference) can moderate the extent of transference. Study 2 and Study 3 leverage the social identity approach concept of perceiver readiness and test whether the current goals of the perceiver can moderate the extent of transference. Study 3 also seeks to test whether the current goals of the perceiver can moderate the content of transference. Although the results of neither Study 1 or Study 2 conform to predictions, the results of Study 3 provide initial support for the utility of a social identity based understanding of transference. Possible future empirical directions for a social categorical account of transference are explored, as are the theoretical and practical implications, with particular attention paid to the implications for clinical practice. Overall a social categorisation approach to transference is shown to have some predictive advantages, in addition to providing advantages in terms of theoretical and metatheoretical coherence.

This research develops the social psychological study of lay perception of human rights and of rights-based reactions to perceived injustice. The pioneering work by social representation theorists is reviewed. Of particular interest is the use of rights-based responses to perceived relative subgroup disadvantage. It is argued that these responses are shaped by the historical development of the legal concept of unique subgroup rights; rights asserted by a subgroup that cannot be asserted by outgroup members or by members of a broader collective that includes all subgroups. ¶ ...

How can we close the gap between the policy commitments governments make at the international level and policy implementation at the domestic level in order to address global problems such as poverty and climate change? I integrate the constructivist perspective in international relations and self-categorization theory in social psychology to propose an identitybased approach to bottom-up policy reform. Identities are context-dependent categorisations of ‘self’ and ‘other’ which help actors navigate reality. I argue that policy outputs are determined by the state’s identity whereas each citizen’s policy preferences are determined by the multiple identities which comprise their self-concept. State identities constitute cultural norms and the state’s international image relative to other states. Citizen identities constitute personal value priorities (personal identities) and group memberships (social identities). Citizens contribute to the state identity but a state’s identity is bigger than the sum of its parts. Therefore, the aggregate preferences of individual citizens may not necessarily correspond to policy outputs. This is not undemocratic because people do not engage in policy issues unless doing so is stereotypical of their current context-dependent identity. In addition, people modify their interpretation of identity stereotypes so that their behaviours are not wildly contradictory across situations. Identities that are maintained by few people lack popular legitimacy so they become behaviourally aligned with identities that are important to the majority. This means that the state’s identity has a top-down influence on public opinion, making it difficult for radical change to catch on. However, reframing an issue can reconfigure identity stereotypes, enabling the established order to be challenged. To test my model I focus on the commitment by developed countries to increase foreign aid. I use cross-national policy and survey data for 13 major aid donor states. I find that: (1) state identities are pro- or anti-aid in line with the justice norms that underpin their domestic welfare policies; (2) personal and social identities that are other-focused are stereotypically pro-aid and those that are self-focused are stereotypically anti-aid; (3) the degree to which people’s personal identities are pro-aid depends on the pro-aid orientation of their social identities, and the degree to which their social identities are pro-aid depends on the pro-aid orientation of the state identity; and (4) policy discourses shape identity stereotypes.I offer four prescriptions for enhancing global governance to reduce poverty in developing countries. First, states legitimately pursue differentiated policy orientations to maintain their identities. Therefore, replacing uniform policy targets with unique performance criteria could facilitate positive synergies between states as they will be motivated to scale-up identitycongruent policies. Second, reminding citizens about their personal and social identities that are stereotypically pro-aid could activate the dormant aid constituency. Third, direct lobbying to change a state’s anti-aid policy orientation could facilitate bottom-up momentum through a realignment of legitimate citizen behaviour. Finally, discursively linking foreign aid to helping others rather than serving the national interest could expand the size of the aid constituency because supporting aid will become stereotypical of inherently other-focused identities.