Social identity processes

We’ll never get past the glass ceiling! Metastereotyping, world-views and perceived relative group-worth.

by Chuma Owuamalam

Co-authored with Hanna Zagefka (British Journal of Psychology - accepted with minor revision). I am first author.

Aspects of this paper received the "Outstanding Poster Award" at the 6th Biennial Convention of the Society for Psychological Study of Social Issues.

This paper examined the implications of perceived negativity from members of a dominant outgroup on the world-views... more This paper examined the implications of perceived negativity from members of a dominant outgroup on the world-views and perceived relative group-worth of members of disadvantaged groups. We hypothesised that concerns about the negative opinions that the outgroup is perceived to hold of the ingroup (i.e., metastereotypes) would undermine group members’ views about societal openness and fairness. We expected this trend to be mediated by recall of previous personal experiences of discrimination. We further hypothesised that members’ views about societal openness and fairness would predict their perception of the ingroup’s worth relative to the outgroup - such that undermined views about societal openness and fairness would be associated with lower perceived ingroup-worth relative to the outgroup. Taken jointly, results from two studies using two real intergroup contexts support these hypotheses and are discussed in terms of their implications for the social mobility of members of disadvantaged groups.

Mundane consumption and the self: A social-identity perspective

by Susan Kleine

What identity for Europe? Communication, memory and citizenship

by Gil Ferreira

Historic Injustice, Group Membership and Harm to Individuals: Defending Claims for Historic Justice From the Non-Identity Problem

by Ori Herstein

Harvard Journal of Racial and Ethnic Justice (formerly Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal,Harvard blackLetter Law Journal)Vol. 25, p. 229, 2009.

Some claim slavery did not harm the descendants of slaves since, without slavery, its descendants would never have... more Some claim slavery did not harm the descendants of slaves since, without slavery, its descendants would never have been born and a life worth living, even one including the subsequent harms of past slavery, is preferable to never having been born at all. This creates a classic puzzle known as the non-identity argument, applied to reject the validity of claims for historic justice based on harms to descendants of victims of historic wrongs: since descendants are never harmed by historic wrongs, they have no right to rectification. This conclusion is unintuitive.

This article explains the nature of harm involved in historic injustice, overcoming the hurdle the non-identity argument poses to historic justice claims. Historic injustice and the harms it generates are best understood as group harms. Claims for historic justice can be grounded in harms currently living individuals suffer as a function of the harms their group or community currently suffers as a consequence of historic wrongs. One form of harm, constitutive harm, differs from the aggregative account of harm assumed by the non-identity argument and is immune to it. It is the type of harm people suffer as members of certain historically wronged groups and communities. Therefore, the constitutive harm people suffer in cases of historic injustice may serve as a basis for justifying claims for historic justice.

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Entrepreneurs of hate and entrepreneurs of solidarity: Social identity as a basis for mass communication

by Rakshi Rath

Collective Creativity Social processes in Cultural Production

by Alice Atkinson-Bonasio

Downplaying a compromised social image: The effect of metastereotype valence on social identification

by Chuma Owuamalam

Co-authored with Hanna Zagefka (published). I am first author.

This research examined the prediction that group members' levels of identification with the in-group would be... more This research examined the prediction that group members' levels of identification with the in-group would be influenced by the valence of salient metastereotypes. Specifically, we expected those group members who activate negative metastereotypes to report lower levels of identification with the in-group compared with those who activate positive metastereotypes. We further expected the above effect to be mediated by fluctuations in self-view: Those group members who activate negative metastereotypes should experience lowered self-view (or self-esteem), which would then lead them to downplay their membership of the negatively valued in-group. In addition, we expected this mediated effect to be particularly visible among those who were less strongly identified with the in-group to begin with. Results obtained across two studies in which metastereotype valence was manipulated support the predicted main effect and the moderated mediation hypothesis. Discussions highlight the need for a positive social image when concern about the negative connotations of one's social group membership is raised

Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the role of identity processes.

by Rusi Jaspal

Jaspal, R. (in press). Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the role of identity processes. Israel Affairs

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Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism constitute two important ideological building blocks of the Islamic Republic of Iran.... more Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism constitute two important ideological building blocks of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet, there is no existing research into the psychosocial motives underlying the manifestation of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at the institutional level in Iran. Here it is argued that there is much heuristic and predictive value in applying tenets of identity process theory (IPT), a socio-psychological model of identity threat and action, to the primarily socio-historical literature on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran. The paper provides a summary of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and ‘new anti-Semitism’ and IPT. The substantive section of the paper explores (i) how anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism may restore feelings of belonging in the Muslim world and beyond; (ii) the inter-relations between ingroup and outgroup self-efficacy; (iii) the psychosocial motivation to maintain Shiite ideology and Khomeini’s legacy; and (iv) the construction of Jews and Israel in terms of a threat to group continuity. It is suggested that insights into the motivational principles underlying anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at the institutional level may inform empirical research into social representations of Jews and Israel in Iran. More broadly, this paper highlights the potential contribution of social psychology to existing work on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the humanities.