Psychology Psychology research assignment 2

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InclusionIdentity.ppt
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Inclusion and Identity

Chapter 3

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Today’s Agenda

  • Examine an individual’s need to belong (psychological, sociological, biological)
  • Inclusion and exclusion (the impact of being excluded)
  • Individualism/Collectivism continuum
  • Process of personal to social identify
  • Examine how viewing oneself as a member of a group has consequences (e.g., perceive, think about, feel, and behave towards others)

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Questions to Consider

  • Which group do you currently identify with most?
  • What does this group mean to you?
  • How has this group shaped you personally?
  • How would you feel if this group was gone?

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  • Baumeister & Leary (1995) – all humans have a pervasive drive to form and maintain lasting positive, and impactful interpersonal relationships (social, cognitive, biological)

  • Evolutionary theory argues that some group behaviours may be rooted in physiological processes

  • Evolutionary psychology suggests this instinct resulted from natural selection – allowing for reproductive success and approach vs. avoidance (e.g., reading someone’s face) allowed for adaption vs. maladaptive behaviours)

  • Baumeister & Leary (1995) believe that groups are of such importance (e.g., thoughts, emotions, impulses, and decisions) that without it, people are rendered incapacitated (perceived or real exclusions have real impact) – Any examples?

The Need to Belong

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Hierarchy of Needs

  • Abraham Maslow (1970) suggested that certain needs have priority over others. Physiological needs like breathing, thirst, and hunger come before psychological needs such as achievement, self-esteem, and the need for recognition.

(1908-1970)

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Motives

  • Human needs organized; arranged from most basic to personal and advanced needs
  • Lower needs must be met first or higher needs cannot operate
  • Chapter 2 (pp. 54)

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Hierarchy of Needs

  • begins at the base with physiological needs that must first be satisfied
  • then higher-level safety needs become active
  • then psychological needs become active

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  • Studies in various contexts
  • Solitary confinement
  • Solitary adventurers
  • All find negative

reactions to isolation

  • Studies of people who agree to isolation – a different emotional experience than someone who is excluded (reduced or eliminate contact) – ostracized, rejected, shunned, avoided

Issues

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Do Humans Prefer Solitude or Membership in Groups?

  • Exclusion is aversive and avoided
  • Ostracism – excluding one of more individuals from a group by reducing or eliminating contact
  • forms of exclusion: ignored, avoided, shunning (both social and physical)
  • forms of inclusion: granted membership, welcomed, recruited

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  • On July 13, 2005, police responded to a neighbor’s call
  • A 6 year old girl name Danielle was found in terrible living conditions
  • What were the results of this neglect?

Dani’s Story

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/the-girl-in-the-window/750838

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Do Humans Prefer Solitude or Membership in Groups?

  • Baumeister et al. - a series of 'life alone’/rejections studies
  • based on personality profile and the second on a 10 minute get to know you session – ask to choose who they were like to work with – they were not chosen
  • Kipling Williams – ball toss experiments (face to face and online – immediately & after)
  • people respond negatively if they expect to be alone or are rejected
  • lower self esteem (life meaning), increased aggression (not physical) – ex. Gaertner’s (2008) noise study
  • take risks/increased risk taking
  • reduced cognitive capacity – fatigue, slowing
  • emotional responses – anxiety, anger, and depressed mood
  • Fight or flight mentality (increased impulsivity)

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Do Humans Prefer Solitude or Membership in Groups?

  • Leary’s sociometer theory: self-esteem warns of possible exclusion and self worth to others
  • Part of the brain that deals with physical pain is activated with emotional pain – right prefrontal cortex and the limbic system thalamus, amygdala, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex – dorsal and ventral) (Eisenberg, Liberman, and Williams (2003)
  • Various stress hormones are released (norepinephrine, adrenalin, dopamine, cortisol)
  • Adaptive response?

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The Biology of Ostracism and Inclusion

Anterior insula

dACC

(dorsal cingulate cortex)

Ostracism triggers “pain” areas of the brain

Do Humans Prefer Solitude or Membership in Groups?

  • Leary’s sociometer theory: self-esteem is not just an indicator of self worth but warns of possible exclusion (or lack of acceptance)
  • Part of the brain that deals with physical pain is activated with social/emotional pain
  • May influence withdrawal or aggression (fight or flight – to reduce pain)
  • People become hypervigilant (tend and befriend – to reduce pain)
  • Also perform extra work, work harder, offer apologies, favours, look for social cues
  • Acceptance/Connection is key

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Social Capital – degree to which individuals and groups are linked to others which provide positive benefits

http://www.ted.com/talks/stefana_broadbent_how_the_internet_enables_intimacy.html

  • Withdrawal and freezing
  • Aggressive, combative orientation
  • Attention to social cues
  • Increased motivation
  • Prosocial orientation
  • Fight vs Flight
  • Tend and Befriend

Reactions to Exclusion

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The Temporal Need-Threat Model of Ostracism: Williams, 2009

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Individualism to Collectivism

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Individualism

Collectivism

The individual is primary first. His or her rights must be recognized & put above the right of the group as a whole. If the group’s goals aren’t compatible with the individual’s goals, then the individual is free to go his

or her own way.

The group is primary first. Its rights must be recognized and put above the right of the individual. The individual belongs to the group.

The Individualism & Collectivism Continuum

Individualism & collectivism differ in their relative emphasis on individuals and groups. The balance between the individual’s rights and the group’s rights

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  • Individualists
  • Collectivists

Micro:

The Social Self

Who Am I?

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I-C Continuum (cont’d)

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  • Personal Identity – perception of self-concept – includes unique qualities, traits, beliefs, skills/abilities

  • Social Identity – perception of self-concept that is derived from relationships with people, groups, society

  • Personal vs. Social Identity – is a complex, multi-level system rather than being unitary (me vs. we)

  • Are all identities social in nature?

I-C Continuum (cont’d)

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  • Creating Cooperation/Interpersonal Relations – groups create relationships among its members, but the needs and interests of the individual do not always match the needs of the group.
  • Balance between person needs and demands of the group – people often change their conception of who they are (includes groups’ qualities as well as their own).
  • Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (Marilyn Brewer and colleagues, 1993 & 2002) – a balance between 3 basic needs (group, family, & autonomy)

I-C Continuum (cont’d)

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  • Exchange Relationship – interpersonal association between individuals based on each person’s desire to increase the rewards they receive from others in the relationship.

  • Norm of Reciprocity – a social standard that individuals pay back what they receive from others.

  • Communal Relationship – when individuals are more concerned about what others get vs. what is individually given.

I-C Continuum (cont’d)

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  • Group Culture – distinct ways that members of the group represent their experiences (e.g., believes, customs, norms and roles)
  • Collectivism: stresses hierarchy and reacts more negatively to nonconformity
  • Individualism: stresses individuality and independence
  • Motivations
  • Collectivism: group-serving tendencies, reliance on the equality norm (even distribution)
  • Individualism: self-serving tendencies, reliance on the equity norm (inputs and outputs are =)

I-C Continuum (cont’d)

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Individualism

Collectivism

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Variations in I-C Continuum

  • Group culture – the distinct ways that members of the group represent their experiences
  • This may include rituals, beliefs, customs, rules, norms
  • Cultures, groups, and individuals vary in their relative emphasis of individualism and collectivism

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Thoughts on Theories of Cultural Influence

  • Subcultures
  • Some ethnic groups, such as Asian, Americans and Latinos, are more collectivistic than individualistic
  • Harry Triandis Horizontal cultures – those that minimize distances between individuals
  • Vertical cultures – accept & depend on distances between individuals

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Does Membership in a Group Change a Person's Self-Concept and Social Identity?

  • Social Identity Theory: the self-concept is determined by group memberships
  • Minimal groups paradigm (Tajfel et al., 1971) – split into meaningless groups (Overestimaters vs. Underestimater of jellybeans, # of dots, etc.) – clear favouritism for their group (i.e., sharing the same code
  • Social categorization: Individuals automatically classify people, including themselves, into groups.
  • Social identification: accepting as self-descriptive (self-stereotyping) the qualities attributed to one’s group (depersonalization)

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Self-Concept and Social Identity

  • Self-esteem depends on an individual’s personal qualities & the value of the groups to which they belong.

  • People’s desire to be positively evaluated by others often moderates their behavior.
  • Ingroup-outgroup bias: by rating one’s own group positively self-esteem is enhanced
  • Members of stigmatized group may nonetheless take pride in their groups and reject nonmembers evaluations of their groups (social creativity)
  • If a member of a prestigious collective self-esteem will increase – will use the pronoun “we”
  • We won – they lost or Middle East uprising

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  • Being a fan is an important element of self-concept and self-worth – Is there a risk?
  • Collective Self-Esteem – a person’s overall self-concept is based on membership in a social groups
  • Fans identify with an individual or group/team like others talk about family or a cultural group
  • Group’s/Team’s successes and failure

are often taken personally

  • Display greater involvement in

their team's performance, positive

attributes regarding their team,

perceive other fans of the same

team as special

Fanatics and Social Identity

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Self-Concept and Social Identity

  • Self-esteem depends on an individual’s personal qualities & the value of the groups to which they belong.

  • Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRG): stressing association with successful groups despite not producing the success themselves
  • BIRGing occurs because people want to maintain “cognitive harmony” and therefore evaluate connected parties similarly – as a result, public associations with a successful group is perceived to promote positive evaluations (i.e., enhanced public image)
  • People have a tendency to BIRG more when their self-esteem is threatened

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  • Self-protective strategies
  • Denying connections to groups that are performing poorly (CORF, or cutting off reflected failure)
  • Avoiding damage to self-image
  • Stereotyped Threat – anxiety provoking belief that others’ perception will be influence by negative stereotypes about one’s group
  • Leaving the group (individual mobility) – reducing ones connection minimize the threat.

Self-Concept and Social Identity

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