Group identification serves important functions such as motivating group members to work towards group goals and sustaining their efforts to maintain a positive group identity. Thus increasing or decreasing group identification has implications for group members’ commitment to achieving group goals. We propose that pursuit of group-level goals has the same properties as the pursuit of individual goals: both are affected by obstacles to goal achievement. We show that group identification and group-level efforts to protect group identity can be reduced or enhanced by deterrents to feeling identified with the ingroup. We exposed participants to different types of deterrents: a reason for not liking the ingroup (Study 1), difficulty of achieving an ingroup goal (Study 2), and a threat to ingroup identity (Study 3). Group identification and strength of efforts to achieve a group goal increased with the strength of deterrence, to the point where it decreased in the strong deterrent condition. Implications for intergroup motivation are discussed.
Effects of Deterrence on Intensity of Group Identification and Efforts to Protect Group Identity -- Special Issue on Effort
PANTALEO , GIUSEPPE;
2014-01-01
Abstract
Group identification serves important functions such as motivating group members to work towards group goals and sustaining their efforts to maintain a positive group identity. Thus increasing or decreasing group identification has implications for group members’ commitment to achieving group goals. We propose that pursuit of group-level goals has the same properties as the pursuit of individual goals: both are affected by obstacles to goal achievement. We show that group identification and group-level efforts to protect group identity can be reduced or enhanced by deterrents to feeling identified with the ingroup. We exposed participants to different types of deterrents: a reason for not liking the ingroup (Study 1), difficulty of achieving an ingroup goal (Study 2), and a threat to ingroup identity (Study 3). Group identification and strength of efforts to achieve a group goal increased with the strength of deterrence, to the point where it decreased in the strong deterrent condition. Implications for intergroup motivation are discussed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.