Group Processes & Intergroup Relations current issue

Group Processes & Intergroup Relations 10 Years On: Development, Impact and Future Directions

Abrams, D., Hogg, M. A. — 2008-09-24

The development of this Journal, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, is reviewed. Throughout its first 10 years, the Journal has been supported by a strong editorial board. It has sustained a significant profile in social psychology in the area of both intergroup and small group processes. Its wider impact includes connection to related disciplines such as organizational behavior and neuroscience, focused special issues, small conferences related to the theme of the Journal and the expansion of group and intergroup research through learned societies. The editors thank authors, editorial board members, editorial assistants, reviewers and readers for their support.

Roommate Relationships: A Comparison of Interracial and Same-Race Living Situations

Shook, N. J., Fazio, R. H. — 2008-09-24

The effects of same-race versus interracial dormitory roommate relationships were explored with regard to relationship dissolution and academic achievement (i.e., grade point average). The present investigation made use of archival data spanning two academic years at a large, relatively diverse university. Of primary interest were White and African American first-year students assigned to White or African American roommates upon their arrival on campus. Another factor that was incorporated into this analysis was whether students requested to live with their roommates or were randomly assigned. Interracial roommate relationships were more likely to dissolve than either same-race White or same-race African American relationships. Randomly assigned living situations were less successful than ones in which roommates requested to share a room. Concerning grade point average at the end of the first academic quarter, African American first-year students tended to do better in interracial living situations, whereas White first-year students' academic success was not affected by roommate race. Instead, White first-year students were more sensitive to the academic abilities of their roommates. Results are discussed with regard to the implications for intergroup contact.

Use of Retroactive Pessimism as a Method of Coping with Identity Threat: The Impact of Group Identification

Wann, D. L., Grieve, F. G., Waddill, P. J., Martin, J. — 2008-09-24

Retroactive pessimism involves retrospectively lowering one's evaluations of a group's chances for success after a failed competition. Although past research has substantiated the existence of this strategy, investigators have yet to examine how level of group identification might impact the use of retroactive pessimism. Given that coping with group threat is most prominent among persons with high levels of group identification, we hypothesized that displays of retroactive pessimism would be magnified in persons with strong allegiances to a group. This hypothesis was tested by having supporters of two college basketball teams evaluate the chances for victory for each team both prior to the game between the teams and subsequent to the contest. Regression analyses confirmed expectations (the greatest magnitude of retroactive pessimism was reported by highly identified supporters of the losing team in their evaluations of the winning team). Subsequent analyses revealed that this effect was not mediated by level of disappointment in the outcome.

Seeing Through Their Eyes: When Majority Group Members Take Collective Action on Behalf of an Outgroup

Mallett, R. K., Huntsinger, J. R., Sinclair, S., Swim, J. K. — 2008-09-24

We examined majority group members' collective action on behalf of a minority group, focusing on the role of outgroup perspective taking and group-based guilt. As expected, outgroup perspective taking was positively associated with heterosexuals' collective action in response to hate crimes against non-heterosexuals and Whites' action in response to hate crimes against Blacks (Studies 1 and 2). This association was partially mediated by group-based guilt (Studies 2 and 3). We also examined the role of group-based anger; although it directly related to collective action, it did not mediate the association between perspective taking and collective action. Finally, we manipulated outgroup perspective taking to demonstrate its causal role in the subsequent outcomes (Study 3).

Colorblind and Multicultural Prejudice Reduction Strategies in High-Conflict Situations

Correll, J., Park, B., Allegra Smith, J. — 2008-09-24

We tested colorblind and multicultural prejudice-reduction strategies under conditions of low and high interethnic conflict. Replicating previous work, both strategies reduced prejudice when conflict was low. But when conflict was high, only the colorblind strategy reduced prejudice (Studies 1 and 2). Interestingly, this colorblind response seemed to reflect suppression. When prejudice was assessed more subtly (with implicit measures), colorblind participants demonstrated bias equivalent to multicultural participants (Study 2). And, after a delay, colorblind participants showed a rebound, demonstrating greater prejudice than their multicultural counterparts (Study 3). Similar effects were obtained when ideology was measured rather than manipulated (Study 4). We suggest that conflict challenges the tenets of a colorblind ideology (predicated on the absence of group differences) but not those of a multicultural ideology (which acknowledges difference).

The Impact of Loyalty and Equality on Implicit Ingroup Favoritism

Zogmaister, C., Arcuri, L., Castelli, L., Smith, E. R. — 2008-09-24

Extending recent investigations into the malleability of implicit ingroup favoritism, three experiments examined the role of indirect activation of equality and loyalty. Results showed that priming equality decreased implicit favoritism, measured through the Implicit Association Test and Go/No-Go Association Task, whereas priming loyalty enhanced it; spontaneous behavior (seating distance) was similarly influenced. A boundary condition was observed, namely change of intergroup setting: the effects of priming equality and loyalty ceased when these were primed after an irrelevant ingroup identity was made salient. In general, implicit favoritism can be reduced or increased after the activation of equality and loyalty respectively, and this underlines the importance of tackling discrimination by both lessening its expression, and removing factors that exacerbate it.

Negative Outgroup Leader Actions Increase Liking for Ingroup Leaders: An Experimental Test of Intergroup Leader-Enhancement Effects

Pittinsky, T. L., Welle, B. — 2008-09-24

We conducted two studies to examine how information about outgroup leaders' negative actions affect ingroup leader favorability ratings. Study 1 found that people hold more favorable attitudes toward ingroup leaders (i.e. their own nation's leaders) when learning of negative actions of outgroup leaders (i.e. another nation's leaders). Study 2 replicated the finding, examining social identity strength as a moderator of this effect, and found that participants with strong national identification exhibit this intergroup leader-enhancement effect but participants with weak national identification do not. These data extend previous research on liking for leaders and are consistent with predictions derived from social identity theory. The implications of these findings for intergroup relations research and the psychological study of leadership are discussed.

Choosing None of the Above: Persistence of Negativity after Group Discussion and Group Decision Refusal

Nijstad, B. A. — 2008-09-24

Within psychology and other disciplines, group decision making is a much-studied topic. However, the conditions in which groups do not decide but rather refuse to choose among available options have not been studied systematically. This research begins to fill this void, studying the effects of the initial opinions of group members on group decision refusal. Based on the common knowledge effect, it is predicted and found that groups will often refuse all available options when group members are initially negative about the options. It is further found that, when initial opinions are negative, positive information entered during group discussion does not have much impact. The implications of this negativity bias are discussed.

Communication and Group Perception: Extending the `Saying is Believing' Effect

Hausmann, L. R. M., Levine, J. M., Tory Higgins, E. — 2008-09-24

The saying-is-believing (SIB) effect occurs when tailoring a message to suit an audience influences a communicator's subsequent memories and impressions about the communication topic. Previous studies were restricted to one-person audiences and individuals as the communication topic. The present studies explored the SIB effect with multiple-person audiences and groups as the communication topic. In Study 1, the SIB effect occurred with a 1-person, but not a 3-person, audience. In Study 2, the SIB effect occurred with a 3-person audience when the audience explicitly validated communicators' messages. These findings demonstrate the generalizability of the SIB effect to group contexts, provide further evidence for a shared reality interpretation of this effect, and suggest a potentially important mechanism underlying stereotype development.

Interethnic Interactions: Expectancies, Emotions, and Behavioral Intentions

Ashby Plant, E., Butz, D. A., Tartakovsky, M. — 2008-09-24

Two studies examine Hispanic and non-Hispanic White people's responses to interethnic interactions. Consistent with previous findings regarding White/Black interactions, participants who had negative expectations about intergroup interactions reported more anger and anxiety about interethnic interactions. These negative emotional responses, in turn, were associated with negative behavioral intentions such as the desire to avoid interethnic interactions and the externalization of blame if an interethnic interaction did not go well. Across the studies, White participants who were angry about interethnic interactions wanted to avoid these interactions, whereas anxiety was the key predictor of avoidance for the Hispanic participants. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for developing models of intergroup interactions and designing approaches to improve these interactions.

Prospects for Group Processes and Intergroup Relations Research: A Review of 70 Years' Progress

Randsley de Moura, G., Leader, T., Pelletier, J., Abrams, D. — 2008-09-24

Three archival analyses are presented substantially extending empirical reviews of the progress of group-related research. First, an analysis of social psychological research from 1935 to 2007 (cf. Abrams & Hogg, 1998) showed that group-related research has a steadily increasing proportion of titles in the principal journals and currently accounts for over a sixth of all the research in our list of social psychological journals. Second, analysis of the most cited papers from a set of principal social psychology journals from 1998 to 2007 showed that a third of high-impact articles in social psychology focus on groups. Third, analysis of the content of two major specialist journals in the field, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations and Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, showed that together these journals cover a broad range of group-related research, and that the only keyword common to both journals was social identity. These findings demonstrate the health and major contributions of research into group processes and intergroup relations to social psychology as a whole.

Acknowledgement of Reviewers

2008-09-24