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Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Responses to Ingroup’s Devalued Social Status: a Field Study at a Public University

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Abstract

In this study based on an actual event, we examined how group members cognitively, affectively, and behaviorally respond to devaluation of ingroup’s social status. Integrating predictions from Social Identity Theory (SIT; Tajfel and Turner 1986) and Intergroup Emotions Theory (IET; Smith et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(3), 431–446 (2007)), we explored how appraisals about ingroup’s perceived decrease in status (i.e., stability and legitimacy of status change and permeability of group boundaries) are associated with discrete group-level emotions (e.g., anger, shame), and how those emotions in turn predict different coping strategies Blanz et al. European Journal of Social Psychology, 28(5), 697–729 (1998). Analyses of the results showed that: First, preference for each coping strategy varied according to appraisals of ingroup status, and the patterns were largely consistent with what SIT predicts. Second, different group-level emotions were reported according to appraisals of ingroup status. Third, inclusion of group-level emotions as mediators of associations between ingroup status appraisals and coping strategies significantly increased the explanatory power of the path models. In sum, this study demonstrated how the two theories on intergroup relations can be used together to offer a more detailed account of group identity management. For future direction, experimental or longitudinal designs as well as cross-cultural comparisons were suggested.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jihye Kim, Hyangsu Lee, and Dasom Kim for their thoughtful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Chungbuk National University, 1 Chungdae-ro, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, South Korea

    Sang Hee Park, Hyeon Jeong Kim & Yeong Ock Park

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Park, S.H., Kim, H.J. & Park, Y.O. Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Responses to Ingroup’s Devalued Social Status: a Field Study at a Public University. Curr Psychol 36, 22–38 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-015-9381-3

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