Georgina Randsley de Moura

Innovation credit: When can leaders oppose their group's norms?

Two preliminary studies and 5 experiments examined judgments of leaders who challenge their groups norms. Participants viewed information about group members whose attitudes were normative or deviated in a pronormative or antinormative direction. The antinorm member was identified as (a) either a nonleader or an established leader (Study 1), (b) an ex-leader (Studies 2 and 5), or (c) a future leader (Studies 3, 4, and 5). Antinorm future leaders were judged more positively and were granted greater innovation credit (license to innovate and remuneration) relative to antinorm members, ex-leaders, and established leaders. Results are discussed in terms of the idea that leadership can accrue from prototypicality and can also confer the right to define prescriptive norms. However, innovation credit is only granted in the case of future leaders.

A double standard when group members behave badly: Transgression credit to ingroup leaders

This research tested the hypothesis that people forgive serious transgressions by ingroup leaders but not by other group members or outgroup leaders. They apply a double standard in judgments of ingroup leaders. A series of studies (N = 623), using an array of different ingroups and outgroups, tested how group members judged ingroup or outgroup leaders and nonleaders who unexpectedly transgressed or did not transgress in important intergroup scenarios. Experiments 1, 2, and 4 focused on captains and players in either soccer or netball sports competitions. Across studies, transgressive captains of ingroup teams were evaluated more favorably than captains from outgroup teams and (Experiments 1, 2, and 4) more favorably than transgressive ingroup players. Experiment 3 demonstrated the double standard in a minimal group paradigm. Experiment 5 showed that the double standard is only applied if the leader is perceived as serving the groups interest. Across studies, the double standard is evident in evaluations toward, inclusion and punishment of, and rewards to the transgressive targets. Implications for sport, politics, and business and intergroup conflict are discussed.

The Psychology of Collective Political Protest

Individuals act differently within the political process; behavior can range from passive acceptance of a situation to violent riots. This chapter outlines various theoretical explanations as to why these differences in behavior occur and what psychological processes mediate them. In the social psychological explanations of collective political protest the emphasis has changed in recent years. Traditional theories concerned individual decision making processes whereas more recent research has focused on the intergroup context of the political environment. This chapter concentrates on the three currently predominant approaches; expectancy-value theory ([e.g. Walker & Mann, 1987e.g. Klandermans, 1997), relative deprivation theory (e.g. Walker & Mann, 1987) and social identity theory (e.g. Tajfel & Turner, 1979). It considers recent research that attempts to integrate these approaches with each other (Simon, Loewy, Sturmer, Weber, Freytang, Habig, Kampmeier & Spahlinger, 1998; e.g. Kawakami & Dion, 1995), and we conclude by presenting a study that suggests collective efficacy is an important motivator of collective action, but that social identification moderates this relationship, thereby acting as a crucial psychological platform for collective action.

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

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.

Delaying the inevitable?: The effects of “time to think” on responses to innovative concepts

Whereas there is general satisfaction with straightforward picture‐board techniques for testing me‐too and brand extension product concepts, there is a widely held belief that such techniques are inadequate in accurately gauging the appeal of truly innovative concepts. “Living with the concept” is an alternative method which requires participants to keep material describing the concept at home for a period of time. During this time they are asked to think about the concept. At the end of the fixed period participants record their attitudes and likely purchase intention for the concept. Although this method is considerably more costly and time consuming, it continues to grow in popularity, supported by the lay‐beliefs that “time to think” affects participants’ responses to the concept and makes such responses more predictive of marketplace success. Reports on an empirical study that provides a controlled test of the first of these beliefs. States that results showed that time per se had no effect on responses, but argues that more systematic “thought‐related” exercises within concept tests may lead to better prediction of marketplace success for innovative products.

Organized crime and group-based ideology: The association between masculine honor and collective opposition against criminal organizations

What is the role of culture in establishing young people’s pathways into gang membership? Italian criminal organizations (COs) exhibit adherence to codes of honor and masculinity, important values in the context where they originated. Here it is proposed that the embedding of these values at an individual level may lessen young people’s group-based opposition to such organizations, and indirectly, create a space in which such organizations can persist and recruit. In a study of young Southern Italians (N = 176; Mage = 16.17), we found that those who endorsed ideological beliefs related to the honorableness of male violence reported lower intentions to engage in antimafia activities. Consistent with the hypothesized mechanisms, this relationship was mediated by more positive attitudes toward COs, and lower reported vicarious shame in relation to the activities of COs. Directions for future research and implications for research on gangs are discussed.

A Moment of Mindfulness: Computer-Mediated Mindfulness Practice Increases State Mindfulness.

Three studies investigated the use of a 5-minute, computer-mediated mindfulness practice in increasing levels of state mindfulness. In Study 1, 54 high school students completed the computer-mediated mindfulness practice in a lab setting and Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) scores were measured before and after the practice. In Study 2 (N = 90) and Study 3 (N = 61), the mindfulness practice was tested with an entirely online sample to test the delivery of the 5-minute mindfulness practice via the internet. In Study 2 and 3, we found a significant increase in TMS scores in the mindful condition, but not in the control condition. These findings highlight the impact of a brief, mindfulness practice for single-session, computer-mediated use to increase mindfulness as a state.

Drinking in social groups. Does 'groupdrink' provide safety in numbers when deciding about risk?

Abstract Aims To investigate the impact of alcohol consumption on risk decisions taken both individually and while part of a four‐ to six‐person ad‐hoc group. Design A 2 (alcohol: consuming versus not consuming alcohol) × 2 (decision: individual, group) mixed‐model design; decision was a repeated measure. The dependent variable was risk preference, measured using choice dilemmas. Setting Opportunity sampling in campus bars and a music event at a campus‐based university in the United Kingdom. Participants A total of 101 individuals were recruited from groups of four to six people who either were or were not consuming alcohol. Measurements Participants privately opted for a level of risk in response to a choice dilemma and then, as a group, responded to a second choice dilemma. The choice dilemmas asked participants the level of accident risk at which they would recommend someone could drive while intoxicated. Findings Five three‐level multi‐level models were specified in the software program HLM 7. Decisions made in groups were less risky than those made individually (B = −0.73, P < 0.001). Individual alcohol consumers opted for higher risk than non‐consumers (B = 1.27, P = 0.025). A significant alcohol × decision interaction (B = −2.79, P = 0.001) showed that individual consumers privately opted for higher risk than non‐consumers, whereas risk judgements made in groups of either consumers or non‐consumers were lower. Decisions made by groups of consumers were less risky than those made by groups of non‐consumers (B = 1.23, P < 0.001). Conclusions Moderate alcohol consumption appears to produce a propensity among individuals towards increased risk‐taking in deciding to drive while intoxicated, which can be mitigated by group monitoring processes within small (four‐ to six‐person) groups.

Counter-Stereotypes and Feminism Promote Leadership Aspirations in Highly Identified Women

Although women who highly identify with other women are more susceptible to stereotype threat effects, womens identification might associate with greater leadership aspirations contingent on (1) counter-stereotype salience and (2) feminist identification. When gender counter-stereotypes are salient, womens identification should associate with greater leadership aspiration regardless of feminism, while when gender stereotypes are salient, womens identification would predict greater leadership aspirations contingent on a high level of feminist identification. In our study US-based women (N = 208) attended to gender stereotypic (vs. counter-stereotypic) content. We measured identification with women and identification with feminism, and, following the manipulation, leadership aspirations in an imagined work scenario. The interaction between identification with women, identification with feminism, and attention to stereotypes (vs. counter-stereotypes) significantly predicted leadership aspirations. In the counter-stereotypic condition womens identification associated with greater leadership aspirations regardless of feminist identification. In the stereotypic condition womens identification predicted leadership aspirations only at high levels of feminist identification. We conclude that salient counter-stereotypes and a strong identification with feminism may help high women identifiers increase their leadership aspirations.

Corralling the Ingroup: Deviant Derogation and Perception of Group Variability

ABSTRACT Two experiments investigated the relationship between the evaluation of a deviant group member and the perceived group variability among participants with varying degrees of ingroup identification. In Experiment 1 (N = 79) ingroup identification was negatively associated with perceived ingroup variability following the presentation of a deviant ingroup member. This relationship was mediated by ratings of the deviant: the stronger the identification, the more negatively the deviant was evaluated, and the more homogeneous the ingroup was perceived. These effects were replicated in Experiment 2 (N = 169), which also showed that there was no association between ingroup identification and the representation of the outgroup following exposure to a deviant outgroup member. The findings suggest that deviant derogation may serve to isolate undesirable members from the rest of the ingroup and protect the groups identity.