Giovanni A. Travaglino

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.

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.

Social sciences and social movements: the theoretical context

This manuscript situates the papers of this special issue within the broader context of social movement research. It discusses the historical and theoretical significance of the four main perspectives in the field of social movement, namely the collective behaviour paradigm, the resource mobilisation approach, the political opportunity model and the cultural turn in social movement studies. Each of these perspectives has highlighted the importance of different units and levels of analysis pertaining to the study of social movements, including the role of grievances, organisational and political structures and meanings associated with participation. As a result, the field is highly receptive to multidisciplinary dialogue and to relations of mutual influences among different disciplines. The next step in social movement studies consists in the elaboration of a coherent framework of research which links the different levels of analysis and dimensions.

Dual routes from social identity to collective opposition to criminal organisations: Intracultural appropriation theory and the roles of honour codes and social change beliefs:

Italian criminal organisations (COs) are a serious global threat. Intracultural appropriation theory (ICAT) holds that such groups exploit cultural codes of masculinity and honour to legitimise and lower resistance to their actions. Such codes are an important feature of Southern Italian group membership. A large survey (N = 1,173) investigated the role of two previously underexamined facets of honour cultures—personal concerns for reputation, and female honour ideology. In addition, drawing on social identity theory, and testing a dual-route hypothesis, this research investigated the role of beliefs about the necessity of social change in the articulation between identification, honour, and collective action intentions. Consistent with ICAT, and with previous research, male-honour-related values uniquely predicted collective action intentions against criminal organisations. In addition, consistent with the dual-route hypothesis: (a) regional identification positively predicted social change beliefs which in turn explained stronger intentions to oppose COs collectively, and, (b) regional identification was also positively associated with masculine honour which in turn predicted weaker intentions to oppose COs. The evidence supports the idea that social identity can have opposing effects on collective action in the same context, depending on which beliefs are mobilised.

Immigration, political trust, and Brexit - Testing an aversion amplification hypothesis

A few weeks prior to the EU referendum (23rd June 2016) two broadly representative samples of the electorate were drawn in Kent (the south‐east of England, N = 1,001) and Scotland (N = 1,088) for online surveys that measured their trust in politicians, concerns about acceptable levels of immigration, threat from immigration, European identification, and voting intention. We tested an aversion amplification hypothesis that the impact of immigration concerns on threat and identification would be amplified when political trust was low. We hypothesized that the effect of aversion amplification on voting intentions would be mediated first by perceived threat from immigration, and then by (dis) identification with Europe. Results in both samples were consistent with this hypothesis and suggest that voters were most likely to reject the political status quo (choose Brexit) when concerns that immigration levels were too high were combined with a low level of trust in politicians.

Support for Anonymous as vicarious dissent: Testing the social banditry framework

This research uses the social banditry framework to propose that voiceless individuals in an unjust context may express their grievances vicariously. Specifically, it holds that individuals who perceive the system as unjust but lack political efficacy, express their anger against the system as support for actors whose behavior disrupts the system’s functioning. These actors are situated outside conventional societal and political structures of power and institutions. To test the social banditry framework, two studies investigate attitudes toward Anonymous, a group of hackers who challenge the status quo using online tactics such as trolling. Study 1 (N = 304) demonstrates that appraising the system as more unjust and perceiving lower political efficacy are positively linked to anger against the system, which in turn predicts more positive attitudes toward Anonymous. In contrast, stronger injustice-fueled anger and stronger political efficacy predict intentions to engage in direct forms of political action, such as protesting or voting. Study 2 (N = 410) replicates these findings, and theorizes and tests the role of individualistic and collectivistic values in predicting vicarious and direct expressions of dissent. Study 2 demonstrates that endorsement of horizontal individualism predicts positive attitudes towards Anonymous, whereas horizontal collectivism predicts engagement in direct political action. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Talis pater, talis filius: the role of discursive strategies, thematic narratives and ideology in Cosa Nostra

ABSTRACT The discursive analysis of criminal organizations’ family dynamics and ideological devices may provide important insights into the inner functioning of these groups. In this article, we describe and analyze a specific set of discursive strategies and the thematic narratives emerging from a TV interview with Giuseppe Riina, a member of Cosa Nostra and the son of one of the most important mafia bosses. Our analyses demonstrate the existence of recurring ideological devices such as reductionism, amoralism, familism, verticalism, normalism, victimism and religious relativism. The results are discussed in light of previous research that examines how discursive strategies and narratives may represent powerful tools for understanding criminal organizations. Family-related discourses, in particular, reveal meanings, values and ideas that contribute to constructing criminal organizations’ internal structure, as well as their relationship with the external world.