Steve Reicher

Collective action and psychological change: The emergence of new social identities

The study comprises an analysis of processes of psychological change among participants at an environmental protest. A participant observation study found evidence of a radicalized self concept among a number of crowd members, and indicates a link between radicalization, an asymmetry of categorical representations between protesters and the police, and the subsequent interaction premised on these divergent representations. The analysis supports an elaborated social identity model of crowd behaviour (Reicher, 1996, 1997a, 1997b; Stott & Reicher, 1998). It is argued that, in order to account for both social determination and social change in collective behaviour, it is necessary to analyse crowd events as developing interactions between groups. Where crowd members hold a different understanding of their social position to that held by an out-group (e.g. the police) and where the out-group has the power to treat crowd members in terms of its understandings, then those members who act on the basis of one understanding of their social relations find themselves in an unexpected and novel set of social relations. This then provides the basis for a series of changes, including the self-understanding of crowd members.

The Intergroup Dynamics of Collective Empowerment: Substantiating the Social Identity Model of Crowd Behavior

Recent accounts of collective action highlight the importance of psychological empowerment, but conceptualize it simply as a precondition for such action. By contrast, the social identity model (Reicher, 1996, 1997; Stott, 1996) suggests that empowerment is a product as well as a precondition of collective action. However, existing research on the social identity model has merely inferred the emergence of feelings of power rather than shown it empirically. This paper describes a study of a town hall anti-poll tax demonstration, using interviews, written accounts, newspaper accounts, and video evidence. The principal source consisted of interviews with 29 protesters which were subjected to thematic analysis to identify (i) whether and to what extent empowerment took place in the crowd; (ii) features of the intergroup relationship responsible for any such empowerment; and (iii) any normative limits to empowered behavior. The analysis suggests that feelings of power increased among crowd members due to the more inclusive categorization among them brought about by their perceived wholesale illegitimate exclusion from the town hall. Moreover, the empowered action of crowd members was limited by shared definitions of proper practice. The implications of these findings are discussed for studies of collective action, and it is suggested that further research along the present lines is necessary to shed more light on factors leading to the endurance and generalization of the types of empowerment found here.

Beyond prejudice: are negative evaluations the problem and is getting us to like one another more the solution?

For most of the history of prejudice research, negativity has been treated as its emotional and cognitive signature, a conception that continues to dominate work on the topic. By this definition, prejudice occurs when we dislike or derogate members of other groups. Recent research, however, has highlighted the need for a more nuanced and “inclusive” (Eagly 2004) perspective on the role of intergroup emotions and beliefs in sustaining discrimination. On the one hand, several independent lines of research have shown that unequal intergroup relations are often marked by attitudinal complexity, with positive responses such as affection and admiration mingling with negative responses such as contempt and resentment. Simple antipathy is the exception rather than the rule. On the other hand, there is mounting evidence that nurturing bonds of affection between the advantaged and the disadvantaged sometimes entrenches rather than disrupts wider patterns of discrimination. Notably, prejudice reduction interventions may have ironic effects on the political attitudes of the historically disadvantaged, decreasing their perceptions of injustice and willingness to engage in collective action to transform social inequalities. These developments raise a number of important questions. Has the time come to challenge the assumption that negative evaluations are inevitably the cognitive and affective hallmarks of discrimination? Is the orthodox concept of prejudice in danger of side-tracking, if not obstructing, progress towards social justice in a fuller sense? What are the prospects for reconciling a prejudice reduction model of change, designed to get people to like one another more, with a collective action model of change, designed to ignite struggles to achieve intergroup equality?

Self and Nation: Categorization, Contestation and Mobilization

The National Question Psychology and Nationhood Nation and Mobilization National Identity and International Relations In Quest of National Character Lessons in National History Representing the National Community Changing Categories and Changing Contexts Nationalist Psychology and the Psychology of Nationhood

Helping to Improve the Group Stereotype: On the Strategic Dimension of Prosocial Behavior

Three studies consider a basis for intergroup helping. Specifically, they show that group members may help others to disconfirm a stereotype of their own group as mean. Study 1 shows that Scots believe they are seen as mean by the English, resent this stereotype, are motivated to refute it, and believe out-group helping is a particularly effective way of doing so. Study 2 shows that increasing the salience of the English stereotype of the Scottish as mean leads Scots to accentuate the extent to which Scots are depicted as generous. Study 3 shows that increasing the salience of the stereotype of the Scots as mean results in an increase in the help volunteered to out-group members. These results highlight how strategic concerns may result in out-group helping. In turn, they underscore the point that helping others may be a means to advance a groups interest.

Cooperation versus competition in a mass emergency evacuation: A new laboratory simulation and a new theoretical model

Virtual reality technology is argued to be suitable to the simulation study of mass evacuation behavior, because of the practical and ethical constraints in researching this field. This article describes three studies in which a new virtual reality paradigm was used, in which participants had to escape from a burning underground rail station. Study 1 was carried out in an immersion laboratory and demonstrated that collective identification in the crowd was enhanced by the (shared) threat embodied in emergency itself. In Study 2, high-identification participants were more helpful and pushed less than did low-identification participants. In Study 3, identification and group size were experimentally manipulated, and similar results were obtained. These results support a hypothesis according to which (emergent) collective identity motivates solidarity with strangers. It is concluded that the virtual reality technology developed here represents a promising start, although more can be done to embed it in a traditional psychology laboratory setting.

Identity, Argument and Schism: Two Longitudinal Studies of the Split in the Church of England over the Ordination of Women to the Priesthood

This paper presents evidence from two studies which bears upon a social psychological approach to schisms. The two studies both relate to the split in the Church of England over the ordination of women and were conducted over the period when the first women became priests. The first is a qualitative study of leading proponents and opponents of the change. It is shown that, first, the Pros and Antis have differing constructions of the nature of the Church and of womens ordination. Second, all the Pros see the measure as affirming the essence of Church identity while all the Antis see ordination as subverting the essence of the Church and turning it into a sect. Third, the divisions are confirmed rather than attenuated over time and the sense that the essence has changed is used by Antis to justify the possibility of schism. The second study is quantitative and analyzes the way in which 185 activists (138 Pros and 47 Antis) construe the position of the Church in relation to other categories through the application of Multi-Dimensional Scaling. The findings corroborate those of the first study. Together, the studies both suggest the necessity to include a rhetorical and argumentative dimension to our understanding of social categorization and also support the contention that, when group members differ as to whether developments affirm or subvert group identity, discussion may not bring about consensus but rather can lead to further division and schism.

The psychology of crowd behaviour in emergency evacuations: Results from two interview studies and implications for the Fire and Rescue Services

Existing psychological models of crowd behaviour were applied to examine emergency egress behaviour, and how this could facilitate the safe management of mass evacuations. Two interview-based studies of survivors experiences of different emergencies were conducted. It was found that far from mass panic occurring, being in an emergency can create a common identity amongst those affected. A consequence of this is that people are cooperative and altruistic towards others - even when amongst strangers, and/or in life-threatening situations. The analysis has direct implications for how the Fire and Rescue Services manage mass evacuations. In line with earlier critiques, the concept of mass panic is considered to be a myth unsupported by existing evidence. Crowds in emergencies can be trusted to behave in more social ways than previously expected by some involved in emergency planning.

Come together: Two studies concerning the impact of group relations on personal space

This paper describes two experiments investigating the impact of group relations on personal space. In Study 1, participants (N=39) in minimal groups were told that they would be interacting with another person. In line with expectations, personal space (as measured by the distance between chairs) was significantly less in the intragroup context than in the intergroup and interpersonal contexts. This finding was replicated in Study 2 (N=80) using an improved experimental design. These results are discussed in terms of developing a self-categorization account of personal space and crowding.

Constructing women's psychological health in anti-abortion rhetoric

This paper considers the ways in which anti-abortion activists construct womens psychological experience of abortion and explores the rhetorical significance of this discourse in advancing the anti-abortion project. In particular we examine how the psychological concept of ‘denial’ contained in the (proposed) diagnostic category of ‘Post-Abortion Syndrome’ allows anti-abortionists to ‘psychologise’ and therefore undermine alternative constructions of the experience of abortion. Further, we explore how this construction of womens experience allows particular constructions of the foetus (ie, ‘unborn child’) to be advanced (and naturalised) without reference to overtly political argumentation. The significance of this development of the abortion debate and its implications for the dynamics of political mobilisation are discussed.