Group membership, group change, and intergroup attitudes: a recategorization model based on cognitive consistency principles

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-175569
  • The present article introduces a model based on cognitive consistency principles to predict how new identities become integrated into the self-concept, with consequences for intergroup attitudes. The model specifies four concepts (self-concept, stereotypes, identification, and group compatibility) as associative connections. The model builds on two cognitive principles, balance-congruity and imbalance-dissonance, to predict identification with social groups that people currently belong to, belonged to in the past, or newly belong to. MoreThe present article introduces a model based on cognitive consistency principles to predict how new identities become integrated into the self-concept, with consequences for intergroup attitudes. The model specifies four concepts (self-concept, stereotypes, identification, and group compatibility) as associative connections. The model builds on two cognitive principles, balance-congruity and imbalance-dissonance, to predict identification with social groups that people currently belong to, belonged to in the past, or newly belong to. More precisely, the model suggests that the relative strength of self-group associations (i.e., identification) depends in part on the (in)compatibility of the different social groups. Combining insights into cognitive representation of knowledge, intergroup bias, and explicit/implicit attitude change, we further derive predictions for intergroup attitudes. We suggest that intergroup attitudes alter depending on the relative associative strength between the social groups and the self, which in turn is determined by the (in)compatibility between social groups. This model unifies existing models on the integration of social identities into the self-concept by suggesting that basic cognitive mechanisms play an important role in facilitating or hindering identity integration and thus contribute to reducing or increasing intergroup bias.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author: Jenny Roth, Melanie C. Steffens, Vivian L. Vignoles
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-175569
Document Type:Journal article
Faculties:Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften (Philos., Psycho., Erziehungs- u. Gesell.-Wissensch.) / Institut für Psychologie
Language:English
Parent Title (English):Frontiers in Psychology
Year of Completion:2018
Volume:9
Issue:479
Source:Frontiers in Psychology 2018, Volume 9, Article 479. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00479
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00479
Dewey Decimal Classification:1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie
Tag:cognitive balance; cognitive dissonance; group change; identity integration; intergroup bias; prejudice; recategorization; social identification
Release Date:2019/02/06
Collections:Open-Access-Publikationsfonds / Förderzeitraum 2018
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International