No abstract

No abstract

This paper is the result of the work carried out by the group above listed during the EAESP Summer School (August 1989) organized by John Rijsman at the University of filburg, The Netherlands. We wish to thank all the University staff, and specially the Rijsrnans for their invaluable help in the realization of this study. The idea of using the perceptual paradigm designed for this experiment is due to William D. Crano, on the occasion of the Third Workshop on Minority Influence, Perugia, June 1989. This study is part of a research project sponsored by the Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique in the form of a grant to G. Mugny and J. A. Peru. V. Brandstatter et al. AbstractIn a 2 x 2 design, 8s subjects were asked to estimate the size of angles (direct influence) that were either 90 or 85O. after being confronted with incorrect judgements of a majority (88 per cent) or a minority (12 per cent) of people estimating the angles at SO".Additionally, pre-and post-test measures were used to establish indirect influence on subjects' judgements pertaining to acute angles (i.e. on the estimation of the length of lines constituting the angles, and on the imaginary weight of jigures represented by these angles). Overall, little direct influence is observed. This may parrly be due to the introduction of a denial of the credibility of the source in all conditions. In fact, some evidence of direct influence is only found in the majority4So angles condition. An instance of indirect influence (on the estimation of length of lines) appeared as the resuli of a majority stance when the angles in the experimental phase were 909 When these angles were 8.Y. indirect minority influence (on the estimation of weight ofjigures) was observed. These eflects had been predicted on the basis of the hypothesis stating that indirect majority influence would be possible when subjects expected consensus on the correct response (in the 90" angles condition), without being able to reach consensus at the manifest level (because of the denial and the restriction imposed by the clear shape of 90" angles). Indirect minority influence was hypothesized to be stronger in a situation that allows for diverse responses (i.e. for 85" angles).

Identity fusion involves a visceral feeling of oneness with a group, despite personal and social selves remaining differentiated. Previous research on identity fusion has focused on samples of adults and adolescents. The present studies aim at exploring how and when identity fusion develops in childhood. Our first goal was to find out to what extent personal and social identities must be developed for fusion to become possible. We conducted two exploratory studies where school-age children (six to 12 years old) participated in either focus group sessions or individual interviews. Our results show that although children are able to feel strongly connected with a group and express willingness to make significant personal sacrifices for the group, they fail to show fusion as it is found in adults, since their personal identity is not fully developed yet. Instead, these findings suggest the existence of a prior feeling that we called ‘protofusion’, the core of which is the strength of the relational ties with the members of the group.

Se presenta un trabajo que tuvo como objetivo principal analizar distintas características de naturaleza grupal de las que depende el acoso sufrido por algunos integrantes de un grupo. De esta forma, nuestro estudio se centra en demostrar que el grado de identificación con el grupo es clave a la hora de entender cómo se expresan las conductas de exclusión y acoso, si se percibe un ambiente normativo que posibilita la expresión de este tipo de conductas. Asimismo, mostramos cómo las situaciones de exclusión social son predictoras del bullying. Concretamente encontramos que los participantes que manifestaron ser acosados también eran excluidos; sin embargo, no todos los alumnos que indicaron ser excluidos eran acosados por sus compañeros. La importancia de este resultado es central para comprender la dinámica de la agresión sistemática entre iguales que ocurre en los centros educativos, ya que parte de la literatura considera que las situaciones de exclusión social que sufren los alumnos acosados son consecuencia del propio bullying y no viceversa.