Intragroup and Intergroup Evaluation Effects on Group Behavior

Abstract

Groups differ in the prestige they are accorded by outgroups, and individuals differ in how much respect they receive from their group. The authors orthogonally varied both types of social evaluation-intergroup and intragroup-to assess their joint effects on reward allocations and the amount of time donated to work on a group activity that could satisfy either personal or group goals. Respected members of a devalued group were the most inclined to withhold rewards from the outgroup, and they donated the greatest amount of time to improve the ingroup's image rather than their personal image. Disrespected members of a prestigious group did not favor the ingroup over the outgroup in reward allocations, and they invested in a group activity only if they might improve their personal image by doing so. The authors discuss why intragroup respect is particularly important for devalued group members.

The Influence of Organizational Respect on Job Satisfaction in the Human Services: Findings from a New York State Multi-Site Job Satisfaction Cross-Sectional Survey – A Short Commentary

“…Nurses continue to identify that improving their work environment will improve job satisfaction, which is the most important solution to resolving the nursing shortage (Krueger, 2002). Respect is perceived in terms of (1) inclusion within a group captured in terms of perceived liking (Branscombe et al, 2002); (2) fair treatment (e.g. Huo & Molina, 2006); (3) appraisal of qualities (Prestwich & Lalljee, 2009).…”

Predicting the Paths of Peripherals: The Interaction of Identification and Future Possibilities

“…Above all, research has shown that lower identifiers emphasize group heterogeneity as a way of individually distancing themselves from a negative group in their eyes (Doosje, Spears & Koomen, 1995;Ellemers, et al, 1997). In short we used ingroup homogeneity as an indirect indicator of genuine group loyalty, because it is sufficiently unobtrusive to avoid self-presentational concerns that might interfere with the predicted effects.In Study 2, we adopted the second more behavioral route to assessing loyalty by measuring willingness to exert an effort on behalf of the group (Branscombe, Spears, Ellemers, & Doosje, 2002;Ouwerkerk, Ellemers, & De Gilder, 1999). The willingness to work for the group measure should be easily identified by group members as directly tapping group loyalty, but in this case commitment actually implies personal costs and should therefore detect genuine loyalty as opposed to mere self-presentation.…”

Seeing Past the Orange: An Inductive Investigation of Organizational Respect in a Prison Context

“…found that respect positively increased in-role and extra-role behaviors (Tyler & Blader, 2002) and members' willingness to spend time improving the collective (Branscombe et al, 2002). Building on this, the data revealed that receiving personalized respect appeared to increase Televerde employees' in-role performance.…”

“…Researchers have made significant empirical strides, identifying desirable effects of perceived intragroup respect. For instance, Branscombe, Spears, Ellemers, and Doosje (2002) found that members of a group who perceived respect (from other members) were willing to donate time to improving the image of the group above and beyond the time they were willing to invest in improving their personal image. Additionally, feeling respected leads to increased identification and cooperation with a group (Smith, Tyler, & Huo, 2003).…”