INCLUSION AND IDENTITY

From Isolation to Inclusion

Through inclusion, the single individual changes from an outsider into an insider by
joining a group.

Through collectivism, group members begin to think about the good of the group as a
whole rather than what the group provides them.

Through the transformation of identity, individuals change their conception of who they
are to include their group’s qualities as well as their own individual qualities.

The Need to Belong

need to belong the dispositional tendency to seek out and join with other humans.

Spending time alone, away from others, can be a rejuvenating, pleasurable experience.
People. when surveyed about their reactions to isolation,

PERCENTAGE OF AMERICANS REPORTING MEMBERSHIP IN VARIOUS TYPES

OF GROUPS.

The Pain of Exclusion

The diaries of individuals who have been isolated from others for long periods of time
stranded explorers, scientists working in seclusion, and prisoners in solitary confinement
often stress the psychological costs of their ordeal rather than physical deprivations.
As their isolation wears on, they report fear, insomnia, memory lapses, depression,
fatigue, and general confusion.
Prolonged periods of isolation are also marked by hallucinations and delusions, as when
one solo sailor at sea was startled when he thought he saw a pirate steering his life raft
(Burney, 1961).

social capital the degree of functional interconnectedness of a group of people thought

to promote coordinated action for mutual benefit; analogous to other forms of capital,
such as human or economic capital.

Ostracism People’s need to belong is slaked when a group accepts them, but they are
most satisfied when a group actively seeks them out. ostracism Excluding a person or
group of people from a group, usually by ignoring, shunning, or explicitly banishing them.

Fight or flight response A physiological response to stressful events characterized by

the activation of the sympathetic nervous system (increased heart rate, pupil dilation)
that readies the individual to counter the threat (fight) or to escape the threat (flight).

Tend and befriend response an interpersonal response to stressful events characterized

by increased nurturing, protective, and supportive behaviors (tending) and by seeking out
connections to other people (befriending).

Cyberostracism Groups no longer meet only in face-to-face situations but also in multi-
user forums, email discussions, and game sites on the Internet.

Sociometer Theory One of the surest ways to lower individuals’ self-esteem is to reject
them.

Evaluation and Inclusion in Groups

The Herd Instinct The idea that humans are instinctively drawn to gather with other
humans is not a new one. Over a century ago, William McDougall (1908) argued that
humans are inexorably drawn to “the vast human herd,” which “exerts a baneful
attraction on those outside it”
Evidence and Issues A schematic representation of the process of natural selection of
group-oriented individuals. If humanity’s ancestors lived in an environment that favored
those who lived in groups, then over time those who affiliated would gradually
outnumber those who were self-reliant loners. Note, too, that one’s genetic endowment
interacts with the environment, and so not all individuals who are genetically predisposed
to affiliate or remain alone will do so

From Individualism to Collectivism

Individualism is based on the independence of each individual. This perspective

assumes that people are autonomous and must be free to act and think in ways that they
prefer, rather than submit to the demands of the group.

Collectivism recognizes that human groups are not mere aggregations of independent
individuals, but complex sets of interdependent actors who must constantly adjust to the
actions and reactions of others around them.

Social Relations

Exchange and Communal relations Individualists and collectivists tend to differ in

their overall conceptualization of relationships themselves, with individualism associated
with the exchange of resources and collectivism focusing on sharing communal resources.

Exchange Relationships monitor their inputs into the group, strive to maximize the
rewards they personally receive through membership, and will become dissatisfied if their
group becomes too costly for them.
Communal Relationships are more concerned with what their group receives than with
their own personal outcomes.

Reciprocity This difference between an exchange and communal orientation is

particularly clear when the group must allocate resources to members.

Norm of Reciprocity This norm enjoins members to pay back in kind what others give
to them. When this norm guides groups, members they cooperate with others to pay back
past favors and to create obligations for future favors

Equality Norm recommends that group members should receive outcomes in proportion
to their inputs.

Social Obligations

social contract, which he believed individuals intuitively accept when they enter into
cooperative arrangements with others, including groups, communities, and societies.

self-serving, or egocentric they strive to extract all the resources they can, while
minimizing their contribution of personal resources.

group-serving, or sociocentric they strive to increase the well-being of the community as

a whole

social self A communal orientation is not just about relationships and obligations. As
people adopt a more other-centered orientation they also change the way they think
about themselves.

Personal Identity The “me” component of the self- concept that derives from
individualistic qualities such as traits, beliefs, and skills.
Social Identity The “we” component of the self-concept that includes all those qualities
attendant to relationships with other people, groups, and society.

Independents, or idiocentrics, are emotionally detached from their groups; they put
their own personal goals above the goals of the group (Markus, Kitayama, & Heiman,
1996; Triandis, 1995).

Interdependents, or allocentrics, in contrast, put their groups’ goals and needs above
their own (Markus et al., 1996; Triandis, 1995).

Individuation in Groups Individuals who are more independent than interdependent

also tend to stress their unique, unusual qualities.

Optimal Distinctiveness Although interdependent types of people are often contrasted

with inde- pendent types, in all likelihood these two orientations are continuous
dimensions of personality that vary in their influence across time and situations.

Variations in Collectivism

Cultural Differences The view of people as independent, autonomous creatures may be

peculiar to Western society’s individualistic leanings.

Regional and Ethnic Differences Classifying entire cultures along a continuum from
individualistic to collectivistic also overlooks significant variations across subgroups
within a culture and across individuals within a culture (Miller, 2002).

Generational Differences Entire generations of individuals living in a given culture may

also display overall differences in individualism and collectivism.

From Personal Identity to Social Identity

social identity theory, or SIT, in an attempt to understand the causes of conflict

between groups. To investigate this process, they created the most minimal of groups just
gatherings of people with no history, no future together, and no real connection to one
another.

minimal intergroup situation to identify when conflict began to erupt between groups.
So, they randomly assigned participants to one of two groups, but they told the
participants that the division was based on some irrelevant characteristic, such as art
preference.

social categorization the perceptual classification of people, including the self, into
categories.
prototypes (or stereotypes) A socially shared set of cognitive generalizations about the
qualities and characteristics of the typical member of a particular group or social
category.

self-stereotyping (or auto stereotyping) Accepting socially shared generalizations

about the prototypical characteristics attributed to members of one’s group as accurate
descriptions of oneself.

Identification Most people belong to many groups and categories, but many of these
memberships have no influence on their social identities.

social identification increases, individuals come to think that their membership in the
group is personally significant.

Motivation and Social Identity

Evaluating the Self Michael Hogg (2005) suggests that at least two basic motives
influence the way social categorization and identification processes combine to shape
one’s sense of self.

collective self-esteem A person’s overall assessment of that portion of their self-concept

that is based on their relationships with others and membership in social groups.

basking in reflected glory (BIRGing) Seeking direct or indirect association with

prestigious or successful groups or individuals.

cutting off reflected failure (CORFing) Distancing oneself from a group that performs
poorly.

ITEMS from the collective self-esteem inventory

Protecting the Collective Self When individuals identify with their group, they also
tend to exaggerate the differences between their group and other groups.
ingroup–outgroup bias the tendency to view the ingroup, its members, and its products
more positively than other groups, their members, and their products.

social creativity Restricting comparisons between the ingroup and other groups to tasks
and outcomes where the ingroup is more successful than other groups and avoiding areas
in which other groups surpass the ingroup.

Protecting the Personal Self People protect their collective self-esteem just as they
protect their personal self-esteem.

When such individuals enter into situations where they are at risk of being judged on the
basis of stereotypes that they wish to resist, they may experience stereotype threat.

individual mobility Reducing one’s connection to a group in order to minimize the

threats to individual self-esteem.