Can Intergroup Behaviors Be Emitted Out of Self-Determined Reasons? Testing the Role of Group Norms and Behavioral Congruence in the Internalization of Discrimination and Parity Behaviors

Abstract

Bringing self-determination theory to understand why intergroup behaviors are emitted, two studies were conducted to investigate how group norms and individuals’ congruence with these norms predicted self-determination to pursue two types of intergroup behaviors (parity and discrimination). Experiment 1 (N = 97) manipulated ingroup norms in favor of parity versus of discrimination and assessed the behavior participants displayed (congruent or incongruent with the norm) and their motivations for emitting this behavior. The manipulated norms significantly influenced group members’ behaviors. When the ingroup norm was parity, participants whose behavior was congruent with this norm reported more self-determination to emit this behavior. When the ingroup norm was prodiscrimination, participants whose behavior was congruent with this norm were less self-determined. Experiment 2 (N = 139) replicated and extended these findings in a more conflictual intergroup setting. Results are discussed in light of motivational and intergroup theories.

Keywords

self-determination intergroup relations discrimination group norms deviance

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Amiot

C. E.

Blanchard

C. M.

Gaudreau

(2008). The self in change: A longitudinal investigation of coping and self-determination processes. Self and Identity, 7, 204-224.

Amiot

C. E.

Bourhis

R. Y.

(2003). Discrimination and the positive-negative asymmetry effect: Ideological and normative processes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 597-608.

Amiot

C. E.

Bourhis

R. Y.

(2005). Ideological beliefs as determinants of discrimination in positive and negative outcome distributions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 581-598.

Amiot

C. E.

Sansfaçon

(2011). Self-determination theory applied to social identity: Positive and negative consequences. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice., 15, 105-127. doi: 10.1037/a002315810.1037/a0023158

Amiot

C. E.

Terry

D. J.

Wirawan

Grice

(2010). Changes in social identities over time: The role of coping and adaptation processes. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 804-826.

Bandura

(1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 193-209.

Baumeister

R. F.

Leary

M. R.

(1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.

Baumeister

R. F.

Vohs

K. D.

(2004). Four roots of evil. In Miller

A. G.

(Ed.), The social psychology of good and evil (pp. 87-101). New York, NY: Guilford.

Chouinard

M. A.

(2007, February 8). Le déficit se creuse à l’UQAM: Le chantier de l’îlot Voyageur pressurise les finances déjà chancelantes de l’établissement [The deficit is getting bigger at UQAM: The construction of l’ilôt Voyageur]. Le Devoir.

10.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268.

11.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(2008). Facilitating optimal motivation and psychological well-being across life’s domains. Canadian Psychology, 49, 14-23.

12.

Dovidio

J. F.

Gaertner

S. L.

(1986). Prejudice, discrimination, and racism: Historical trends and contemporary approaches. In Dovidio

J. F.

Gartner

S. L.

(Eds.), Prejudice, discrimination, and racism (pp. 1-34). New York, NY: Academic Press.

13.

Downie

Koestner

ElGeledi

Cree

(2004). The impact of cultural internalization and integration on well-being among tricultural individuals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 305-314.

14.

Duriez

Vansteenkiste

Soenens

De Witte

(2007). The social costs of extrinsic relative to intrinsic goal pursuits: Their relation with social dominance and racial and ethnic prejudice. Journal of Personality, 75, 757-782.

15.

Falk

(2008). Anti-Semitism: A history and psychoanalysis of contemporary hatred. Westport, CT: Praeger.

16.

Fischer

Haslam

S. A.

Smith

(2010). “If you wrong us, shall we not revenge?” Social identity salience moderates support for retaliation in response to collective threat. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 14, 143-150.

17.

Gagné

(2003). The role of autonomy support and autonomy orientation in prosocial behavior engagement. Motivation and Emotion, 27, 199-223.

18.

Goldhagen

D. J.

(1996). Hitler’s willing executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust. New York, NY: Knopf.

19.

Gordijn

E. H.

Yzerbyt

Wigboldus

Dumont

(2006). Emotional reactions to harmful intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36, 15-30.

20.

Government of Canada. (1982). The Constitution Act. Retrieved from http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html

21.

Grolnick

W. S.

Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(1997). Internalization within the family: The self-determination theory perspective. In Grusec

J. E.

Kuczynski

(Eds.), Parenting and children’s internalization of values: A handbook of contemporary theory (pp. 135-161). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.

22.

Grouzet

F. M. E.

Kasser

Ahuvia

Dols

J. M. F.

Kim

Y. L.

Lau

. . . Sheldon

K. M.

(2005). The structure of goal contents across 15 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 800-816.

23.

Guay

Mageau

G. A.

Vallerand

R. J.

(2003). On the hierarchical structure of self-determined motivation: A test of top-down, bottom-up, reciprocal, and horizontal effects. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 992-1004.

24.

Heaven

P. C. L.

Caputi

Trivellion-Scott

Swinton

(2000). Personality and group influence on self-reported delinquent behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 1143-1158.

25.

Hodges

B. H.

Geyer

(2006). A nonconformist account of the Asch experiments: Values, pragmatics, and moral dilemmas. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 2-19.

26.

Hodgins

H. S.

Knee

C. R.

(2002). The integrating self and conscious experience. In Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(Eds.), The motivation and self-determination of behavior: Theoretical and applied issues (pp. 87-100). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.

27.

Hornsey

M. J.

Smith

J. R.

Begg

(2007). Effects of norms among those with moral conviction: Counter-conformity emerges on intentions but not behaviors. Social Influence, 2, 244-268.

28.

Kasser

(2002). Sketches for a self-determination theory of values. In Deci

E. L.

Ryan

R. M.

(Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 123-140). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.

29.

Kelman

H. C.

(1961). Processes of opinion change. Public Opinion Quarterly, 25, 57-78.

30.

Knee

C. R.

Neighbors

Vietor

N. A.

(2001). Self-determination theory as a framework for understanding road rage. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31, 880-904.

31.

Legault

Green-Demers

Grant

Chung

(2007). On the self-regulation of implicit and explicit prejudice: A self-determination theory perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 732-749.

32.

Louis

W. R.

(2009). If they’re not crazy, then what? The implications of social psychological approaches to terrorism for conflict management. In Stritzke

Lewandowsky

Denemark

Morgan

Clare

(Eds.), Terrorism and torture: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 125-153). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

33.

Louis

Davies

Smith

Terry

(2007). Pizza and pop and the student identity: The role of referent group norm in healthy and unhealthy eating. Journal of Social Psychology, 147, 57-74.

34.

Louis

W. R.

Duck

J. M.

Terry

D. J.

Lalonde

R. N.

(2010). Speaking out on immigration policy in Australia: Identity threat and the interplay of own opinion and public opinion. Journal of Social Issues, 66, 653-672.

35.

Louis

W. R.

Taylor

D. M.

Douglas

R. L.

(2005). Normative influence and rational conflict decisions: Group norms and cost-benefit analyses for intergroup behavior. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 8, 355-374.

36.

Louis

W. R.

Taylor

D. M.

Neil

(2004). Cost-benefit analyses for your group and your self: The rationality of decision-making in conflict. International Journal of Conflict Management, 15, 110-143.

37.

Moller

A. C.

Deci

E. L.

(2010). Interpersonal control, dehumanization, and violence: A self-determination theory perspective. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 13, 41-53.

38.

Packer

D. J.

(2008). On being both with us and against us: A normative conflict model of dissent in social groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 50-72.

39.

Packer

D. J.

Chasteen

A. L.

(2010). Loyal deviance: Testing the normative conflict model of dissent in social groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 5-18.

40.

Post

J. M.

(2001). The mind of the terrorist: Individual and group psychology of the terrorism behavior. In Stout

C. E.

(Ed.), Psychology of terrorism: Coping with the continuing threat (pp. 185-197). Westport, CT: Praeger.

41.

Przybylski

A. K.

Ryan

Rigby

C. S.

(2009). The motivating role of violence in video games. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 243-259.

42.

Rutland

Killen

Abrams

(2010). A new social-cognitive developmental perspective on prejudice: The interplay between morality and group identity. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5, 279-291.

43.

Ryan

R. M.

(1995). Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. Journal of Personality, 63, 397-427.

44.

Ryan

R. M.

Brown

K. W.

(2003). Why we don’t need self-esteem: On fundamental needs, contingent love, and mindfulness. Psychological Inquiry, 14, 71-76.

45.

Ryan

R. M.

Connell

J. P.

(1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 749-761.

46.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2003). On assimilating identities to the self: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization and integrity within cultures. In Leary

M. R.

Tangney

J. P.

(Eds.), Handbook of the self and identity (pp. 253-274). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.

47.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

Grolnick

W. S.

La Guardia

J. G.

(2006). The significance of autonomy and autonomy support in psychological development and psychopathology. In Cicchetti

Cohen

D. J.

(Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Theory and method (2nd ed., pp. 795-849). New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley.

48.

Schlachter

Duckitt

(2002). Psychopathology, authoritarian attitudes, and prejudice. South African Journal of Psychology, 32, 1-8.

49.

Sherif

(1966). Group conflict and cooperation. London, UK: Routledge.

50.

Smith

J. R.

Louis

W. R.

(2008). Do as we say and as we do: The interplay of descriptive and injunctive group norms in the attitude-behaviour relationship. British Journal of Social Psychology, 47, 647-666.

51.

Staub

(1999). The roots of evil: Social conditions, culture, personality, and basic human needs. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 179-192.

52.

Stott

Hutchison

Drury

(2001). Hooligans abroad? Inter-group dynamics, social identity and participation in collective “disorder” at the 1998 World Cup finals. British Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 359-384.

53.

Tajfel

Turner

J. C.

(1986). The social identity theory of inter-group behavior. In Worchel

Austin

L. W.

(Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp.7-24). Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.

54.

Taylor

D. M.

Louis

W. R.

(2004). Terrorism and the quest for identity. In Moghaddam

F. M.

Marsella

A. J.

(Eds.), Understanding terrorism: Psychosocial roots, consequences, and interventions (pp. 169-185). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

55.

Terry

D. J.

Hogg

M. A.

(1996). Group norms and the attitude-behavior relationship: A role for group identification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 776-793.

56.

Turner

J. C.

(1991). Social influence. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

57.

Turner

J. C.

Hogg

M. A.

Oakes

P. J.

Reicher

S. D.

Wetherell

(1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

58.

Université du Québec. (2008). L’Université pour l’impulsion du Québec. Retrieved from http://www.uquebec.ca/reseau/a-propos/40ans.php

59.

Vallerand

R. J.

Fortier

M. S.

Guay

(1997). Self-determination and persistence in a real-life setting: Toward a motivational model of high school dropout. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1161-1176.

60.

Vallerand

R. J.

Pelletier

L. G.

Blais

M. R.

Brière

N. M.

Senécal

Vallières

E. F.

(1993). On the assessment of intrinsic, extrinsic, and motivation in education: Evidence on the concurrent and construct validity of the Academic Motivation Scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 159-172.

61.

Van Hiel

De Clercq

(2009). Authoritarianism is good for you: Rightwing authoritarianism as a buffering factor for mental distress. European Journal of Personality, 23, 33-50.

62.

Van Hiel

Hautman

Cornelis

de Clercq

(2007). Football hooliganism: Comparing self-awareness and social identity theory explanations. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17, 169-186.

63.

Vansteenkiste

Neyrinck

Niemiec

C. P.

Soenens

De Witte

Van den Broeck

(2007). Examining the relations among extrinsic versus intrinsic work value orientations, basic need satisfaction, and job experience: A self-determination theory approach. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 80, 251-277.

64.

Verkooijen

K. T.

de Vries

N. K.

Nielsen

G. A.

(2007). Youth crowds and substance use: The impact of perceived group norm and multiple group identification. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 21, 55-61.

65.

Weinstein

Ryan

R. M.

(2010). When helping helps: Autonomous motivation for prosocial behavior and its influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 222-244.

66.

Williams

G. C.

Deci

E. L.

(1996). Internalization of biopsychosocial values by medical students: A test of self-determination theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 767-779.

67.

Wispé

L. G.

(1972). Positive forms of social behavior: An overview. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 1-19.