A key prediction of uncertainty-identity theory is that under conditions of high self-uncertainty, people will identify more strongly with their group. This has been supported by numerous studies. To quantify this relationship, a meta-analysis was conducted on 35 studies from 30 papers (N = 4,657). The relationship between self-uncertainty and group identification varied significantly as a function of how psychologically real the uncertainty was, as reflected in how uncertainty was operationalized and how the study was conducted. Self-uncertainty operationalized as social identity uncertainty had the strongest relationship with identification (r = −.26, 6.8% variance accounted for), followed by indirect operationalization of self-uncertainty (r = .23, 5.3% variance accounted for), and direct operationalization of self-uncertainty (r = .14, 2.0% variance accounted for). The relationship did not differ between measured self-uncertainty (r = −.13, 1.7% variance accounted for) and manipulated self-uncertainty (r = .17, 2.9% variance accounted for). Implications and future directions are discussed.
AbramsD.HoggM. A. (2010). Social identity and self-categorization. In DovidioJ. F.HewstoneM.GlickP.EssesV. M. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination (pp. 179–193). London, UK: SAGE.
2.
ArkinR. M.OlesonK. C.CarrollP. J. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of the uncertain self. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
3.
BlascovichJ.MendesW. B.TomakaJ.SalomonK.SeeryM. (2003). The robust nature of the biopsychosocial model challenge and threat: A reply to Wright and Kirby. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 234–243. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0703_03
4.
BlascovichJ.TomakaJ. (1996). The biopsychosocial model of arousal regulation. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 28, 1–51. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60235-x
5.
BoscoF. A.AguinisH.SinhI.FieldJ. G.PierceC. A. (2015). Correlational effect size benchmarks. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100, 431–449. doi:10.1037/a0038047
6.
BrewerM. B.ChenY.-R. (2007). Where (who) are collectives in collectivism? Toward conceptual clarification of individualism and collectivism. Psychological Review, 114, 133–151. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.114.1.133
7.
BrewerM. B.GardnerW. (1996). Who is this “we”? Levels of collective identity and self representations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 83–93. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.83
8.
*ChuB. (2018). License to ill: Slang and uncertainty as motivational accounts for group identification (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from Humboldt State University. (Accession No. 165)
9.
CranoW. D.BrewerM. B. (2002). Principles and methods of social research (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
10.
*DahlE.HohmanZ. P. (2018). Uncertainty drives individual risk taking for the group. Unpublished manuscript, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.
11.
**De CremerD.BrebelsL.SedikidesC. (2008). Being uncertain about what? Procedural fairness effects as a function of general uncertainty and belongingness uncertainty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 1520–1525. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2008.07.010
12.
*DoosjeB.LosemanA.van den BosK. (2013). Determinants of radicalization of Islamic youth in the Netherlands: Personal uncertainty, perceived injustice, and perceived group threat. Journal of Social Issues, 69, 586–604. doi:10.1111/josi.12030
13.
EggerM.SmithG. D.SchneiderM.MinderC. (1997). Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. British Medical Journal, 315, 629–634. doi:10.1136/bmj.315.7109.629
14.
FestingerL. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140. doi:10.1177/001872675400700202
FrommE. (1947). Man for himself: An inquiry into the psychology of ethics. New York, NY: Rinehart.
17.
GleserL. J.OlkinI. (2009). Stochastically dependent effect sizes. In CooperH.HedgesL. V.ValentineJ. C. (Eds.), The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis (2nd ed., pp. 357–376). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
18.
GoldmanL.HoggM. A. (2016). Going to extremes for one’s group: The role of prototypicality and group acceptance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 46, 544–553. doi:10.1111/jasp.12382
19.
*GrantF.HoggM. A. (2012). Self-uncertainty, social identity prominence and group identification. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 538–542. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.11.006
20.
*GrieveP.HoggM. A. (1999). Subjective uncertainty and intergroup discrimination in the minimal group situation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 926–940. doi:10.1177/01461672992511002
21.
*HackettJ. D.HoggM. A. (2014). The diversity paradox: When people who value diversity surround themselves with like-minded others. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44, 415–422. doi:10.1111/jasp.12233
22.
HamiltonD. L.ShermanS. J. (1996). Perceiving persons and groups. Psychological Review, 103, 336–355. doi:10.1037//0033-295x.103.2.336
23.
HedgesL. V. (2008). What are effect sizes and why do we need them?Child Development Perspectives, 2, 167–171. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2008.00060.x
24.
HedgesL. V.TiptonE.JohnsonM. C. (2010). Robust variance estimation in meta-regression with dependent effect size estimates. Research Synthesis Methods, 1, 39–65. doi:10.1002/jrsm.5
25.
HigginsE. T. (1998). Promotion and prevention: Regulatory focus as a motivational principle. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 1–46. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(08)60381-0
26.
HoggM. A. (2000). Subjective uncertainty reduction through self-categorization: A motivational theory of social identity processes. European Review of Social Psychology, 11, 223–255. doi:10.1080/14792772043000040
27.
HoggM. A. (2007). Uncertainty-identity theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 69–126. doi:10.1016/s0065-2601(06)39002-8
28.
HoggM. A. (2012). Uncertainty-identity theory. In van LangeP. A. M.KruglanskiA. W.HigginsE. T. (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 62–80). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
29.
HoggM. A. (2014). From uncertainty to extremism: Social categorization and identity processes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 338–342. doi:10.1177/0963721414540168
30.
HoggM. A. (2015). To belong or not to belong: Some self-conceptual and behavioral consequences of identity uncertainty. Revista de Psicología Social/International Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 586–613. doi:10.1080/02134748.2015.1065090
31.
HoggM. A. (2018). Social identity theory. In BurkeP. J. (Ed.), Contemporary social psychological theories (2nd ed., pp. 112–138). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
32.
*HoggM. A.GrieveP. (1999). Social identity theory and the crisis of confidence in social psychology: A commentary, and some research on uncertainty reduction. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 79–93. doi:10.111/1467-839x.00027
33.
HoggM. A.MahajanN. (2018). Domains of self-uncertainty and their relationship to group identification. Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology, 2, 67–75. doi:10.1002/jts5.20
34.
*HoggM. A.MeehanC.FarquharsonJ. (2010). The solace of radicalism: Self-uncertainty and group identification in the face of threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 1061–1066. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.05.005
35.
*HoggM. A.ShermanD. K.DierselhuisJ.MaitnerA. T.MoffittG. (2007). Uncertainty, entitativity, and group identification. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 135–142. doi:10/1016/j.jesp.2005.12.008
36.
*HohmanZ. P. (2012). Fearing the uncertain: A causal exploration of self-esteem, self-uncertainty, and mortality salience (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from CGU Theses and Dissertations. (Order No. 26)
37.
*HohmanZ. P.GaffneyA. M.HoggM. A. (2017). Who am I if I am not like my group? Self-uncertainty and feeling peripheral in a group. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 125–132. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2017.05.002
38.
*HohmanZ. P.HoggM. A. (2011). Fear and uncertainty in the face of death: The role of life after death in group identification. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 751–760. doi:10.1002/ejsp.818
39.
**HohmanZ. P.HoggM. A. (2015). Fearing the uncertain: Self-uncertainty plays a role in mortality salience. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 57, 31–42. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2014.11.007
40.
*HohmanZ. P.HoggM. A.BlighM. C. (2009). Identity and intergroup leadership: Asymmetrical political and national identification in response to uncertainty. Self and Identity, 9, 113–128. doi:10.1080/15298860802605937
41.
*JettenJ.HoggM. A.MullinB.-A. (2000). Ingroup variability and motivation to reduce subjective uncertainty. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 4, 184–198. doi:10.1037/1089-2699.4.2.184
42.
JonasE.McGregorI.KlacklJ.AgroskinD.FritscheI.HoldbrookC.. . .QuirinM. (2014). Threat and defense: From anxiety to approach. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 219–286. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-800052-6.00004-4
43.
*JungJ.HoggM. A.ChoiH.-S. (2016). Reaching across the DMZ: Identity uncertainty and reunification on the Korean peninsula. Political Psychology, 37, 341–350. doi:10.1111/pops.12252
44.
*JungJ.HoggM. A.ChoiH.-S. (2019). Recategorization and ingroup projection: Two processes of identity-uncertainty reduction. Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology, 3, 97–114. doi:10.1002/jts5.37
45.
*JungJ.HoggM. A.LewisG. J. (2017). Identity uncertainty and UK–Scottish relations: Different dynamics depending on relative identity centrality. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 21, 861–873. doi:10.1177/1368430216678329
46.
KahnemanD.SlovicP.TverskyA. (Eds.). (1982). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
47.
*KimJ.SongE.LeeS. (2013). Organizational change and employee organizational identification: Mediation of perceived uncertainty. Social Behavior and Personality, 41, 1019–1034. doi:10.2224/sbp.2013.41.6.1019
48.
KruglanskiA. W.WebsterD. M. (1996). Motivated closing of the mind: “Seizing” and “freezing.”Psychological Review, 103, 263–283. doi:10.1037//0033-295x.103.2.263
49.
**KuljianO. R. (2018). Physical attractiveness as a threat in intragroup dynamics (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from Humboldt State University. (Order No. 172)
McGregorI.NailP. R.MarigoldD. C.KangS. (2005). Defensive pride and consensus: Strength in imaginary numbers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 978–996. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.978
52.
McGregorI.PrenticeM.NashK. (2009). Personal uncertainty management by reactive approach motivation. Psychological Inquiry, 20, 225–229. doi:10.1080/10478400903333460
53.
MoherD.LiberatiA.TetzlaffJ.AltmanD. G. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. PLoS Medicine, 6, e1000097. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097
54.
*MullinB.-A.HoggM. A. (1998). Dimensions of subjective uncertainty in social identification and minimal intergroup discrimination. British Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 345–365. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8309.1998.tb01176.x
55.
*MullinB.-A.HoggM. A. (1999). Motivations for group membership: The role of subjective importance and uncertainty reduction. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 91–102. doi:10.1207/s15324834ba210202
56.
RastD. E.IIIGaffneyA. M.HoggM. A.CrispR. J. (2012). Leadership under uncertainty: When leaders who are non-prototypical group members can gain support. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 646–653. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.12.013
57.
* RastD. E.IIIHoggM. A.GiessnerS. R. (2016). Who trusts charismatic leaders who champion change? The role of group identification, membership centrality and self-uncertainty. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 20, 259–275. doi:10.1037/gdn0000053
58.
* ReidS. A.HoggM. A. (2005). Uncertainty reduction, self-enhancement, and ingroup identification. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 804–817. doi:10.1177/0146167204271708
59.
*RiegerD.FrischlichL.BenteG. (2017). Propaganda in an insecure unstructured world: How psychological uncertainty and authoritarian attitudes shape the evaluation of right-wing extremist Internet propaganda. Journal for Deradicalization, 10, 203–229. Retrieved from http://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/88/78
60.
**RikettaM. (2008). “Who identifies with which group?” The motive–feature match principle and its limitations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 713–735. doi:10.1002/ejsp.534
61.
RoccasS.BrewerM. B. (2002). Social identity complexity. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 88–106. doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0602_01
62.
SwannW. B.BossonJ. K. (2010). Self and identity. In FiskeS. T.GilbertD. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 589–628). New York, NY: Wiley.
63.
**SyfersL. (2018). Leadership and identity disruption (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from Humboldt State University. (Order No. 170)
64.
TajfelH.TurnerJ. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. In WorchelS.AustinW. G. (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed., pp. 7–24). Chicago, IL: Nelson-Hall.
65.
Tanner-SmithE. E.TiptonE. (2014). Robust variance estimation with dependent effect sizes: Practical considerations including a software tutorial in Stata and SPSS. Research Synthesis Methods, 5, 13–30. doi:10.1002/jrsm.1091
66.
TurnerJ. C.HoggM. A.OakesP. J.ReicherS. D.WetherellM. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
67.
Van den BosK. (2009). Making sense of life: The existential self trying to deal with personal uncertainty. Psychological Inquiry, 20, 197–217. doi:10.1080/10478400903333411
68.
*WagonerJ. A.BelavadiS.JungJ. (2017). Social identity uncertainty: Conceptualization, measurement, and construct validity. Self and Identity, 16, 505–530. doi:10.1080/15298868.2016.1275762
69.
WagonerJ. A.HoggM. A. (2016). Normative dissensus, identity-uncertainty, and subgroup autonomy. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 20, 310–322. doi:10.1037/gdn0000057
