This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tropp, L. R. Articles by Brown, A. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

What Benefits the Group Can Also Benefit the Individual: Group-Enhancing and Individual-Enhancing Motives for Collective Action

Amy C. Brown

Department of Psychology, Boston College

Most collective action research focuses on how concerns for the welfare of one's group can motivate support for collective action. By contrast, little research has examined how motivations for enhancing oneself as an individual may also predict support for collective action, and how these motivations relate to feelings of identification with one's group. This research tests whether motivations for individual enhancement can predict support for collective action, beyond what can be predicted by motivations for group enhancement. With an undergraduate sample, Study 1 shows that individual enhancement significantly predicts interest and involvement in collective action beyond what can be predicted by concerns for group enhancement. Study 2 replicates these findings in a community sample of women, while also demonstrating that the motivation for individual enhancement mediates the relationship between group identification and collective action. Implications of these findings for future research on collective action are discussed.

Key Words: collective action • group identification • individual self-enhancemlent • relative deprivation

References

• Abrams.D. (1990). Political identity: Relatilve deprivation, social identity, and the case of Scottish nationalism. Economic and Social Research Council 16-19 Initiative Occasional Paper no. 24. Social Statistics Unit, City University, London .
• Agronick, G. S., & Duncan, L. E. (1998). Personality and social change: Individual differences. life path, and importance attributed to the women's movement . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74 1545-1555 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
• Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 1173-1182 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Brewer, M. B., & Silver, M. D. (2000). Group distinctiveness, social identification, and collective mobilization. In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens, & R. W. White (Eds.), Self; identity, and social movemnents (pp. 153-171). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press .
• Brown, R., Condor, S., Mathews, A., Wade, G.. & Williams, J. (1986). Explaining intergroup differentiation in an industrial organization . Journal of Occupational Psychology, 59 273-286 .
• Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., Ridge, R. D., Copeland, J., Stukas, A. A., Haugen, J. et al. (1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach . Jouirnal of Personaity aiid Social PcychoogNv. 74 1516-1530 .
• Duncan, L. E. (1999). Motivation for collective action: Group consciousness as mediator of personality, life experiences, and women's rights activism . Political Psychology, 20, 611-635 .[CrossRef]
• Foster, M. D., & Matheson, K. (1999). Perceiving and responding to the personal/group discrimination discrepancy . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25 1319-1329 .[Abstract/Free Full Text]
• Gecas, V. (2000). Value identities, self-motives, and social movements. In S. Stryker, T.J. Owens, & R. W. White (Eds.), Self, identity, and social movements (pp. 93-109). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press .
• Grant, P. R., & Brown, R. (1995). From ethnocentrism to collective protest: Responses to relative deprivation and threats to social identity . Social Psychology Quarterly, 58 195-211 .[CrossRef]
• Gurin, P. (1985). Women's gender consciousness . Public Opinion Quarterly, 49, 143-163 .[Abstract]
• Hogg, M. A. (2003). Social identity. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangey (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 462-479). New YoIk: Guilford .
• Hogg, M. A. & Abrams, D. (1988). Social identifications: A social psychology of intergroup relations and group processes New York: Routledge .
• Hogg, M. A., Cooper-Shaw, L., & Holzworth, D. W. (1993). Group prototypicality and depersonalized attraction in small interactive groups . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19 452-465 .[Abstract]
• Hogg, M. A., & Hardie, E. A. (1992). Prototypicality, conformity, and depersonalized attraction: A self-categorization analysis of group cohesiveness . British Journal of Social Psychology, 31 41-56 .
• Hogg, M. A., Hardie, E. A., & Reynolds, KJ. (1995). Prototypical similarity, self-categorization, and depersonalized attraction: A perspective on group cohesiveness . European Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 159-177 .
• Kawakami, K., & Dion, K. L. (1993). The impact of salient self-identities on relative deprivation and action intentions . European Journal of Social Psychology, 23 525-540 .
• Kelly, C., & Breinlinger, S. (1996). The social psychology of collective action: Identity, injustice and gender Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis .
• Kelly, C., & Kelly, J. (1994). Who gets involved in collective action? Social psychological determinants in individual participation in trade unions . Human Relations, 47, 41-57 .
• Klandermans, B. (1997). The social psychology of protest Oxford: Blackwell .
• Klandermans, B., & de Weerd, M. (2000). Group identification and political protest. In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens, & R. W. White (Eds.), Self, identity, and social movements (pp. 68-90), Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press .
• Klandermans, B., & Oegenma, D. (1987). Potentials, networks, motivations, and barriers: Steps toward participation in social movements . American Sociological Review, 52 519-531 .[CrossRef]
• Kluegel,J. R., & Smith, E. (1986). Beliefs about inequality Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter .
• Loeb, R. C., & Magee, P. M. (1992). Changes in attitudes and self-perceptions during the first two years of college . Journal of College Student Development, 33 348-355 .
• Lydon,J. E., & Zanna, M. P. (1990). Commitment in the face of adversity: A value affirmation approach . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 1040-1047 .[CrossRef]
• Oakes. P. J. (1987). The salience of social categories. In J. C. Turner, M. A. Hogg, P.J. Oakes, S. D. Reicher, & M. S. Wetherell (Eds.), Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory (pp. 117-141). Oxford: Blackwell .
• Owens, T. J., & Aronson, P.J. (2000). Selflconcept as a force in social movement involvement. In S. Stryker, T. J. Owens, & R. W. White (Eds.), Self, identity, and social movements (pp. 191-214). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press .
• Pedhazur. E. J. (1997). Multiple regression in behavioral research: Explanation and prediction Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace .
• Ratner. R. K., & Miller, D. T. (2001). The norm of self-interest and its effects on social action . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 5-16 .[CrossRef][ISI][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Sears, D. O. (1986). College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51 515-530 .[CrossRef][ISI]
• Sidanius, J., & Pratto, F. (1999). Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press .
• Simon, B. (1998). Individuals, groups, and social change: On the relationship between individual and collective self-interpretations and collective action. In C. Sedikides & J. Schopler (Eds.), Intergroup cognition and intergroup behavior (pp. 257-282). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .
• Simon, B., & Klandermans, B. (2001). Politicized collective identity: A social psychological analysis . American Psychologist, 56 319-331 .[CrossRef][Medline] [Order article via Infotrieve]
• Simon, B., Loewy, M., Sturmer, S.. Weber, U., Freytag, P., Habig, C. et al. (1998). Collective identification and social movement participation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 74 646-658 .[CrossRef]
• Simon, B., Sturmer, S., & Steffens, K. (2000). Helping individuals or group members? The role of individual and collective identification in AIDS volunteerism . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 96, 497-506 .
• Smith, H.J., & Ortiz, D.J. (2002). Is itjust me? The different consequences of personal and group relative deprivation. In I. Walker & H. J. Smith (Eds.), Relative deprivation: Specification, development, and integration (pp. 91-115). Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press .
• Snyder, M., & Omoto, A. (2001). Basic research and practical problems: Volunteerism and the psychology of individual and collective action. In W. Wosinska & R. B. Cialdini. (Eds.), The practice of social influence in multiple cultures (pp. 287-307). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .
• Stryker. S., Owens, T. J., & White, R. W. (Eds.). (2000). Self, identity, and social movements Minneapolis. MN: University of Minnesota Press .
• Sturmer. S., Simon, B., Loewy, M., & Jorger, H. (2003). The dual-pathway model of social movemnent participation: The case of the fat acceptance movement . Social Psylchology Quarterly 66, 71-82 .[CrossRef]
• Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categoriers Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press .
• Tougas, F., & Veilleux, F. (1988). The influence of identification, collective relative deprivation, and procedure of implementation on women's response to affirmative action: A causal modeling approach . Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 20, 15-28 .
• Tropp, L. R., & Wright, S. C. (1999). Ingroup identification and relative deprivation: An examination across multiple social comparisons . European Journal of Social Psychology, 29 707-724 .[CrossRef]
• Turner, J. C. (1982). Toward a cognitive redefinition of the social group. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup relations (pp. 15-40). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press .
• Turner,J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P.J., Reicher, S. D., & Wetherell, M. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A sel-categorization theory Oxford: Blackwell .
• Walker, I., & Mann, L. (1987). Unemployment, relative deprivation, and social protest . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13 275-283 .[Abstract]
• Wright, S. C., Taylor, D. M., & Moghaddam, F. M. (1990). Responding to membership in a disadvantaged group: From acceptance to collective protest . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 58 994-1003 .[CrossRef]
• Wright, S. C.. & Tropp, L. R. (2002). Collective action in response to disadvantage: Intergroup perceptions, social identification, and social change. In I. Walker & H. J. Smith (Eds.), Relative deprivaltaion: Specification, development. and integration (pp. 200-236). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press .

CiteULike

Connotea

Del.icio.us

Digg

Reddit

Technorati

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Sturmer, B. Simon, and M. I. Loewy Intraorganizational Respect and Organizational Participation: The Mediating Role of Collective Identity Group Processes Intergroup Relations, January 1, 2008; 11(1): 5 - 20. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F. E. Frey and L. R. Tropp Being Seen As Individuals Versus As Group Members: Extending Research on Metaperception to Intergroup Contexts Personality and Social Psychology Review, August 1, 2006; 10(3): 265 - 280. [Abstract] [PDF]

This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tropp, L. R. Articles by Brown, A. C. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?