title: Striving for success in outgroup settings: effects of contextually emphasizing ingroup dimensions on stigmatized group members' social identity and performance styles.
abstract: For members of stigmatized groups, being confronted with highstatus outgroup members threatens social identity and undermines performance on status-relevant dimensions. Two experiments examined whether the negative effects of outgroup contexts are alleviated when value is expressed for a dimension on which the stigmatized ingroup excels. Specifically, the authors assessed whether ingroup versus outgroup context and contextual value for ingroup dimensions affects group members' reactions to failure on status-relevant dimensions and subsequent performance. Experiment 1 showed that in comparison to ingroup contexts, outgroup contexts induce stigmatized group members to protect social identity and to feel more agitated following negative performance feedback. Experiment 2 showed that when others in the context emphasize the importance of a dimension on which the ingroup excels, the negative effects of outgroup contexts are alleviated, stigmatized group members feel more cheerful concerning an upcoming task, and task performance is characterized by a focus on success.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Leiden University, the Netherlands. Derks@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
authors.forename: Belle
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Derks
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Laar
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ellemers
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D003142:Communication; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004522:Educational Status; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006126:Group Processes; D006608:Hierarchy, Social; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D011287:Prejudice; D012929:Psychological Distance; D012933:Social Identification; D012945:Social Values; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology