Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Free Access - Register Here

Click here for free access to the SAGE eReference platform!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Barreto, M.
Right arrow Articles by Palacios, M. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Barreto, M.
Right arrow Articles by Palacios, M. S.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 11, 1433-1445 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167204264336

The Backlash of Token Mobility: The Impact of Past Group Experiences on Individual Ambition and Effort

Manuela Barreto

University of Leiden, barreto{at}fsw.leidenuniv.nl

Naomi Ellemers

University of Leiden

Maria Soledad Palacios

University of Huelva

Two studies investigated the impact of past ingroup experiences on individual aspirations and effort. Participants were told that in the past, members of their group had either been offered no opportunities (closed), few opportunities (token), or equal opportunities (open) to achieve a desired outcome. The results show that past group experiences determine responses to current opportunities and affect the perceived feasibility of individual success as well as individual performance. Exposure to a token system has different effects, depending on whether the group is historically advantaged or disadvantaged. Whereas those with a collective history of success see token mobility as a challenge and show superior performance, the same situation constitutes a threat to members of a historically disadvantaged group, who fail to take advantage of the opportunities offered to them and perform suboptimally.

Key Words: individual mobility • token system • meritocracy • disadvantage • discrimination • aspirations • social structure


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?