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I Continue to Feel So Good About Us: In-Group Identification and the Use of Social Identity—Enhancing Strategies to Reduce Intragroup Dissonance

John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center, dglasford{at}jjay.cuny.edu

John F. Dovidio

Yale University

Felicia Pratto

University of Connecticut

The present research examined the relation between in-group identification and the use of social identity— enhancing strategies for dealing with the discomfort associated with inconsistency between personal beliefs and in-group behavior (intragroup dissonance). Consistent with the hypothesis that social identity—enhancing strategies would be more effective at reducing intragroup dissonance for those highly identified with the in-group, Experiment 1 demonstrated that level of group identification moderated the effectiveness of group affirmation for reducing psychological discomfort associated with intragroup dissonance, but not the effectiveness of self-affirmation. In Experiment 2, which manipulated level of group identification, participants in a high-identification condition, relative to those in a low-identification condition, were more likely to choose to reduce intragroup dissonance with a strategy that enhanced social identity (i.e., out-group derogation) over a strategy less effective at social identity enhancement (i.e., activism to change the behavior of the group). Implications for intergroup relations are discussed.

Key Words: social identity • cognitive dissonance • intragroup • in-group identification • affirmation

This version was published on April 1, 2009

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 35, No. 4, 415-427 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167208329216


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