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Putting the Group Back into Unions: A Social Psychological Contribution to Understanding Union Support
Abstract
Industrial relations research that attempts to grapple with individuals' union-related sentiments and activities often draws on one of two traditions of psychological research—the individual-level factors tradition (for example, personality and attitude-behaviour relations) and the social context tradition (for example, frustration-aggression and relative deprivation). This paper provides an overview of research conducted from within these traditions to explain union-related phenomena and identifies some of the limitations that arise as a consequence of a shared tendency to treat people in an atomistic fashion. The paper argues for an understanding of the psychological processes that underpin group-based action. To this end, it elaborates a theoretical framework based on social identity theory and self-categorisation theory that would allow us to examine the dynamic interplay between the individual, their cognitions and their environment. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of a specific case of union mobilisation, to indicate how this theoretical framework might aid empirical analysis.
... The approaches in the context of mobilization theory have added to the treatment of satisfaction and dissatisfaction, by examining the impacts of feelings of justice and injustice (Kelly 1997, Johnson and Jarley 2004, Buttigieg et al. 2008). Blackwood et al. (2003) have argued that according to the relative deprivation theory, in order to experience collective action there must be a group present which feels relative deprivation with respect to other groups (conversely, individual deprivation with respect to other individuals leads to individual responses -interactionist theory is explained in the next chapter). ...
... Collective action is contingent on seeing oneself as part of the group (Blackwood et al. 2003). Social identity is constructed from three components: the cognitive component (social categorization), evaluative component (group's status compared to others) and the affective component (commitment to the group) (Klandermans 2002). ...
... People define themselves through the groups to which they belong and therefore are motivated to defend and enhance group status. (Blackwood et al. 2003) The affective component of social identity is what Klandermans (2002) terms group identification. Group identification is connected with the depersonalisation and politicization of group identity. ...
Väitekirja elektroonilisest versioonist puuduvad publikatsioonid. Vaatamata asjaolule, et ametiühingute liikmelisus on maailmas viimasel ajal pidevalt vähenenud, on töötajate esindamist ning sotsiaaldialoogi Euroopa Liidus järjest enam tähtsustatud. Töötajate esindatus töökohas on aluseks töötajate esindusorganisatsioonide kujunemisele. Üleminekuperioodi algusest on peamise töötajate esindusorganisatsiooni, ametiühingute, liikmelisus endistes Balti riikides pidevalt ning väga kiirelt vähenenud. Uuring on nelja Balti riikides töötajate esindust käsitleva artikli kogumik. Käesoleva töö ülesandeks on analüüsida, miks töötajad soovivad olla esindatud ettevõtte tasandil ning millised töötajate suhtumised ning esinduse struktuurid selgitavad esindatuse taset Balti riikides. Töötajate otsus ametiühinguga liituda sõltub sellest, mida oodatakse, et ametiühing on võimeline saavutama ja ametiühingu võime midagi saavutada sõltub sellest, kui paljud inimesed osalevad. Indiviidi tasandi andmete põhjal analüüsitakse töötajate hinnanguid esindamisele ja ametiühingutele Balti riikides. Töö tulemusena leitakse, et Balti riikides on töötajate soov olla ametiühingu kaudu esindatud madal. Madal on nii ametiühingu liikmelisus kui ka nende töötajate osatähtsus, kes ei ole esindatud ametiühingute poolt, aga sooviksid olla. Samas leiti uuringus, et Balti riikides on üks teoreetilises kirjanduses varem käsitlemata oluline ja suur grupp töötajaid, kes ei oska otsustada, kas nad soovivad ametiühingu esindust ning neid iseloomustab ka see, et nad ei tea, kuidas ametiühingud funktsioneerivad ning millist kasu sellest võiks saada. Samas näitab ametiühingute üldine maine ning üldisem ootus nende vajalikkusele seda, et ametiühinguid tervikuna ei peeta ebaoluliseks. Samuti ei leitud, et ametiühinguvälised töötajate esindajad oluliselt asendaksid ametiühinguid. Even if there is the political will to maintain the role of social partners in designing and implementing labour market policy, social dialogue can take place only if representative social partners exist. Against the background of declining trade union membership and very low membership levels in the Baltic countries, the question can be raised of the appropriateness of these policies. The thesis is a collection of four original publications. The thesis focuses on the question of why employees decide to be represented, specifically by joining or creating trade unions or establishing non-union representation in the workplace, and how employee attitudes might be formed in a way that explains the low level of representation in the Baltic countries. The decision to join a trade union is a simultaneous decision with the outcome is achieved by unions. In the thesis, individual attitudes about representation and trade unions are analysed in Baltic countries. The share of employees who want to be represented by trade unions, is found to be low. There is low both union membership and the share of those who are not represented but who express the desire to be represented. However, there is a third separate group who is not analysed in the theoretical literature, the ‘undecided’, who have difficulties in forming an opinion as to whether they want union re¬pre¬sentation or not. Those who are undecided have the hardest time in deciding whether unions bring benefits to their members and how trade unions function. However, the overall image of trade unions and general expectations about the need for trade unions in the contemporary labour market show that trade unions are not regarded as unnecessary institutions. Also, it was not found that alternative representation mechanisms substitute trade unions.
... Kaufman, 2004), utility-instrumentality (e.g. Peetz, 1998), and ideological beliefs or feelings of group identity (e.g., Blackwood, Lafferty, Duck and Terry, 2003;Schnabel, 2003). ...
... But, again, there is a connection with the dissatisfaction-threat model because pro-union ideologies or collective identities are most likely to develop when groups of workers share a history of disadvantage or injustice (e.g. Kelly, 1998;Blackwood et al. 2003;Peetz and Frost, 2007). ...
Using a random telephone survey of 645 New Zealand employees in unionised workplaces,
we compare union members with non-members on four dimensions of employee well-being:
felt work intensification in terms of work demands on time and role overload, job-induced
stress, work-life imbalance, and job satisfaction. We find no differences between unionists
and non-unionists in respect of overall job satisfaction, although two facet-level aspects of
satisfaction do predict union membership – promotion opportunities and recognition levels.
Union members also report higher levels of work overload and pressure, greater stress, and
greater work-life imbalance compared to non-union members. These findings are discussed
in relation to theories of union belonging.
... However, felt personal or collective control is reduced dramatically, if not lost, during a management-imposed lockout. This is a crucial distinction, because employees who are locked out of work may well experience a sense of loss of control, as well as an increase in the degree of external threat (Blackwood, Lafferty, Duck, & Terry, 2003), both which are associated with reduced psychological well-being more generally. ...
Les effets sur la santé mentale des syndiqués diffèrent-ils selon le type d’action syndicale entreprise? Nous avons comparé les effets d’une grève et d’un lock-out sur la détresse psychologique des syndiqués six mois après la résolution du conflit syndical. Ont participé à l’étude 156 enseignants du secondaire de deux commissions scolaires différentes affiliées au même syndicat. Six mois avant l’enquête, les deux commissions scolaires avaient été aux prises avec le même processus de négociation des relations de travail, et les deux s’étaient vues imposer le même règlement, soit une loi forçant le retour au travail. Or, les deux commissions scolaires avaient entrepris différents types d’actions syndicales. Les membres d’une des commissions scolaires avaient fait la grève pendant quatre semaines, alors que l’autre avait été mise en lock-out pendant quatre semaines par l’administration de la commission scolaire. En comparaison des membres qui avaient fait la grève, les membres en lock-out ont signalé des niveaux plus élevés de détresse psychologique acontextuelle six mois après leur retour forcé au travail. Nous discutons des conséquences sur les plans théorique, de la pratique et des politiques.
... Both in times of opportunity and in times of threat people can be mobilized to take to the streets, but our study suggests that the mechanisms behind the mobilization-the protesters' mobilization trajectories, their motivations, and their expectations-differ significantly. This confirms earlier research showing that different contexts give rise to different routes to movement support (see, e.g., Blackwood et al. 2003;Van Stekelenburg et al. 2009). ...
Does the composition of a government affect the beliefs, motivations, and mobilization trajectories of protest participants addressing the government? We make use of a straightforward research design to test how the loss of a left-wing ally in power affected the individual-level characteristics of participants in two ‘twin’ demonstrations. Both demonstrations were staged by the same organizers (trade unions) who launched identical campaigns on the same issue (austerities) in the same country (Belgium) forwarding the same demands (fair taxation). The first demonstration was staged in 2011 against a newly formed center-left government. The second demonstration was staged in 2014 against a newly formed center-right government. Relying on protest survey evidence, campaign material and insights of political opportunity structure theory (POS), we mount evidence that the loss of a left-wing ally produced a threat that resulted in (1) bleaker perceptions of participants (effectiveness, personal situation, trust), (2) the activation of informal mobilizing networks, and (3) different motivational dynamics (less instrumental). As such, this study contributes to a better understanding of macro–micro dynamics in contentious politics. Conclusion and discussion center on ways of studying the macro–micro link in protest participation research.
... But today's positive attitude formation regarding unionization through socializing agents and union exposure at the workplace is becoming a less effective means of reaching out to all young workers. However, the shaping of union attitudes also depends on the agency of the union itself-in the efforts it makes toward developing the collective consciousness, identity, and actions of the young workers (Blackwood et al. 2003). Unions across Europe have gradually (although too slowly) begun undertaking different (small-scale) actions to better engage with young people. ...
This chapter argues that the currently low rate of youth unionization is not the outcome of a generational shift in attitudes and beliefs regarding the value of trade unions. This phenomenon is due rather to the decline of union membership as a social custom and the diminishing exposure to unionism at the workplace. Unions have a certain degree of agency as they play a particularly important role in the effort to develop effective tailor-made strategies for organizing young workers.
In section 2, we explore the extent to which an individual’s age influences their decision to join a union and we look at the patterns in youth unionization across Europe. Section 3 focuses on young people themselves in a discussion of their beliefs and attitudes toward unionization, then explores the demise of unionization as a traditional social custom as an alternative explanation to simple cohort effects. Section 4 examines the significance of school-to-work transition regimes for organizing young people: the opportunities and costs of organizing are dependent on the degree of union integration in those regimes. The internal adaptation and diverse initiatives of unions across Europe toward engaging and organizing young workers are discussed in section 5. Section 6 concludes the chapter.
... Las basadas en los niveles de satisfacción-insatisfacción en el trabajo (Freeman y Medoff, 1984;Barling et al., 1992;Friedman et al., 2006), o en la predisposición a la integración en la organización (Visser, 1995;Allvin y Sverke, 2000;Cregan, 2005;Blanchflower, 2007;Checchi et al., 2010). Y, por último, las que se remiten a factores externos, como el papel de las instituciones sociales y del proceso de trabajo en cuanto proveedores de oportunidades o de restricciones a la participación (Klandermans, 2002;Kuruvilla et al., 1990;Newton y Shore, 1992;Gallagher y Clark, 2001;Blackwood et al., 2003). En el seno de las dos últimas interpretaciones también se han analizado las predisposiciones y oportunidades de jóvenes (Gomez et al., 2004;Haynes et al., 2005;Waddington y Kerr, 2002), mujeres (Tomlinson, 2005;Kirton, 2005;Sinclair, 1996;Sudano, 1998), o inmigrantes (Turner et al, 2007;Wrench, 2004). ...
This text presents an analysis of aggregated membership's dynamics for Spanish trade unions, using ECVT data, as well as union memberships' trajectories, or members' decisions about joining the organization, permanency and responsibilities, and subsequent attrition. For the analysis of trajectories we make use of information of the records of actual memberships and the record of quitting of CCOO, and of a survey-questionnaire to a sample of leavers of the same union. This study allows us to confirm a linkage between the decision and motivations to become union member, to participate in union activities, the time of permanency, and the motives to quit the organization. We also identify five types of union members' trajectories, indicating that, far from views that assert a monolithic structure, unions are complex organizations.
... Las basadas en los niveles de satisfacción-insatisfacción en el trabajo (Freeman y Medoff, 1984;Barling et al., 1992;Friedman et al., 2006), o en la predisposición a la integración en la organización (Visser, 1995;Allvin y Sverke, 2000;Cregan, 2005;Blanchflower, 2007;Checchi et al., 2010). Y, por último, las que se remiten a factores externos, como el papel de las instituciones sociales y del proceso de trabajo en cuanto proveedores de oportunidades o de restricciones a la participación (Klandermans, 2002;Kuruvilla et al., 1990;Newton y Shore, 1992;Gallagher y Clark, 2001;Blackwood et al., 2003). En el seno de las dos últimas interpretaciones también se han analizado las predisposiciones y oportunidades de jóvenes (Gomez et al., 2004;Haynes et al., 2005;Waddington y Kerr, 2002), mujeres (Tomlinson, 2005;Kirton, 2005;Sinclair, 1996;Sudano, 1998), o inmigrantes (Turner et al, 2007;Wrench, 2004). ...
... He finds, in fact, that social pressure to join unions – the influence of family, friends and co-workers – has declined in Holland since the 1960s. While many industrial relations scholars throughout the world are concerned to contextualize studies of individual union demand and emphasize the ways in which workers are 'emotionally and socially engaged' (Blackwood et al., 2003: 500), another development involves refining the micro-economic understanding of union joining. The argument is that we need to take into account the possibility that unionism is an 'experience good' (Bryson and Gomez, 2003; Bryson et al., 2005; Gomez et al., 2002). ...
The New Zealand Worker Representation and Participation Survey, drawing on earlier surveys in the USA and Britain, charts the incidence, location and nature of demand for union membership in New Zealand for the first time. Using Freeman and Roger™s (1999) definition, we estimate the ‘representation gap™, the extent of unsatisfied demand for union membership, at 17.8 percent of the labour force. The gap is greater among younger and lower paid workers in smaller organizations in private sector service industries. How much of the gap consists of workers who would definitely join a union if actually offered the opportunity is a debatable point. New Zealand unions face three major challenges: indifference on the part of the majority of workers in non-unionized firms, lack of union reach (mainly into small, private sector workplaces), and free-riding. These challenges imply a mix of responses in union strategy and public policy.
... Individual workers are likely to be transformed into an integrated social agent or workers' collective when they occupy the same position in a hierarchical work organization, and develop a shared sense of identity and interpretation of the situation that can lead to collective action. The existence of such a community of interests tends to be associated with a strong sense of attachment and allegiance that acts as the basis of group formation and collective action (Blackwood et al. 2003;Kelly 1993). Factors that likely point to the presence of a workers' collective in the workplace are the existence of some form of leadership, a collective factory consciousness and the ability to mobilize the resources of the group (Lilja 1987). ...
This paper develops a theoretical model of collective action at work using the key concepts of mobilization triggers, facilitating factors, and inhibiting factors. It then illustrates the value of this model for understanding why a low pay, low-skill blue collar manufacturing facility remained non-union. These accounts reflect the views of a sample of redundant workers and enable us to demonstrate the importance of social contexts where inhibiting conditions dominate and where management practices succeed in gaining worker consent and forestalling a collective response from workers.
... A comprehensive understanding of employees' decisions to participate in development activities requires not only consideration of multiple theories (Hurtz & Williams, 2009;Noe et al., 1997) but also examination of factors from both the advantage and disadvantage perspectives. Studies of relative deprivation and its influence on PDA seem lacking in the training and development literature even though the theory has been used to examine participation in a wide range of work-related activities, including union activities (Blackwood, Lafferty, Duck, & Terry, 2003;Kelly & Kelly, 1994), affirmative action (Tougas & Beaton, 1992), nurses' reactions to dramatic changes affecting their daily lives (De la Sablonnière & Tougas, 2008), and occupations of women (Beaton, Tougas, & Laplante, 2007). ...
Research on participation in development activities (PDA) has traditionally been examined from an advantage perspective: Employees engage in development activities out of a desire to enhance current and future advantages. In this study, the author examined PDA from a disadvantage perspective, which suggests that employees participate in development activities out of a desire to redress perceived disadvantages. Perceived individual relative deprivation was hypothesized to relate to PDA through intention to participate and counterfactual beliefs, and perceived behavioral control was proposed to interact with intention to participate in relating to development behaviors. In a sample of 144 employees from 27 companies in Ghana, an emerging economy, moderated structural equation modeling results confirm some of the hypotheses. Implications for PDA research and human resource management are discussed.
... For Visser (1995), Olson's theory of collective action explains the instrumental reasons for deciding not to participate, but its line of reasoning is weak when it comes to explaining the behaviour of those who do decide to take part. As regards the second approach, Blackwood et al. (2003) describe different psychological theories of activism. All have in common the idea that personal and social environment factors affect the attitude and commitment of the person towards the union. ...
In this article we analyze the reasons, within the context of Spanish industrial relations, for trade union members’ active participation in their regional union. The case of Spain is particularly interesting as the unions’ main activity, collective bargaining, is a public good. The text, based on research involving a representative survey of members of a regional branch of the “Workers” Commissions” (Comisiones Obreras) trade union, provides empirical evidence that the union presence in the workplace has a significant influence on members’ propensity for activism. By contrast, the alternative hypothesis based on instrumental reasons appears of little relevance in the Spanish industrial relations context.
Union density has fallen dramatically in many western European countries over recent decades, with grave implications for unions' strength and legitimacy regarding collective bargaining. Free‐riding remains an ongoing challenge in maintaining union membership levels, as covered nonunion workers generally receive the same collectively bargained terms as union members. To help resolve this problem, we propose a union default that would, as a legal requirement, automatically enrol all workers under coverage as union members in the first instance, but with a subsequent right to opt‐out. We use survey evidence from New Zealand to suggest that nearly half these nonunion workers working for unionised employers would retain membership if defaulted. A default would be effective at converting nonunion workers into union members partly because it would shift the norms of the workplace from nonunion to union, as per social custom theory.
In early 2007 the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, urged business groups and employers to conduct a publicity and media campaign in defence of his government's WorkChoices industrial relations laws. In mid-2007, nineteen employer associations established the Business Coalition for Workplace Reform (BCWR) in response to this challenge. The media campaign (‘Let's keep workplace reform’) was largely based on a report prepared by Econtech Pty Ltd (2007), commissioned by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This article analyses both the Econtech report and the BCWR campaign.
Three field studies conducted with academics and students examined the dynamic role of threat and normative support for a union in qualifying the relationship between union-related legitimacy and efficacy beliefs, and union intentions. There was evidence for interplay between threat and norms in facilitating people acting in accordance with their union beliefs, and in providing the conditions where those with weaker beliefs may be mobilised. In Study 1, students' perception of threat to group interests facilitated their preparedness to act on pro-union legitimacy and efficacy beliefs. In Study 2, among academics who perceived low threat, acting on union legitimacy and efficacy beliefs was contingent on a pro-union norm, while those who perceived high threat were prepared to act on their union legitimacy beliefs regardless of the normative environment. Finally, in Study 3, a pro-union norm again facilitated acting on union beliefs in a low threat condition and overcame the importance of legitimacy and efficacy beliefs in a high threat condition. In sum, this research makes a case for the importance of union strategies attending to both the framing of intergroup threat and the communication of in-group normative support for the union.
In this article, participants in two demonstrations are compared. The demonstrations took place in two different squares in Amsterdam, on the same day, opposing the same governmental policy. Everything was the same except the organizers and their appeals: labor unions with an appeal in terms of threatened interests, on the one hand, and an anti-neoliberalism alliance with an appeal in terms of violated principles on the other. We hypothesize that social cleavages shape mobilizing structures and mobilization potentials. Thereby, this study takes an important yet rarely tested assumption in social movement literature seriously: namely, that grievances are socially constructed. If indeed grievances are socially constructed, one would expect that organizers rooted in different cleavages issue different appeals that resonate with different motives. What made individuals who were protesting the same governmental policy participate in one square rather than in the other? Organizational embeddedness, identification, and appeals that resonate with people's grievances provide the answer to that question. To test our hypotheses, we conducted surveys at both demonstrations; survey questionnaires were randomly distributed. The findings supported our assumptions regarding the influence of the diverging mobilizing contexts on the dynamics of protest participation and revealed the crucial role of identity processes.
Based on a survey of Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) members, this article investigates why certain individuals become union representatives (job representatives), and others remain rank-and-file union members. This article argues that job representatives are a key component of an organizing strategy and have played a crucial role in membership growth of the ANF over the last decade. Logistic regression results indicate that union commitment, employer trust, intra-group identification and full-time employment are predictors of representative status. Results of a chi-square test indicate that job representatives have a higher probability of attempting to recruit relative to rank-and-file members. Open-ended questions reveal that nearly 50 percent of rank-and-file members would be willing to become job representatives should they be given more time or reduced working hours, more training or knowledge of responsibilities, or rewards. These findings have implications for ANF organizing strategies and other Australian trade unions in the current climate of industrial relations reform and union density decline.
Demonstraties zijn een steeds 'normaler' verschijnsel en bovendien is het demonstrerende publiek steeds diverser. Waarom demonstreren mensen? In de eerste helft van de vorige eeuw benadrukten onderzoekers de irrationele en emotionele kanten van protest gedrag om daarna de meer rationele, structurele en organisationele kanten te benadrukken. Dit proefschrift laat zien dat demonstranten instrumentele, identiteits, ideologische en emotionele routes naar protest nemen. Dus beide kanten spelen een rol in de motivatie om te demonstreren. Echter, dit proefschrift laat ook zien waarom een demonstrant op een bepaald moment de ene route neemt en niet de ander. Dit blijkt afhankelijk van de organiserende organisatie en zelf-regulatie mechanismen. Tijdens demonstraties van de vakbeweging en Keer het Tij hebben wij participatiemotieven onderzocht. Demonstranten van de vakbeweging en Keer het Tij waren beiden woedend, echter instrumentele overwegingen versterkten de woede bij de vakbond terwijl ideologische overwegingen de woede bij Keer het Tij versterkten. Dus afhankelijk van de organiserende organisatie ligt de nadruk op meer instrumentele of ideologische routes. Zelf-regulatie mechanismen blijken als individueel "besturingsmechanisme" te funktioneren. In deze zelf-regulatie richten promotors zich op idealen en preventors op veiligheid. Vertaald naar participatiemotieven blijkt dat promotors de ideologie-route nemen en preventors de instrumentele- en identiteits-route. Daarnaast trekt een demonstratieoproep in promotietermen (Keer het Tij) meer promotors met ideologie motieven en een demonstratieoproep in preventietermen (vakbeweging) meer preventors met instrumentele en identiteits motieven. Dit laat zien dat afhankelijk van een interactie tussen individuele en organisationele kenmerken, demonstranten participeren op basis van zowel instrumentele, solidaire alswel expressieve overwegingen.
University faculty hired for short-term contracts rated occupational rank-based mistreatment; as well as willingness to protest, leave their position, or engage in workplace deviance. How respondents reacted to mistreatment was shaped by identification with their occupational rank and source of mistreatment (administrators or colleagues). Administrative mistreatment increased willingness to protest and engage in workplace deviance for respondents who were less identified; faculty mistreatment decreased willingness to protest. Respondents who identified more with occupational rank were less sensitive to differences in mistreatment. These data suggest that if the mistreatment source “fits” the intergroup context, people will challenge the situation, but if it does not fit respondent expectations, collective challenge is less likely, particularly among people who identify less with their group.
The emphasis in the social-psychological collective action literature is on why individuals take part in collective action; however, it does not elaborate on how different mobilizing contexts may appeal to distinct motivational dynamics to participate. The present study connects the microlevel of motivational dynamics of individual protesters with the mesolevel of social movement characteristics. To do so a field study was conducted. Protesters were surveyed in the act of protesting in two different demonstrations in two different town squares simultaneously organized by two social movements at exactly the same time against the same budget cuts proposed by the same government. But with one fundamental difference, the movements emphasized different aspects of the policies proposed by the government. This most similar systems design created a unique natural experiment, which enabled the authors to examine whether the motivational dynamics of individual protesters are moderated by the social movement context. Previous research suggested an instrumental path to collective action, and the authors added an ideology path. The authors expected and found that power-oriented collective action appeals to instrumental motives and efficacy and that value-oriented collective action appeals to ideological motives, and, finally, that efficacy mediates on instrumental motives and motivational strength, but only so in power-oriented action.
In this article we analyse the reasons for active trade union participation within the context of Spanish industrial relations. Spain represents a particularly interesting case as the unions' main activity, collective bargaining, is considered a public good. The present study is based on a representative survey of one region of the ‘Worker Commissions’ trade union and provides empirical evidence that union presence in the workplace has a significant influence on members' propensity for activism. Union presence in the workplace enhances collectivism and builds incentive for action in inclusive systems of industrial relations. By contrast, individualistic orientations and instrumental motives are of little relevance in the Spanish industrial relations context.
The present article reports a longitudinal study of the psychological antecedents for, and outcomes of, collective action for a community sample of activists. At Time 1, activist identification influenced intentions to engage in collective action behaviours protesting the Iraq war, both directly and indirectly via perceptions of the efficacy of these behaviours for achieving group goals, as well as perceptions of individual-level benefits. At Time 2, identification was associated with differences in the dimensions on which the movement's success was evaluated. In the context of the movement's failure to achieve its stated objectives of troop withdrawal, those with strong activist identity placed less importance on influencing government decision making. The implications are discussed in terms of models of collective action and social identity, focusing on a dynamic model that relates identification with a group to evaluations of instrumentality at a group and individual level; and to beliefs about strategic responses to achieve group goals.
Research dealing with various aspects of* the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985,
1987) is reviewed, and some unresolved issues are discussed. In broad terms, the theory is
found to be well supported by empirical evidence. Intentions to perform behaviors of different
kinds can be predicted with high accuracy from attitudes toward the behavior, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioral control; and these intentions, together with perceptions of
behavioral control, account for considerable variance in actual behavior. Attitudes, subjective
norms, and perceived behavioral control are shown to be related to appropriate sets of salient
behavioral, normative, and control beliefs about the behavior, but the exact nature of these
relations is still uncertain. Expectancy value formulations are found to be only partly
successful in dealing with these relations. Optimal rescaling of expectancy and value
measures is offered as a means of dealing with measurement limitations. Finally, inclusion of
past behavior in the prediction equation is shown to provide a means of testing the theory*s
sufficiency, another issue that remains unresolved. The limited available evidence concerning
this question shows that the theory is predicting behavior quite well in comparison to the
ceiling imposed by behavioral reliability.
Intentions to perform most behaviors are more controlled by attitudes than by subjective norms. Yet subjective norms typically account for a significant, albeit small, proportion of unique variance in intentions. To explore the hypothesis that this effect can be explained largely by individual differences in the degree to which some people are apt to be more under normative control, subjects were asked to indicate their intentions, attitudes, and subjective norms toward performing 30 behaviors. Between-subjects and within-subjects analyses were performed. The within-subjects analyses revealed important differences in whether subjects are under attitudinal or normative control across the behaviors. Further, when "normatively controlled" subjects were excluded from the sample, the significant effects of subjective norms on intentions that were obtained in previous between-subjects analyses were eliminated, and the attitudinal effects were augmented. Finally, this individual difference was associated with the strength of the collective self;
In four studies, effects of self-perceived or public-perceived threats to group status or group distinctiveness on self-stereotyping (defined as similarity to prototypical in-group members) were investigated for people with high or low in-group identification. The main prediction was that high and low identifiers will respond differentially when their group's status or distinctiveness is threatened such that self-stereotyping is reduced for low identifiers but enhanced for high identifiers. Although the four studies investigated different comparison groups and different kinds of group threat, the results of all studies provided support for the prediction, and this was confirmed by a meta-analysis. This supports the authors' argument that the initial level of group identification determines whether group members are likely to set themselves apart from the rest of their group or to show group solidarity when their identity as group members is threatened.
Past research on members' participation in union activities has been characterized by the lack of a psychometrically adequate criterion for participation and an exploratory focus on the correlates of participation. We report two studies addressing these issues. In the first study, we found that participation was best understood as a unidimensional and cumulative construct. Across three large data sets (ns = 229, 551, and 413), a Guttman scale model provided a good fit to the data. The scale demonstrated temporal reliability, and correlations with external criteria support the construct validity of the measure. In the second study, we formulated a model to predict members' participation on the basis of the theory of reasoned action and the partisan model of political participation. After slight modification, the proposed model fit the data for the study (n = 202) and for replication samples (n = 147). Directions for future research on union participation, conceptual implications for the understanding of union participation, and practical implications for union governance are discussed.
An important component of the employee unionization process is the prediction of the individual's decision to vote for or against union representation. We propose and test a path model that includes the following variables: wage level, extrinsic job satisfaction, satisfaction with administration, perceived union instrumentality, voting intentions, and report on vote. We derived data on the relations among these variables through meta-analyses of the results of 14 individual-level unionization studies. The results of the path analyses suggest that (a) a sequential structure exists among predictors, (b) the relation between intent to vote and report on vote is one of measurement rather than causality, and (c) many individuals do not go through a complete sequential decision process. In view of these findings, we discuss some of the major substantive and research implications for the prediction of the individual's unionization decision. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested an expanded model of the socialization of union attitudes using data from 120 undergraduates and their parents. As hypothesized, students' perceptions of parental union attitudes, union participation and job satisfaction were significantly predicted by parental self-reports. Moreover, tests of three competing models suggested that student perceptions mediated the relationships between parental work and union experiences and students' own union attitudes and work beliefs. These findings are taken as support for the family socialization of work beliefs and union attitudes. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conducted a confirmatory test of I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein's (1980) theory of reasoned action as applied to the realm of moral behavior, using structural equation modeling. Ss were 1,056 male and female athletes (aged 10–18 yrs [
M = 14.5]). Ss completed a questionnaire that contained 2 hypothetical situations related to moral behavior in sports. For each situation, Ss completed scales assessing all components of the model. A modified version of the theory provided a significant improvement over the Ajzen and Fishbein model. This model retained the basic relationships postulated by the theory and added correlations between the attitudinal and normative structures and a causal path from normative beliefs to attitudes. This model was very robust, holding for the 2 situations. Implications for the construct validity of the theory of reasoned action and its application for moral behavior are drawn. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reports the findings of a study of the willingness to attend union meetings, using the expectancy valence motivation framework of analysis at the individual level. A goal motive application of P. G. Klandermans's (see PA, Vols 71:30214; 72:25429; and 72:1984) model of union meeting attendance was tested on a sample of blue-collar union members. 420 Ss answered questionnaires. The willingness to participate was found to be strongly related to both goal motives and role-related characteristics. The expectancy valence framework was shown to be relevant for procedural membership meetings. Pessimistic estimates of the likely participation of lay members was found to increase the importance for office holders of their own attendance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
New members of a union (
N = 305) were surveyed twice over a 1-year period to assess the effects of institutional and individual socialization practices on union commitment and participation. Whereas individual socialization practices were found to impact on both affective and behavioral involvement in the union, institutional socialization practices were shown to be ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Describes the development of a criterion for union commitment. Factor analysis was used to identify the statistical structure of the construct, and correlational data were employed to provide evidence of the construct validity of the dimensions identified. A questionnaire containing items measuring attitudes toward unions; union commitment; participation in the union; socialization influences; demographic and employment characteristics; and satisfaction with the job, company, and union was completed by 1,377 members of 4 locals of an international union. Factor analysis produced 4 interpretable dimensions: Union Loyalty (39% of common variance), Responsibility to the Union (19%), Willingness to Work for the Union (17%), and Belief in Unionism (13%). (75 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Investigated the effect of economic and noneconomic job satisfactions, attitude toward unions in general, and attitude toward the local on pro-union voting in a representation election. 59 production workers were used, along with carefully developed and validated measures of the variables (e.g., the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire). The correlations obtained indicate that pro-union voting is more strongly associated with dissatisfaction with economic satisfaction facets (security, pay, working conditions, and company policy) than with noneconomic facets (independence, variety, creativity, and achievement). Pro-union voting was also found to be strongly related to (positive) affective attitude toward the local and toward unions in general. A strong negative relationship between total satisfaction and pro-union voting was also obtained. Similarities with previous studies are briefly discussed as well as implications for practice. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
the rationalistic approach [to member attachment to unions (M. Sverke et al, 1993 and in press)] addresses the nature of union commitment, suggests a typology of commitment patterns, and provides a model of commitment and membership behaviors / 2 dimensions of commitment are identified, 1 of which is based on instrumentality . . . and the other based on value congruence between member and union / these 2 dimensions are postulated to have different consequences for membership behavior / moreover, different combinations of the commitment dimensions are proposed to relate differentially to various membership behaviors
several empirical examinations, based on longitudinal data from Swedish blue-collar unions, were conducted to establish the validity of the rationalistic approach / compare 4 groups, representing different combinations of instrumental and value rationality-based commitment, with respect to various membership behaviors / conduct a formal test of a model of union commitment and membership behaviors (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The theory of relative deprivation (RD) offers an instructive special case of Tajfel's CIC theory. Six focal issues characterize the current state of RD theory: (1) the egoistic–fraternalistic distinction, (2) measurement level, (3) the cognitive–affective distinction, (4) the absolute–relative distinction, (5) specification of the referent, and (6) specification of the compared dimensions. Each issue is discussed and possible resolutions suggested.
Judgments of intragroup variability were examined as a function of relative group status and identification with the group. In the first study (n = 131), psychology students received false feedback that their group was more or less intelligent than a comparable outgroup (business students) in order to manipulate relative ingroup status. Subjects were divided into high and low identifiers on the basis of their scores on an ingroup identification measures. As well as rating both groups on a series of comparative dimensions, subjects rated the similarities within their group. Although there was no difference in similarity ratings between high and low identifiers when ingroup status was high, low status subjects who identified weakly with their group rated within-group similarity as significantly less than high identifiers. In the second study (n = 101) both status and group identification were manipulated experimentally. Subjects were categorized as belonging to one of two groups, ostensibly on the basis of their problem solving style, and they received false feedback on a subsequent task indicating that their group had performed better or worse than the other group on a series of personnel decision problems. Group identification was manipulated by means of false feedback reinforced by a "bogus pipeline" procedure. Ratings of ingroup (and outgroup) variability as measured by the perceived range of group scores on various positive dimensions, replicated the interaction obtained the first study. In the high status condition, ingroup identification did not affect the perceived range of group scores whereas under low group status, subjects in the low identification condition perceived greater intragroup variation than did subjects in the high identification condition. The differential perception and use of variability judgments by high and low group identifiers in the face of a threatened group image is discussed in terms of social identity principles.
This study tested the assumption that a sense of collective identity stimulates participation in collective action. Contextual circumstances supposedly make a collective identity more salient and compel people to act as members of the group; protest participation is more likely among people with a strong collective identity. Group identification and participation in identity organizations were used as indicators of collective identity in a study of 248 farmers from Galicia (Spain) and 167 farmers from the Netherlands. The farmers were interviewed three times at intervals of 1 year. The longitudinal design also allowed a test of causality. A sense of collective identity appeared to stimulate preparedness to take part in farmers' protest. Action preparedness leads to action participation, which in turn appears to foster collective identity.
Eight specific types of union members are identified and described. Four of these member types were developed based on an interactive relationship between union instrumentality and union commitment. The other four types were based on interactions between negative views of union ideology and union instrumentality. A theoretical model of the eight member types was used to synthesize the literature on union membership. Implications that the model has for research and for union growth and participation are discussed.
Since the "discovery" of attitude-behavior inconsistency in the 1930s by LaPiere and others, the study of the relationship between attitudes and behavior has come a long way. During the 1960s and early 1970s researchers systematically examined the problem of attitude-behavior incosistency, showing that the attitude-behavior relationship depends on "other" variables. In the middle and late 1970s much of this research was integrated and synthesized in various general models of behavior, the most significant of which is the Fishbein/Ajzen model. This paper critically examines the causal structure of that model. Specifically, it examines the theoretical problems and issues generated by the parsimonious causal structure of the model, that is, the structure underlying the traditional attitude concept and the relationships between other varibles and the model concepts.
Four aspects of mobilization are distinguished: formation of mobilization potentials, formation and activation of recruitment networks, arousal of motivation to participate, and removal of barriers to participation. Four steps toward participation in social movements are then distinguished: becoming part of the mobilization potential, becoming target of mobilization attempts, becoming motivated to participate, and overcoming barriers to participation. The relevance of these distinctions is justified theoretically by the claim that different theories are needed to explain separate aspects of mobilization and participation, and practically with the argument that different efforts are required from movement organizations depending on which aspect they are handling. Empirical support from research on mobilization and participation in the Dutch peace movement is presented. Nonparticipation in a mass demonstration can be based on four grounds: lack of sympathy for the movement, not being the target of a mobilization attempt, not being motivated, and the presence of barriers. These results are interpreted in terms of the literature on mobilization and participation.
This study examined women's responses to status inequality using the theoretical framework of Social Identity Theory (SIT). Accordingly, it was predicted that three mutually exclusive clusters of responses would be distinguished: individual mobility, social creativity, and social competition. Fifty women participated in a Q-sort study where the statements used reflected these three strategies. Four main factors emerged in factor analysis. Although some elements of the emerging factors were consonant with Social Identity Theory, important differences were also found. Thus, findings suggested that women draw simultaneously on different ideologies to make sense of their social situation. Furthermore, there was no evidence to suggest that strength of identification with one's own sex group is related to choice of strategy.
A proposed theory of planned behavior, an extension of Ajzen and Fishbein's (1980, Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall) theory of reasoned action, was tested in two experiments. The extended theory incorporates perceived control over behavioral achievement as a determinant of intention (Version 1) as well as behavior (Version 2). In Experiment 1, college students' attendance of class lectures was recorded over a 6-week period; in Experiment 2, the behavioral goal was getting an “A” in a course. Attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intentions were assessed halfway through the period of observation in the first experiment, and at two points in time in the second experiment. The results were evaluated by means of hierarchical regression analyses. As expected, the theory of planned behavior permitted more accurate prediction of intentions and goal attainment than did the theory of reasoned action. In both experiments, perceived behavioral control added significantly to the prediction of intentions. Its contribution to the prediction of behavior was significant in the second wave of Experiment 2, at which time the students' perceptions of behavioral control had become quite accurate. Contrary to expectations, there was little evidence for interactions between perceived behavioral control and the theory's other independent variables.
Two studies provided support for the proposal that the role of norms in attitude-behavior relations can be usefully reconceptualized from the perspective of social identity/self-categorization theory. The first study revealed that the perceived norms of a behaviorally relevant reference group influenced intentions to engage in regular exercise, but only for subjects who identified strongly with the group, whereas the effect of perceived behavioral control (a personal factor) was strongest for low identifiers. Similarly, Study 2 revealed that the effect of group norms on females' intentions to engage in sun-protective behavior was evident only for high identifiers and that the effects of one of the personal variables (attitude) was stronger for low than for high identifiers. Additional results revealed that the perceived group norm predicted subjects' attitude, as did the perceived consequences of performing the behavior. The latter result was evident only for low identifiers.
This paper reviews the literature on the decline in Australian union density within the context of similar research overseas. Five broad approaches are analyzed to study changes in unionization—structural shifts, macroeconomic factors, institu tional and organizational influences, the individual decision, and comparative material. Relevant Australian studies are critically reviewed and compared with studies performed in other countries. The review highlights the complexity of the problem, the need to avoid simplistic responses, and makes suggestions as to which areas of research appear most likely to increase our understanding of the recent sharp decline in unionization.
This study examined social psychological factors associated with willingness to participate in collective action. These factors were group identification, collectivist orientation, outgroup stereotyping, perceived intergroup conflict, egoistic and collective relative deprivation, and political efficacy. Three hundred and fifty members of a trade union completed questionnaires where items measured these factors along with their prospective participation in a range of union activities. Regression analyses indicated that the most significant correlate of participation was the strength of the respondent's sense of group identification. Other significant correlates were collectivist orientation and the degree to which the outgroup (management) was perceived in a stereotypical fashion. Further analyses were undertaken to examine the possible moderating effect of group identification on the relationships between independent and dependent variables. These indicated a broadly similar pattern of results for both strong and weak group identifiers though collective relative deprivation appeared to be somewhat more important for strong identifiers and political efficacy somewhat more important for weak identifiers. These findings are discussed in the context of research into social identity and collective action in other settings.
This chapter examines the impact of group identification on intergroup perceptions and on willingness to take part in collective action. Based on social identity theory, the argument is put forward that strong group identification is associated with intergroup differentiation and stereotypic perception. This in turn has implications for the acceptance of social influence from ingroup and outgroup sources. In addition, group identification facilitates participation in collective action by promoting shared perceptions within the ingroup concerning the desirability and possibility of social change. Participation in collective action feeds back to affect the individual's attitudes and social identity.
We report a study of intergroup relations in a paper factory in which we examine the utility of three social-psychological approaches: realistic conflict theory, the contact hypothesis and social identity theory. A sample of 177 shop floor workers from five different departments was interviewed. From them, measures of intergroup differentiation, perceived intergroup conflict, amount of intergroup contact, and strength of workgroup identification were obtained. The latter was assessed using a new scale of group identification developed for this study. Reliability and validity data for this scale are reported. Using multiple regression analyses we attempt to explain variance in respondents' intergroup differentiation using the other measures as predictor variables. The most powerful and reliable predictor was perceived conflict which, as expected, was positively correlated with differentiation. Less consistent was amount of contact which was negatively but only weakly associated with differentiation. Strength of group identification, while generally showing a positive correlation with differentiation as predicted, was also only a weak and inconsistent predictor variable. Noting that these results confirm findings from other studies we discuss their theoretical implications.
According to the basic assumption underlying this article, people are more likely to participate in protest the more they feel that a group they identify with is treated unjustly. Depersonalization and the politicization of group identification are discussed as two processes that mediate the relationship between group identification and protest participation. Empirical evidence from three studies is discussed. In a study among people older than 55, participation in unions for the elderly appears to be correlated strongly with identification with the elderly. In a study of participation in peaceful protest among South African citizens, indicators of identification appeared to be correlated with protest participation, and finally, Dutch farmers were more likely to participate in farmers' protest the more they identified with other farmers. Results from the latter, longitudinal study suggest a recursive relationship between identity and protest participation: Group identification fosters protest participation and protest participation reinforces group identification.
Resource mobilization theorists have nearly abandoned social-psychological analysis of social movements. In this paper a fresh case is made for social psychology. New insights in psychology are combined with resource mobilization theory in an attempt to overcome the weaknesses of traditional social-psychological approaches to social movements. Expectancy-value theory is applied to movement participation and mobilization. It is assumed that the willingness to participate in a social movement is a function of the perceived costs and benefits of participation. Collective and selective incentives are discussed. Expectations about the behavior of others are introduced as an important expansion of expectancy-value theory to make this framework applicable to movement participation. The theory is applied to mobilization campaigns of the labor movement, and empirically tested in a longitudinal study of a campaign during the 1979 collective negotiations in the Netherlands. Outcomes support the theory. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed
Hypothesized that the perceived social category membership of others becomes salient as a description and explanation of their behavior where their attitudes 'fit' the social categorization. In Exp 1 with 49 male and 31 female high school students (aged 16–17 yrs) viewed tape-slide presentations of 6-person groups where gender composition and the pattern of agreement were manipulated in a design to produce a correlation between gender and attitudes in the solo/deviance and collective/conflict conditions. In Exp 2, 51 male and 39 female undergraduate students viewed videos of a group of 3 arts and 3 science students. Results of both studies were largely consistent with the hypothoses and show the usefulness of, and lent support to the functional perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The mobilization of trade union (TU) members to participate in the activities of their TU is a complex process of persuading and activating. The literature on union participation has paid little attention to this process. In the present paper, an expectancy-value theory of willingness to participate in action is presented. Central to this theory is the assumption that the willingness to participate in an activity or action of a TU is a function of the perceived costs and benefits for participants of involvement in that activity or action. In light of this theory, 2 types of mobilization are distinguished; consensus mobilization and action mobilization. The theory was applied in studying 3 mobilization campaigns of a Dutch TU: a compaign concerning an imminent conflict about a planned reorganization and 2 campaigns over the annual negotiations for a collective labor agreement. Findings support the theory. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Studied the relationship of egoistic and fraternalistic deprivation to political choice of presidential and black mayoralty candidates. Black and white voters in 4 major U.S. cities having black mayoralty candidates were surveyed. Factor analysis of survey items revealed 2 clear attitude factors: Contact Racism and Competitive Racism. Contact Racism was consistently related to being both egoistically and fraternalistically deprived. Competitive Racism was consistently related to fraternal deprivation. The incident of fraternal deprivation was greatest at intermediate economic levels, suggesting that fraternal deprivation acts as a mediating link in the relationship between racial prejudice and working-class affluence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
examines changes in Western industrialized societies (especially the UK) that are leading to changes in production, work organizations, jobs, job-holders, employment conditions, and the home–work interface / examines in more detail the consequences of these profound changes for the theory and practice of employment relations, arguing that psychologists have a great deal to offer in understanding the extent and stability of current changes in employment relations and in contributing to the understanding of employees' experiences of uncertainty / emphasize major points using examples from [the author's] current research in the banking industry in the UK / illustrate some opportunities for psychological contributions to the understanding of growing forms of employment and new types of employee (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Contends that most research on union participation is based implicitly or explicitly on frustration-aggression, rational choice, or interactionist theories. Frustration-aggression approaches see union participation as a reaction to frustration, dissatisfaction, or alienation in the work situation. People and organizations are defined as systems striving for equilibrium. Rational choice theories account for participation from consideration of the individual costs and benefits of participation. Such an approach is particularly used in macrosociological analyses of union growth and decline. Interactionist theories relate participation to the networks and groups inside and/or outside the company in which employees work. Participation is bound to group culture, and the individual decision to participate is influenced by the group to which an individual belongs. It is concluded that frustration-aggression at best provides incomplete explanations of union participation and that the other 2 approaches are more promising. It is suggested that frustration, deprivation, or grievances are filtered through cost–benefit considerations and/or social organization in and outside the workplace. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The distinction between personal and social identities proposed by social identity theorists was used as a framework for investigating group relative deprivation. In the 1st experiment, involving 90 psychology students, the salience of membership in a collectively deprived group was crossed orthogonally with a payment manipulation. Ss for whom group membership was made salient and who experienced personal deprivation reported the greatest overall deprivation. However, "group-primed" Ss who experienced personal gratification reported the least overall deprivation. Group membership salience appeared to encourage these Ss to focus on their personal good fortune. The 2nd experiment, involving 151 female psychology students, indicated that reduced reports of deprivation by gratified group-primed Ss reflected a conscious strategy that was not undermined by increasing the situational salience of the advantaged outgroup. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A study is described combining the ‘out-group homogeneity hypothesis’, which predicts greater perceived homogeneity in out-groups than in-groups, with the ‘depersonalization hypothesis’ derived from self-categorization theory, which predicts greater perceived homogeneity in both in- and out-groups as social identity becomes salient — particularly along those dimensions most relevant to the categorization criterion. An experiment was conducted in the context of political affiliation, where it is suggested that in-group homogeneity along certain dimensions may be valued as a sign of unity and strength. Subjects were 64 supporters of the Labour Party. Strength of political affiliation and situational group salience were manipulated and perceptions of homogeneity within the Labour and Conservative Parties were measured along a number of dimensions of varying relevance to the categorization criterion. Results confirmed the hypothesized positive relationship between strength of political identity and perceived intragroup homogeneity in both the in- and out-group, as well as illustrating the importance of the type of dimension involved. A significant main effect confirmed that the more relevant the dimension to the categorization criterion, the greater the perceived homogeneity in in- and out-groups, whilst a significant interaction effect confirmed that there was greater perceived out-group homogeneity along irrelevant personality dimensions but greater perceived in-group homogeneity along highly relevant issue dimensions. The theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.
An introductory conceptual and empirical review stresses the need for a stable theoretical basis for union commitment research. The purpose of this paper is to develop a new conceptualization of union commitment based on the integration of two theories (the theory of reasoned action and the rationalistic approach to commitment). The integrated theory suggests that union commitment is composed of two dimensions, one based on instrumentality and one based on ideology, which are causally related to prounion behavioral intentions and, in turn, to union participation. Propositions derived from the integrated theory are tested using data on 1486 blue-collar workers in Sweden. Results of linear structural equation modelling with latent variables and of multiple regression analyses provide strong support for the construct validity of the commitment dimensions and the overall applicability of the integrated theory. The central findings, their conceptual implications for the understanding of union commitment, and their practical implications for unions are discussed.
The anomalous relationship between improvements in the socioeconomic condition of blacks and the rise of the civil rights movement and urban riots of the 1960s is frequently explained by social scientists in terms of theories of relative deprivation (RD) and rising expectations (RE). The present paper investigates the role of RD and RE as mediating variables between social structure and black militancy through secondary analyses of survey data of blacks living in Cleveland and Miami in the late 1960s. While the results are generally supportive, the mediating roles of RD and RE are not as important as originally anticipated. Alternative explanations and implications derived from the present data and the theories for the future of black militancy are discussed.
The present study aimed at investigating the influence of shop steward characteristics and early union socialization experiences on new members' attitudes toward unions and their affective commitment to the union. Two thousand surveys were mailed to the most recent members of the National Association of Letter Carriers. Of these, 658 (33 per cent) were returned. Focusing on those individuals who had joined the union within the past 12 months yielded a usable sample of 585. A two-stage, structural equation modeling approach indicated a satisfactory goodness-of-fit for both the measurement and structural models. Individual socialization experiences significantly affected union attitudes. The latter variable was a significant predictor of union commitment. These results are discussed in the context of the organizational socialization literature and union commitment research.
This paper suggests that self-categories provide the basis for political action, that those who wish to organize political activity do so through the ways in which they construct self-categories, and that political domination may be achieved through reifying social categories and therefore denying alternative ways of social being. Hence, the way in which social psychology approaches the matter of self-categorization provides a touchstone for its politics. To the extent that we too take categories for granted, we are in danger of supporting conservative and undemocratic politics. The only way to eschew tendencies toward reification within social psychology is to add a historical dimension to our own analysis of self-categorical processes.
In recent years, an increasing number of social and behavioral scientists have begun to pay serious attention to pluralistic ignorance, the shared false ideas of individuals about the sentiments, thoughts, and actions of others. Most of these researchers are unaware of the original effort to investigate these patterns of cognitive error and, consequently, misunderstand, as did the original investigators, some of the implications of their own work. The discovery of this important social phenomenon by Floyd H. Allport and his students, Daniel Katz and Richard L. Schanck, and how their preoccupation with individual characteristics and their relative neglect of social characteristics led them to underestimate the value of their discovery, is discussed. Allport's original interest in pluralistic ignorance and how he and Katz documented it empirically are presented, as is a review of Schanck's research extending their analysis.
This study tested the assumption that a sense of collective identity stimulates participation in collective action. Contextual circumstances supposedly make a collective identity more salient and compel people to act as members of the group; protest participation is more likely among people with a strong collective identity. Group identification and participation in identity organizations were used as indicators of collective identity in a study of 248 farmers from Galicia (Spain) and 167 farmers from the Netherlands. The farmers were interviewed three times at intervals of 1 year. The longitudinal design also allowed a test of causality. A sense of collective identity appeared to stimulate preparedness to take part in farmers' protest. Action preparedness leads to action participation, which in turn appears to foster collective identity.
A structural equation model tested the role of degree of identification with a group (Americans) and level of collective self-esteem as determinants of outgroup derogation under identity-threatening and non-threatening conditions. High identification and reductions in collective self-esteem following a threat to that identity lead to outgroup derogation, but level of collective self-esteem did not predict outgroup derogation in the no-threat condition. The consequences of derogating both threat-relevant (Russians) and threat-irrelevant nationalities for subsequent self-esteem were assessed. As predicted by social identity theory, higher amounts of derogation of the threat-relevant outgroup in the identity-threatened condition elevated subsequent collective self-esteem. Derogation of threat-irrelevant outgroups did not have this positive esteem consequence; in fact, increased derogation of irrelevant outgroups reduced subsequent self-esteem. In the no-threat condition, amount of derogation directed towards either type of outgroup did not significantly influence subsequent self-esteem, with the overall pattern being opposite to what was observed in the threat condition. Implications for theories concerning self-processes as instigators of outgroup derogation and the consequences of intergroup comparisons for collective self-esteem are discussed.
Australia once had extremely high levels of trade union participation, yet since the 1970s the number of union members has been falling dramatically. This book gives the clearest picture yet of why people do or do not belong to unions and, in a sophisticated way, examines the reasons for union decline. Uniquely, it considers both the macro and micro levels, looking at the structure of the economy and the labour market, the relations between unions and employees, the ideological dispositions people have towards unionism, the role of the state and the political and industrial strategies of unions. The author highlights the importance of structural and strategic changes in determining the direction of union membership. This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of union decline, and its implications, and presents a range of strategies for reversing this downturn.
