Rathbone Joanne A, Cruwys Tegan, Stevens Mark, Ferris Laura J, Reynolds Katherine J
School of Medicine and Psychology, The Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Australia.
School of Business, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Br J Soc Psychol. 2023 Jul;62(3):1346-1362. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12635. Epub 2023 Feb 14.
Previous research has focused on how social identification influences people's adherence to group norms, but has rarely considered how norm adherence might in turn influence how strongly people identify with the group. We proposed a reciprocal relationship between social identification and norm adherence that is shaped by the salience of the social identity in question. Drawing on data from a longitudinal field study of young people attending a mass gathering (N = 661, 1239 unique observations), we used cross-lagged panel modelling across five timepoints to test the reciprocal relationship between social identification with friends and anticipated adherence to perceived drinking norms among friends before (T0), during (T1-T3), and after (T4) the event. Greater social identification at T1 significantly predicted greater norm adherence at T2 which, in turn, predicted greater social identification at T3. These bidirectional effects were only significant during the mass gathering event, when the referent social identity was salient and thus relevant and meaningful in the social context. Findings indicate a complex interplay between social identity and norm adherence that is context dependent and evolves over time. Not only does social identity promote norm adherence but also adherence to those same norms can reinforce a sense of connection to the group.
以往的研究主要关注社会认同如何影响人们对群体规范的遵守，但很少考虑规范遵守反过来可能如何影响人们对群体的认同程度。我们提出了社会认同与规范遵守之间的一种相互关系，这种关系由所讨论的社会认同的显著性塑造。基于一项针对参加大型集会的年轻人的纵向实地研究数据（N = 661，1239个独立观测值），我们在五个时间点使用交叉滞后面板模型，来检验在活动前（T0）、活动期间（T1 - T3）和活动后（T4），与朋友的社会认同和预期对朋友间感知到的饮酒规范的遵守之间的相互关系。T1时更强的社会认同显著预测了T2时更强的规范遵守，而这反过来又预测了T3时更强的社会认同。这些双向效应仅在大型集会活动期间显著，此时参照社会认同是显著的，因此在社会背景中是相关且有意义的。研究结果表明社会认同与规范遵守之间存在复杂的相互作用，这种相互作用依赖于背景且随时间演变。社会认同不仅促进规范遵守，而且对这些相同规范的遵守也能强化与群体的联系感。
