CONFLICT MANAGEMENT The Psychology of conflict and conflict ...

13. SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION IN INTERGROUP MERGERS 387
on justice complements this approach in accounting for how employees’
treatment within the new, merged organization facilitates or hinders their
identification with the new, merged organization and, hence, the extent to
which they adjust to the change (Tyler & Blader, 2003).
soCial iDentity theory
Social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel & Turner, 1979, 1986; Turner, 1982;
see also Hogg & Abrams, 1988) is a general social psychological theory
of group processes and intergroup relations that addresses the social
component of the self-concept, which is referred to as “social identity.” By
accounting for the intergroup dynamics and the antagonistic motives of
the groups involved, SIT is particularly useful for understanding the intergroup
competition and rivalry that emerge in mergers. Social identity—the
part of the individual self-concept that derives from memberships in social
groups—is a fundamental psychological variable that shapes individuals’
attitudes and behaviors. Organizational identity represents an important
basis for self-definition (Hogg & Terry, 2001). It has been proposed that
two underlying sociocognitive processes account for group and intergroup
phenomena: (a) social categorization and (b) self-enhancement. Based
on categorization principles, when people define or categorize themselves
as members of a self-inclusive social group (e.g., an organization), distinctions
between in-group and out-group members are accentuated, and differences
among in-group members are minimized (Turner, Hogg, Oakes,
Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). Self-enhancement reflects the fact that because
the self is defined in terms of the group membership, people are motivated
to favor their in-group over the out-group. This self-enhancement motive
means that group members are motivated to acquire or to maintain a positive
social identity for their in-group (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Thus, to the
extent that one’s in-group is perceived as better than the out-group, the
quality of a person’s social identity is enhanced and becomes more positive
(e.g., Amiot & Bourhis, 2005).
Central to SIT is the premise that because people are motivated to
enhance their feelings of self-worth, they seek to belong to groups that compare
favorably with other groups (Tajfel, 1974, 1975; Tajfel & Turner, 1979).
Membership in low-status groups—groups that compare unfavorably to
other groups—is unlikely to provide the basis for positive social identity.
The desire for a positive social identity means that while low-status group
members are motivated to acquire a more positive social identity, highstatus
group members are motivated to maintain both their membership in
the group and the existence of the social category. These behaviors are motivated
by the desire to maintain or enhance the positive contribution that the
identity makes to their self-concept (Ellemers, Doojse, van Knippenberg, &
Wilke, 1992; van Knippenberg, 1978; see also Zuckerman, 1979).