Expression of Distinct Group Identities Social Identity Theory Laboratory Report

Simultaneous Expression of Distinct Group Identities

Social identity theory holds that an individual's self-esteem is tied to the groups they belong to and accordingly view themselves as having group traits. The existence of group identity was investigated in the present study by interviewing queued drivers after they experienced a suspected outgroup intrusion into the petrol queue ahead of them. Socioeconomic status, in terms of luxury vs. non-luxury cars, was the group identity tested. The data revealed that the 49 queued drivers that were surveyed were overall very upset with the intrusion, regardless of whether the intruder was driving a luxury or non-luxury car. However, there was a significant increase in the level of anger expressed by queued non-luxury drivers when the intruder and confederate buffer both drove luxury vehicles. These findings are consistent with multiple group identities being expressed simultaneously and may be an important consideration when designing queue management strategies to minimize violence and discontent.

Simultaneous Expression of Distinct Group Identities

Waiting in line for long periods can be trying even for the most angelic of personalities, yet only a few people actually react with anger and violence when someone tries to jump into line. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last year, a man pulled a gun to silence a person who complained when he cut into line (Wilson, 2012). The short tempers in the New Jersey petrol lines are understandable given the need of workers to commute to and from work to maintain their economic well-being. However, short tempers and angry confrontations still occur when the goal is a less than essential commodity. In the United States, the Thanksgiving Holiday has become overshadowed by what occurs the day after on Black Friday (Gye, Warren, and Malm, 2012). In response to a pepper spray incident at one retailer in 2011 the Los Angeles Police Department monitored store openings in 2012. In 2012, shootings, brawls, and other incidents erupted across the nation when shoppers reacted angrily to queue jumpers.

While a police presence should have a calming effect on the bad behavior of some customers, this is no fail safe and is very expensive. There is a need, therefore, to understand why violence erupts so that more effective and less costly measures could be taken to prevent harm and maintain the social order (reviewed by Townsley and Grimshaw, 2013). Social identity theory may offer an appropriate lens through which queue jumping violence can be better understood and addressed.

Most people probably think people have a single personality or identity, but identity theorists increasingly believe that individuals have personal and social identities that are both distinct and overlapping (reviewed by Thoits and Virshup, 1997; Vaughan and Hogg, 2011). Personal identity theory holds that a person's personality traits define how they will act when alone or in a social situation, thus the personality is dominant in determining behavior across diverse situations. In contrast, social identity theory views individuals as members of groups and as individuals who perceive themselves as having group traits.

In between these two extremes is role-identity theory, which sees individuals as seeking self-validation by engaging in socially-accepted roles (Thoits and Virshup, 1997). The distinction most relevant to queue jumping is that role-identity theory would view those close to the point of intrusion as being responsible for confronting intruders. The social expectation imposed upon queued customers is therefore to protect the rights of everyone waiting in line not to be delayed unfairly. In contrast, social identity theory would focus on the intergroup interactions, such as 'queued customer' verses 'queue jumpers.'

Queues as Social Systems

There appears to be empirical support for role identity theory. Milgram and colleagues (1986) found that the distance from the point of intrusion, the number of intruders, and being behind the point of intrusion determined whether queued customers overtly complained. The authors admitted that the cost of the intrusion, in terms of delay, affected only those behind the point of intrusion, yet a significant percentage ahead of the intrusion also complained. While the queued customers did not act as a group to eject the intruder from the line, the behavior of those nearest the point of intrusion is consistent with taking on the role of protecting the integrity and thus the function of queue. A queued customer therefore adopts a socially-assigned role by virtue of waiting in line with others. In contrast, the authors of this study proposed that a waiting line represents a social system, with its own distinctive norms and symbols, which would be consistent with social identity theory.

In contrast...

Their data revealed a significant effect for place-holding and fan commitment intensity; however, the position relative to point of intrusion was not factor. The use of surveys and imaginary queue jumping in this study revealed that queued customers share a common goal of maintaining the integrity of the queue, which is consistent with social identity theory, but failed to reveal how queued customers closest to the point of intrusion were disproportionately responsible for queue defense (role identity).
Importance of Context

Social identity can be influenced to a significant extent by changes in the environment, both short-term and long-term. When Ethier and Deaux (1994) examined the group identity dynamics of Hispanic students after beginning to attend college, they found that individuals who entered college with a strong ethnic identity tended to engage in reinforcing activities. In contrast, Hispanic students with a weaker ethnic affiliation tended to abandon this identity when it threatened their membership in new groups. Social identities can therefore dynamically respond to changing context.

Context was also found to play a significant role in influencing the association between queue management and the prevalence of violence outside of nightclubs (Townsley and Grimshaw, 2013). Basically, nightclubs that had well-managed pedestrian traffic routes and queues, lower wait times, and less crowding, tended to have fewer displays of aggression by customers. Gibson (2008) found that co-travelers, like families, tend to line up in a huddled formation, which poses challenges to subsequent customers in terms of queue formation and trajectory. Physical objects had a similar effect.

Queue formation and maintenance is therefore a complex process protecting a first-come, first-served rule. Place-holding for friends and family members, unclear line trajectories, physical objects, cross-traffic, and queue position can therefore obscure the nature of a malicious queue intrusion. For this reason, the persons closest to the intrusion point must decide whether to categorize the intrusion as a violation of the rules, thereby putting the rest of the line on notice that group cohesion has been challenged.

Specific Aim

The research goals of this study are to determine whether an unrelated group identity based on socioeconomic status will influence the level of anger experienced by queued customers waiting for petrol. The design of the study will be based on the reaction of queued drivers of non-luxury vehicles to the independent variables of queue jumpers driving either luxury or non-luxury cars. We predict that owners of non-luxury cars will react with more anger when the queue jumping driver is driving a luxury car.

Materials and Methods

Subjects -- The subjects who agreed to participate in the study were a convenience sample of males [N = 26, median age = 33.11 (SD = 11.05)] and females [N = 23, median age = 33.82 (SD = 11.26)] recruited from a queue at a Melbourne petrol station. A self-report of driving a luxury car was the one exclusion criterion. The Human Research Ethics Committee for Deakin University approved the research design.

Study Design -- The goal of the study was to assess the affective state of queued drivers to either a queue jumper driving a luxury or non-luxury vehicle. The 'LUXURY' condition had 24 study subjects and the 'NON-LUXURY' condition had 25 participants. Statistical analysis was based on a one-way between-factor design. The dependent variable was quantified using a four item instrument adapted from Helweg-Larsen and LoMonaco (2008).

Procedure -- the LUXURY condition involved the recruitment of two confederates from the queued drivers to drive luxury automobiles, which were a Maserati GranCabrio Sport and a 2012 Porsche 911. One of the stooges would wait in line at the petrol station and after progressing closer to the pumps (10 cars distant) would allow the other luxury car driver to cut into line. Two other drivers were recruited to act as stooges for staging the same event, only with two non-luxury cars, a Ford Fiesta and Holden Astra. The two LUXURY and NON-LUXURY queue conditions were staged at the same petrol station on the same day, but two hours apart. During the experiment, no other queue jumping events took place. After each queue jumping event, four research assistants would approach the drivers waiting behind the staged vehicles and ask them to fill out a questionnaire and informed consent form.

Materials -- The questionnaire used to interview the study subjects was three pages long and contained 8 questions to gather demographic information, 10 questions designed…