Perceived collective continuity and ingroup identification as defence against death awareness
"Perhaps unique among the animal species, humans are aware that they will ultimately die. Terror management theory (TMT) posits that investing in a social group helps people to manage paralysing anxiety stemming from death awareness. In line with this proposition, research to date has shown that when reminded of their own mortality, people increase their identification with a relevant group and defend its beliefs, values, and practices. In the reported study, we demonstrate that a mortality salience induction enhances people’s perceptions of group temporal endurance—or perceived collective continuity (PCC), as we define it. Enhanced PCC leads, in turn, to enhanced group identification. This…
Perceived collective continuity: seeing groups as entities that move through time
This paper presents two studies, conducted in two different countries, investigating perceptions of ingroups as enduring, temporally persistent entities, and introduces a new instrument measuring ‘perceived collective continuity’ (PCC). In Study 1 we show that perceptions of ingroup continuity are based on two main dimensions: perceived cultural continuity (perceived continuity of norms and traditions) and perceived historical continuity (perceived interconnection between different historical ages and events). This study also allows the construction of an internally consistent PCC scale including two subscales tapping on these two dimensions. Study 2 replicates findings from the first study…
Perceived collective continuity and social well-being: exploring the connections
Research has shown that people tend to perceive the groups to which they belong (e.g., national groups) as temporally persistent. In this paper we argue that enhanced perceptions of collective continuity lead to lower levels of anomy and misfit, and to higher levels of social well-being (SWB). Furthermore, we argue that the effects of perceived collective continuity (PCC) on SWB are mediated by collective self-esteem (CSE). Finally, we contend that PCC has positive effects on perceived group entitativity (PGE), which in turn has a positive influence on CSE. This model is tested by means of a cross-sectional study using a sample of Spanish nationals (N = 145) drawn from the general public. R…
Percepción de continuidad e identificación grupal: implicaciones para el bienestar social
ResumenLa investigacion sobre los grupos en general y sobre la percepcion grupal en particular ha tendido a analizar los grupos como entidades a-temporales, sin tener en cuenta su continuidad. En este trabajo se presentan tres estudios en los que se demuestra la relevancia de un nuevo constructor la ‘percepcion de continuidad colectiva’ (PCC), y su relacion con la identificacion grupal y el bienestar social. El primer estudio muestra que la PCC correlaciona positivamente con la percepcion de entitatividad grupal y con diversas medidas relacionadas con la identidad social, como la autoestima colectiva y la identificacion grupal. El segundo estudio revela que la percepcion de continuidad cole…
Perceived family continuity: Implications for family identification and psychological well-being
AbstractResearch has shown that people tend to perceive the national and regional groups to which they belong as temporally persistent. In this paper we conducted two studies to investigate that the family may also be perceived as having different degrees of continuity through time, and that those perceptions have implications on family identity and psychological well-being. In the first study (N = 149; with a mean age of 23, SD = 5.7), we found that perceived family continuity was positively correlated with several family related variables (e.g., family functioning, perceived family entitativity) and with psychological well-being. Our second study (N = 152; with a mean age of 40.80, SD = 1…