Identification and Status Revisited: The Moderating Role of Self-Enhancement and Self-Transcendence Values

Across two studies, the importance people place on self-enhancement versus self-transcendence values determines how much their group identification depends on the group's status. In the first study, students who valued self-enhancement more and self-transcendence less showed stronger identification with higher-status groups. In the second study, experimentally making self-enhancement values salient caused identification to depend more on group status than when self-transcendence values were salient. The findings suggest that personal value priorities moderate the link between group status and identification.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Two studies examined the moderating role of the importance attributed to self-enhancement and self-transcendence values on the association of group status with identification. In the first study, students reported their personal value priorities, their identification with a group, and their perception of the status of that group. The more importance respondents attributed to self-enhancement and the less importance to self-transcendence, the more their identification with a group depended on the group's status. In the second study, the salience of self-enhancement and of self-transcendence values was experimentally manipulated. Identification with a group depended more on the status of that group when self-enhancement values were salient than when self-transcendence values were salient.