Date of Award
Spring 2023
Degree Type
Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Psychology, MA
Program
School of Social Science, Politics, and Evaluation
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
Michael Hogg
Dissertation or Thesis Committee Member
William Crano
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2023 Mary Peterson
Keywords
Biopsychosocial model, Entitativity, Self-uncertainty, Social identity theory, CloudResearch Connect
Subject Categories
Psychology
Abstract
This study examined the impact of self-uncertainty and challenge or threat appraisals on entitative group appeal. Predictions were based on uncertainty-identity theory’s findings regarding uncertainty and entitativity (Hogg, 2021), and on studies of challenge and threat appraisals in intergroup relations (Scheepers, 2009). Participants ( N = 167) from CloudResearch Connect were primed with a sense of either challenge or threat as a cognitive/affective demand and their level of self-uncertainty was measured. Participants then responded to a series of questions regarding their attraction to entitative group characteristics. Hypothesis 1 predicted that there would be a positive relationship between self-uncertainty and attraction to entitative group characteristics. Hypothesis 2 predicted that challenge/threat appraisal state would moderate the relationship between self-uncertainty and attraction to entitative characteristics. Hierarchical linear regression of the main and interaction effects did not find support for Hypotheses 1 and 2. However, a significant relationship was found between self-uncertainty and reported threat appraisal, indicating that there may be a relationship between self-uncertainty and individuals’ appraisals of performance-motivated situations.
ISBN
9798379898908
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Mary. (2023). Experiencing Uncertainty as a Challenge or a Threat: Impact on Attraction to Entitative Groups. CGU Theses & Dissertations, 553. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/553.
