Group identification and exaggerated collective agency are two distinct strategies for restoring control.
Evidence
Group-based control theory assumes that identification with agentic group and demonstrating or exaggerating agentic properties of the in-group are each sufficient means to gain a sense of control through the social self. However, it is still an open question when people adopt each of these two strategies. There is some initial evidence that salient threat to collective control of a potentially agentic in-group drives active efforts of control-deprived group members to demonstrate collective control (e.g., through collective action intentions; Fritsche et al., 2013, 2017). — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We, 23
Categorization
- XREF: The two-pathway structure (identify vs. perform agency) echoes the hollowed-out negational identity question — which mode sustains a negational ingroup when positive agency isn’t available. — connects to: Victim and perpetrator groups pursue agentic versus moral identity restoration respectively. — Nurit Shnabel and Johannes Ullrich, Identity Needs in Intergroup Relations:…, 140; Group identification can function to restore a threatened sense of control. — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We: Group-Based…, 42; People restore threatened control by escalating from personal to group-based to compensatory strategies. — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We: Group-Based…, 45 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Group identification can function to restore a threatened sense of control.
#corroborates(0.95) — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We, 42 - Ingroup defense functions as a compensatory control mechanism when personal control is lost.
#corroborates(0.90) — Dmitrij Agroskin and Eva Jonas, Controlling death by defending ingroups, 24 - People restore threatened control by escalating from personal to group-based to compensatory strategies.
#expands(0.85) — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We, 45 - In-group identification boosts well-being through gains in perceived control, not self-esteem.
#expands(0.80) — Immo Fritsche, Agency Through the We, 24