群体边界渗透性及其对群际关系影响的研究述评

A Review of Researches on Group Boundary Permeability and Its Influence on Intergroup Relations

为探究社会认同理论提出的群体边界渗透性这一群体关系变量对群际关系的影响作用,采用文献综述法对以往相关研究进行总结与评价,由此发现,群体边界渗透性的变化同时受到类别属性(如生理或社会属性)和情景因素(如内群体认同等)的影响,它会影响个体的态度及身份管理策略的选择:低地位个体的向上渗透,会带来高地位个体积极或消极的态度;当群体边界渗透性较高时,个体的身份管理更崇尚“个人奋斗”,反之会进行群体竞争。从资源竞争和自尊威胁两个视角解释以上研究结论,认为态度变化和策略选择的主要原因是客观上稀缺的资源是否可以获取及主观上群体的优越感是否被威胁。今后的研究,应当确定群体边界渗透性的维度数量,重视非学生样本的检验,丰富水平渗透和向下渗透的研究,并关注纵向渗透中低地位个体的心理变化。

In order to explore the influence of group boundary permeability on intergroup relations proposed by the theory of social identity,summary and evaluation of previous studies are made by literature review.It is found that changes in group boundary permeability are influenced by both category attributes(e.g.physical or social attributes)and situational factors(e.g.in-group identity).It affects individuals’attitudes and choice of identity management strategies:upward permeability of low status individuals leads to positive or negative attitudes of high status individuals;at the same time,when group boundary permeability is high,individuals’identity management prefers“individual struggle”and vice versa to group competition.The above studies were explained from the perspectives of resource competition and self-esteem threat,and it was concluded that the main reasons for attitude change and strategy choice were the objective availability of scarce resources and the subjective threat of group superiority.Future research should determine the number of dimensions of group boundary permeability,pay attention to the examination of non-student samples,enrich the study of horizontal and downward permeability,and focus on the psychological changes of low-status individuals in vertical permeability.