Perceived collective continuity: seeing groups as entities that move through time

Fabio Sani, M. Bowe, Marina Herrera, Cristian Manna, Tiziana Cossa, Xiulou Miao, Yuefang Zhou

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    174 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    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; it also reveals that PCC is positively correlated to a set of social identity-related measures (e.g., group identification and collective self-esteem), and that its effects on these measures are mediated by perceived group entitativity. Overall, these two studies confirm that PCC is an important theoretical construct, and that the PCC scale may become an important instrument in future research on group processes and social identity.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1118-1134
    Number of pages17
    JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
    Volume37
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2007

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