Explaining effervescence: Investigating the relationship between shared social identity and positive experience in crowds.

We investigated the intensely positive emotional experiences arising from participation in a large-scale collective event. We predicted such experiences arise when those attending a collective event are (1) able to enact their valued collective identity and (2) experience close relations with other participants. In turn, we predicted both of these to be more likely when participants perceived crowd members to share a common collective identity. We investigated these predictions in a survey of pilgrims (N = 416) attending a month-long Hindu pilgrimage festival in north India. We found participants' perceptions of a shared identity amongst crowd members had an indirect effect on their positive experience at the event through (1) increasing participants' sense that they were able to enact their collective identity and (2) increasing the sense of intimacy with other crowd members. We discuss the implications of these data for how crowd emotion should be conceptualised.

The role of identity-related beliefs in the appraisal and management of crowding: Insights from the Hajj.

In crowds, to the degree one identifies with other crowd members one likely experiences a sense of common purpose, social connection and mutual support. Such is the psychological significance of these correlates of a shared identity that even others' close physical proximity can be pleasurable. However, such pleasure in others' proximity cannot be assumed: physical crowding can bring practical challenges and so potentially disturb the positive experience of crowd membership. In the research reported here, we explore crowd members' reports of such challenges and the ways in which these were interpreted and managed through reference to the beliefs and values associated with crowd members' shared identity. Our data arise from semi-structured interviews (N = 33) with British Muslims after participating in the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Exploring these data sheds light on the ways in which identity-related beliefs and values can contribute to the maintenance of order and harmony even in situations where crowding could undermine the positive experience of others' proximity. Accordingly, our analysis advances our understanding of the self-organization and self-policing of crowds.

Identity enactment as a social accomplishment: Shared identity and the provision of mutual support amongst pilgrims undertaking the Hajj.

Experimental and survey research shows that a common group membership can result in increased levels of social support. Here we complement such research with qualitative data concerning the forms and function of such support. Specifically, we explore the mutual support reported by pilgrims undertaking the Hajj. This requires participants enact a series of identity-related beliefs and values (including specific rituals) in conditions that are practically and psychologically challenging. Using data obtained through semi-structured interviews (N = 33), we investigate how participants' shared identity facilitated their behavioural enactment of these identity-defining beliefs and values. We focus on how their shared understanding of their beliefs and values as Hajj pilgrims allowed various forms of support (psychological, material, informational, and behavioural) which helped participants translate their identity-related ideals into behaviour. Our analysis implies that a shared identity provides a frame of reference with which group members can recognize each other's identity-related concerns and what they need in order to enact their identity. In turn, it implies that in situations where there are practical and psychological constraints on behaviour, action in terms of one's social identity can be conceptualized as a joint accomplishment in which the mutual support of group members is key.

When 'Can I help you?' hurts: Roma experiences of everyday microaggressions in retail outlets.

The concept of microaggressions alerts us how majority group members' everyday behaviour can impact minorities negatively. Recently, some researchers have questioned the criteria for identifying microaggressions and rejected the concept's utility. We maintain that attending to minorities' everyday experiences is important and illustrate this through a three-phase study with Roma in Hungary. First, we conducted interviews exploring their everyday interactional experiences (Phase 1, N = 17); second, Roma participants filmed (naturally occurring) interactions with majority group members (Phase 2, N = 10); third, we showed such filmed interactions to Roma focus groups and recorded their discussions (Phase 3, N = 28). Analysing these discussions, we focused on how the experience of surveillance when shopping (even when manifested in apparently helpful attention from shop assistants) impacted participants in ways that majority group members likely have little awareness of. Specifically, participants reported their need to (a) reflect on (and manage) their emotional reactions; (b) weigh a variety of strategic considerations as to how to respond; and (c) engage in in-the-moment interpretation as to the nature of the interaction. Such experiences negatively impact the use of public space and illustrate the value of adopting the minority's vantage point concerning the identification of microaggressive treatment.

Social identity enactment in a pandemic: Scottish Muslims' experiences of restricted access to communal spaces.

The comprehensive analysis of social identity cannot simply focus on individuals' cognitive self-definition. Rather it should also theorize the social conditions that affect individuals' opportunities to act in terms of those self-definitions. We argue that the social distancing interventions associated with Covid-19 provide an opportunity to explore the significance of otherwise taken-for-granted social factors which routinely support and sustain individuals' identity enactments. Using qualitative data gathered with 20 members of the Scottish Muslim community (19 diary entries and 20 post-diary interviews), we explore their experiences of restricted access to community-relevant social spaces (e.g., mosques and prayer rooms). Our analysis shows that while these regulations could result in new opportunities for Muslims' religious identity enactments, they also impeded their abilities to act in terms of their religious identification. Addressing such impediments, we develop our understanding of the contextual factors that shape individuals' abilities to enact identity-defining norms and values.

Ethnic identity concealment and disclosure: Contexts and strategies.

Ethnic minority group members' responses to their prejudicial treatment can take several forms. One involves identity concealment (e.g., 'passing'). In order to understand such a response, we must explore participants' understandings of the interactional context before them, their meta-perceptions of the identity others ascribe to them, and the varied meanings that identity concealment/non-disclosure may have in that context. Our analysis of interview data (N = 30) obtained with Roma in Hungary reveals diverse forms of, and motivations for, the concealment of their Roma identity. Some participants reported examples of proactive identity concealment, others reported more reactive forms (in which they went along with others' mistaken assumptions concerning their identity). The motivations for identity concealment (whether proactive or reactive) included the desire to: secure material benefits; avoid conflict; take pleasure from seeing others' assumptions blinding them to the reality before them; test (and expose) majority group members' attitudes; allow themselves opportunities to experience the world in new ways. Our analysis highlights the importance of social identity researchers recognizing the diverse motivations for ethnic identity concealment: From the actors' perspective concealment is not always assimilatory, and in some contexts can be experienced as empowering.

Hungarian Roma and musical talent: Minority group members' experiences of an apparently positive stereotype.

Minorities do not always welcome apparently positive stereotypes of their group. At first sight, this may appear churlish. However, we show that minority group members' theorizing on the production and operation of apparently positive stereotypes helps explain such a negative reaction. Reporting interview data (N = 30) gathered with Hungarian Roma, we differentiated several bases for a negative response to the popular stereotype of Roma as possessing a distinctive musical talent. Although participants recognized the stereotype had instrumental value in easing everyday intergroup encounters, they also reported that the stereotype reflected the majority group's power to define Roma identity; constrained recognition of qualities that they themselves valued; limited their abilities to act on terms that were their own; and could facilitate the reproduction of more negative Roma stereotypes. Taken together, these findings imply our participants saw this apparently positive stereotype as speaking volumes about the majority's power to define Roma identity without reference to how they themselves defined their identity. We conclude with a discussion of the analytic value of the concept of 'misrecognition' in explaining negative responses to a positive stereotype. We also discuss the potential for such an apparently positive stereotype to facilitate improvements in intergroup relations.

Identity enactment as collective accomplishment: Religious identity enactment at home and at a festival.

Much research addresses the proposition that identifying with a group shapes individuals' behaviour. Typically, such research employs experimental or survey methods, measuring or manipulating social identification and relating this to various outcome variables. Although shedding much light on the processes involved in the identity-behaviour relationship, such research tends to overlook the various constraints that limit individuals' abilities to act in accordance with their identities. Using interview data gathered in north India, we explore the factors affecting the enactment of a religious identity. More specifically, using data gathered at a religious mass gathering, we compare and contrast participants' reports of identity enactment when they are at the event and when they are in their home villages. These two contexts differ in terms of their social organization, especially the degree to which they are marked by the presence of a shared identity. Exploring participants' accounts of such differences in social organization, we consider the social processes that constrain or facilitate identity enactment. In so doing, our analysis contributes to a richer analysis of the identity-behaviour relationship.

Size ratio correlates with intracranial aneurysm rupture status: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The prediction of intracranial aneurysm (IA) rupture risk has generated significant controversy. The findings of the International Study of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms (ISUIA) that small anterior circulation aneurysms (<7 mm) have a 0% risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage in 5 years is difficult to reconcile with other studies that reported a significant portion of ruptured IAs are small. These discrepancies have led to the search for better aneurysm parameters to predict rupture. We previously reported that size ratio (SR), IA size divided by parent vessel diameter, correlated strongly with IA rupture status (ruptured versus unruptured). These data were all collected retrospectively off 3-dimensional angiographic images. Therefore, we performed a blinded prospective collection and evaluation of SR data from 2-dimensional angiographic images for a consecutive series of patients with ruptured and unruptured IAs. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 40 consecutive patients presenting to a single institution with either ruptured IA or for first-time evaluation of an incidental IA. Blinded technologists acquired all measurements from 2-dimensional angiographic images. Aneurysm rupture status, location, IA maximum size, and parent vessel diameter were documented. The SR was calculated by dividing the aneurysm size (mm) by the average parent vessel size (mm). A 2-tailed Mann-Whitney test was performed to assess statistical significance between ruptured and unruptured groups. Fisher exact test was used to compare medical comorbidities between the ruptured and unruptured groups. Significant differences between the 2 groups were subsequently tested with logistic regression. SE and probability values are reported. RESULTS: Forty consecutive patients with 24 unruptured and 16 ruptured aneurysms met the inclusion criteria. No significant differences were found in age, gender, smoking status, or medical comorbidities between ruptured and unruptured groups. The average maximum size of the unruptured IAs (6.18 + or - 0.60 mm) was significantly smaller compared with the ruptured IAs (7.91 + or - 0.47 mm; P=0.03), and the unruptured group had significantly smaller SRs (2.57 + or - 0.24 mm) compared with the ruptured group (4.08 + or - 0.54 mm; P<0.01). Logistic regression was used to evaluate the independent predictive value of those variables that achieved significance in univariate analysis (IA maximum size and SR). Using stepwise selection, only SR remained in the final predictive model (OR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.09 to 4.13). CONCLUSIONS: SR, the ratio between aneurysm size and parent artery diameter, can be easily calculated from 2-dimensional angiograms and correlates with IA rupture status on presentation in a blinded analysis. SR should be further studied in a large prospective observational cohort to predict true IA risk of rupture.

Reconceptualizing 'extremism' and 'moderation': from categories of analysis to categories of practice in the construction of collective identity.

Much psychological research employs the categories of extremism and moderation as categories of analysis (e.g. to identify the psychological bases for, and consequences of, holding certain positions). This paper argues these categorizations inevitably reflect one's values and taken-for-granted assumptions about social reality and that their use as analytic categories limits our ability to explore what is really important: social actors' own constructions of social reality. In turn we argue that if we are to focus on this latter, there may be merit in exploring how social actors themselves use the categories of moderation and extremism to construct their own terms of reference. That is we propose to re-conceptualize the categories of moderation and extremism as categories of practice rather than analysis. The utility of this approach is illustrated with qualitative data. We argue that these data illustrate the importance of respecting social actors' own constructions of social reality (rather than imposing our own). Moreover, we argue that categories of moderation and extremism may be employed by social actors in diverse ways to construct different terms of reference and so recruit support for different identity-related projects.

Framing a 'social problem': Emotion in anti-abortion activists' depiction of the abortion debate.

Social psychological research on activism typically focuses on individuals' social identifications. We complement such research through exploring how activists frame an issue as a social problem. Specifically, we explore anti-abortion activists' representation of abortion and the abortion debate's protagonists so as to recruit support for the anti-abortion cause. Using interview data obtained with UK-based anti-abortion activists (N = 15), we consider how activists characterized women having abortions, pro-abortion campaigners, and anti-abortion campaigners. In particular, we consider the varied ways in which emotion featured in the representation of these social actors. Emotion featured in different ways. Sometimes, it was depicted as constituting embodied testament to the nature of reality. Sometimes, it was depicted as blocking the rational appraisal of reality. Our analysis considers how such varied meanings of emotion shaped the characterization of abortion and the abortion debate's protagonists such that anti-abortion activists were construed as speaking for women and their interests. We discuss how our analysis of the framing of issues as social problems complements and extends social psychological analyses of activism.

Helping to improve the group stereotype: on the strategic dimension of prosocial behavior.

Three studies consider a basis for intergroup helping. Specifically, they show that group members may help others to disconfirm a stereotype of their own group as mean. Study 1 shows that Scots believe they are seen as mean by the English, resent this stereotype, are motivated to refute it, and believe out-group helping is a particularly effective way of doing so. Study 2 shows that increasing the salience of the English stereotype of the Scottish as mean leads Scots to accentuate the extent to which Scots are depicted as generous. Study 3 shows that increasing the salience of the stereotype of the Scots as mean results in an increase in the help volunteered to out-group members. These results highlight how strategic concerns may result in out-group helping. In turn, they underscore the point that helping others may be a means to advance a group's interest.

Minority group members' theories of intergroup contact: a case study of British Muslims' conceptualizations of 'Islamophobia' and social change.

Much research in intergroup relations concerns the potential for interventions (e.g. intergroup contact) to reduce majorities' discrimination against minorities. In this paper we focus on how minority group members construe such interventions, especially as they affect their abilities to act in terms of their collective identity to realize social change. In addressing this issue, we focus on a minority's beliefs and theories concerning the intergroup dynamics lying behind their marginalization. Our data are qualitative and concern British Muslims' analyses of the dynamics of Islamophobia. Specifically, we explore two theorizations of Muslims' marginalization. Both share a concern with improving Muslims' collective position in Britain. However, they construe the dynamics to Islamophobia in very different ways, and this shapes their approach to intergroup contact and dialogue. Our analysis is informed by, and seeks to complement, social psychological theorizing on social change and intergroup contact.

The psychology of health and well-being in mass gatherings: A review and a research agenda.

Mass gatherings bring large numbers of people into physical proximity. Typically, this physical proximity has been assumed to contribute to ill health (e.g., through being stressful, facilitating infection transmission, etc.). In this paper, we add a new dimension to the emerging field of mass gatherings medicine. Drawing on psychological research concerning group processes, we consider the psychological transformations that occur when people become part of a crowd. We then consider how these transformations may have various consequences for health and well-being. Some of these consequences may be positive. For example, a sense of shared identity amongst participants may encourage participants to view others as a source of social support which in turn contributes to a sense of health and well-being. However, some consequences may be negative. Thus, this same sense of shared identity may result in a loss of disgust at the prospect of sharing resources (e.g., drinking utensils) which could, in turn, facilitate infection transmission. These, and related issues, are illustrated with research conducted at the Magh Mela (North India). We conclude with an agenda for future research concerning health practices at mass gatherings.

Adding a psychological dimension to mass gatherings medicine.

Mass gatherings pose distinctive challenges for medicine. One neglected aspect of this is that the behaviour of people participating in such events is different from the behaviour they exhibit in their everyday lives. This paper seeks to describe a social psychological perspective on the processes shaping people's behaviour at mass gatherings and to explore how these are relevant for an understanding of the processes impacting on the transmission of infection. It is inadequate to conceptualize mass gatherings as simply an aggregate of a large number of individuals. Rather, those present may conceptualize themselves in terms of a collective with a shared group identity. Thinking of oneself and others as members of a collective changes one's behaviour. First, one behaves in terms of one's understanding of the norms associated with the group. Second, the relationships between group members become more trusting and supportive. Understanding these two behavioural changes is key to understanding how and why mass gathering participants may behave in ways that make them more or less vulnerable to infection transmission. Implications for health education interventions are discussed.

The Nation and the Family: The Impact of National Identification and Perceived Importance of Family Values on Homophobic Attitudes in Lithuania and Scotland.

The meanings attached to the nation can be consequential for group members' attitudes and beliefs. We examined how national identity definition can influence the extent of individuals' homophobia with 159 Lithuanian and 176 Scottish university students who completed a questionnaire which measured their national identification, homophobia, and the extent to which they felt traditional family values were central to their nation's identity. Consistent with nation-wide differences in the significance given to the family, Lithuanian participants perceived family values to be more important for their national identity and expressed higher levels of homophobia than did Scottish participants. Moreover, the relationship between level of national identification and homophobia was stronger in Lithuania than in Scotland. Analyses revealed that the perceived importance of family values helped explain the difference between homophobia levels in Lithuania and Scotland. In both sites we found an indirect effect of national identification on homophobia via the perceived importance of family values, but this effect was significantly stronger for Lithuanian participants. These findings illustrate the ways in which identification with the nation is relevant to attitudes concerning sexuality, and how this varies according to national context. Our work indicates that LGBT rights campaigns should be informed by the knowledge that homophobia may be perpetuated by national valorisation of the family.

Visualising abortion: emotion discourse and fetal imagery in a contemporary abortion debate.

This paper presents an analysis of a recent UK anti-abortion campaign in which the use of fetal imagery--especially images of fetal remains--was a prominent issue. A striking feature of the texts produced by the group behind the campaign was the emphasis given to the emotions of those viewing such imagery. Traditionally, social scientific analyses of mass communication have problematised references to emotion and viewed them as being of significance because of their power to subvert the rational appraisal of message content. However, we argue that emotion discourse may be analysed from a different perspective. As the categorisation of the fetus is a social choice and contested, it follows that all protagonists in the abortion debate (whether pro- or anti-abortion) are faced with the task of constructing the fetus as a particular entity rather than another, and that they must seek to portray their preferred categorisation as objective and driven by an 'out-there' reality. Following this logic, we show how the emotional experience of viewing fetal imagery was represented so as to ground an anti-abortion construction of the fetus as objective. We also show how the arguments of the (pro-abortion) opposition were construed as totally discrepant with such emotions and so were invalidated as deceitful distortions of reality. The wider significance of this analysis for social scientific analyses of the abortion debate is discussed.

Identity construction and British Muslims' political activity: beyond rational actor theory.

Political activity is often addressed in terms of rational actor theory (RAT). We review RAT's psychological assumptions and highlight the neglect of collective identity. In turn, we view the perception of 'interest' as contingent upon constructions of identity and explore how different characterizations of collective identity are organized strategically so as to shape people's understandings of their interests and how they should act to realize them. Using examples taken from a study of British Muslims' political activity we emphasize the contested and strategic dimension to identity construction and analyse how activists addressing the same constituency construe Muslim identity in different ways so as to promote different conceptions of collective interest. Specifically, we explore the contested invocations of Prophetic example in the definition of Muslim identity. The broader thrust behind this work is a critique of the sharp dichotomization of Muslim and non-Muslim political activity. We maintain that essentially similar processes of identity construction underlie all attempts to organize collective sentiment and political action (including that comprising so-called 'conventional' electoralist politics in the West), and that conceiving of identity as a site of political struggle underscores the inadequacy of Orientalist characterizations of Muslim identity in terms of a singular, transhistorical essence.

The antecedents of identification: a rhetorical analysis of British Muslim activists' constructions of community and identity.

This paper takes as its focus the perception of community. This is analysed through reference to the literature concerning the adoption of more inclusive, superordinate social categories. Whilst most research tends to focus on the consequences of these social categories for self and other perception, we focus on their antecedents. These are typically hypothesized to include such issues as the perception of the subordinate groups' common fate and factors affecting their perceptual differentiation (e.g. their similarity and entitativity). However, rather than conceiving of such issues as pre-given antecedent variables, we explore how these issues (and others) are actively constructed in and through discourse. More specifically, we explore how such issues are sites of contestation as activists with different political projects seek to construct quite different versions of the relevant superordinate community identity. Our data are qualitative and are drawn from contemporary debates amongst British Muslims concerning their relations with non-Muslim Britons and non-British Muslims across the globe. A key issue in these deliberations concerns the nature of British Muslims' identity and the superordinate identifications that best facilitate its expression and realization. We suggest that constructions of common fate, similarity, entitativity etc., far from being 'givens', are the means through which different definitions of Muslim identity are constructed and different forms of collective action mobilized.