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AbstractOften leaders who attempt to enact large‐scale changes face resistance from group members who perceive the change as a drastic alteration of the core identity features of their group. Core changes to a group's identity can create a sense of collective identity discontinuity, indicating the group's sense of "who we are" is fundamentally altered. Leaders can circumvent this by emphasizing how the proposed change is consistent with the group's identity, although this may be influenced by whether group members are uncertain and perceive the leader as group prototypical. Two preregistered studies measured the degree to which participants felt self‐uncertain and perceived their in‐group political party leaders (Study 1) and newly reelected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Study 2) as group prototypical and as promoting collective identity continuity before (N = 408) and after (N = 209) the 2019 Canadian General Election. Study 1 results supported the preregistered hypotheses, and Study 2 extended these findings by exploring the hypothesized interaction from Study 1 in the postelection context. We discuss these results in the social identity framework, implicating the importance of a leader's promotion of collective identity continuity in promoting change during uncertain times.

In this paper, we describe two basic motives for social identification: a drive for collective enhancement and a drive for epistemic fulfillment (uncertainty reduction). We posit that these two motives are critical for understanding one of the fundamental underlying mechanisms of social identity theory (SIT): positive distinctiveness, which is a desire to feel different from and better than relevant outgroups. Whereas "positive" was clearly outlined in the original social identity theory of intergroup relations, "distinctiveness" became a focal point of self-categorization theory. Most existing literature treats positive distinctiveness as a single construct; however, we argue that the "positive" and "distinctive" elements should be treated as separate but critically intertwined concepts. We suggest that "positive" is a direct feature of a desire for collective enhancement, and "distinctiveness" from a relevant outgroup is necessary for self-categorization that provides information to reduce self-uncertainty. Using the subjective group dynamics framework, which has historically emphasized the enhancement motive, we mathematically show that the motives act sequentially and differently to affect responses to deviance and change from it.

AbstractSocial psychological models of group identity and collective action should be particularly adept at providing psychological explanations for growing rates of populism in the Western World. Because populism tends to arise in times of societal shifts that reflect both economic and cultural changes, populist attitudes are likely grounded in perceptions of intergroup relations and collective attitudes. We surveyed 95 demonstrators at the 2016 Republican National Convention and 108 demonstrators at the Democratic National Convention. Results support the idea that relative anger prototypicality, in this case, the extent to which people believe that their own anger toward politicians is representative of most Americans' anger, predicts feelings of group‐based relative deprivation. Importantly, these feelings of deprivation mediate the relationship between prototypical anger and populist attitudes. These findings provide a unique picture of current political engagement, motivated by feelings of shared anger and collective feelings of lacking representation and voice.