Moving across Status Lines: Low Concern for the Ingroup and Group Identification

This research examines individuals' concern for the ingroup when they move from a socially disadvantaged inherited background (in terms of gender, ethnicity, and nationality) to a higher social standing through individual achievement. Studies 1-2 show that the status inconsistency between the disadvantaged and the achieved groups undermines concern for the disadvantaged ingroup. Studies 3-4 demonstrate that this lower concern for the ingroup is concomitant with maintaining the identification with the low-status ingroup and the increase of the identification with the achieved group. These findings suggest that low concern for the ingroup is not explained by a decrease in identification with the disadvantaged, but rather by an increase in identification with the high-status group.