Lloyd, Briana (Bree) (2016) Is all praise the same? Group identity-verifying and identity-negating praise. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
It is widely accepted that criticism and praise are both influential in terms of performance (Rabinovich & Morton, 2015). Past research has shown that in-group messengers are given more latitude to offer criticism of the group (and are met with less defensiveness) relative to outgroup messengers; an effect known as the intergroup sensitivity effect (Hornsey, Oppes, & Svensson, 2002). Praise, on the other hand, is said to be accepted regardless of whether the messenger is an in-group or outgroup member (Hornsey et al., 2002). However, previous research has not examined whether all forms of praise are accepted equally. The aims of the current research were to examine whether responses to group-directed praise vary as a function of: (a) group membership of the messenger (i.e., in-group vs. outgroup), and (b) the type of praise specifically, praise that does not match how the group generally views itself (identity-negating) and praise that does match how the group generally views itself (identity-verifying). In line with previous research it was expected that identity-negating praise would be received more defensively compared to identity-verifying praise and this effect would be more pronounced for outgroup members than in-group members. To examine this Australian participants (N = 80) read comments in which they received either identity-negating praise or identity-verifying praise. The praise was attributed to either a fellow Australian (i.e., ingroup member) or an American (i.e., outgroup member). Current findings indicated the ingroup messenger was viewed as more constructive and committed compared to the outgroup messenger. Unexpectedly, findings also showed no difference in responses for identity-negating and verifying praise; however, the results should be interpreted with caution in response to a methodological concern specific to the identity-negating praise. Subsequently, only one interaction effect was found between the messenger and praise such that an in-group member was perceived as more damaging when delivering identity-negating praise compared to identity-verifying praise. No such effect was found for the outgroup messenger. Results are discussed with reference to theoretical and practical implications and the strengths, limitations, and future research directions.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Carla Jeffries; Tanya Machin |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 27 Aug 2025 01:24 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Aug 2025 01:24 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | criticism ; feedback ; praise ; messenger ; Social Identity Theory ; Self-Verification Theory |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52511 |
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