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Identity integration, and more specifically, the subtractive pattern of cultural identification, is investigated in this article. This pattern is hypothesized to occur when individuals integrate a new group identity of higher and legitimate status than their original identity, resulting in lower identification with the original group. The first study examined how relative status predicts the subtractive pattern of identification in immigrants living in Canada. Studies 2 and 3-conducted among Kyrgyz and Canadian participants-extended these results by measuring the impact of legitimacy on the subtractive pattern of identification. Results support the hypothesis that the subtractive pattern of identification takes place when the new identity has a higher and legitimate status compared with the original one, highlighting the possible different patterns of identity integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social identity is a key social psychological variable to understand intergroup behaviours. Over and above the different dimensions of social identity (e.g., quality or degree of identification), recent research has looked at different forms of social identity, such as the clarity of one's collective identity, the self-determined motivations underlying one's identification, and the contingencies attached to social identification. These forms of social identification reveal how and why group members are attached to their social group. The current research aims to directly test how these three forms of social identification regroup together and predict different individual and intergroup outcomes. Findings from three studies conducted in Québec ( Ns = 119, 91) and Australia ( N = 136) confirmed that the more comparative and competitive forms of social identification (i.e., non-self-determination to identify, collective self-esteem contingency) tend to predict nationalism and ingroup bias. In contrast, the forms of social identity that capture the inherent satisfaction of being part of the group and the cognitive clarity of this group membership (i.e., self-determined motivation to identity, clarity of collective identity) predict outcomes pertaining to patriotism, personal self-esteem, and positive emotions. Results are interpreted in light of social identity theory and social psychological models of the self. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]