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People often work together in groups that have to reach goals in a given time frame. Nonetheless, the impact of deadlines on group members’ self-control has not been studied so far. Here this topic is addressed by integrating the action-phase model (Heckhausen, 1999), which postulates the use of different self-control strategies during individual-level goal pursuit, with the social identity approach. It was predicted and found in two studies that highly identified group members, in contrast to those who were only weakly identified, responded to a group’s deadline phase (pre vs. post) by showing phase-appropriate patterns of engagement and disengagement. Study 1 measured identification and assessed intentions and behavioral indicators of self-control. Study 2 manipulated identification and assessed self-reports of intended self-control strategies. Overall, the findings corroborate the notion that the social self can serve as a basis for self-regulation.

The current chapter summarizes recent developments towards a self regulation approach to group processes and intergroup behavior. Prior to discussing this research the authors summarize studies on the positive-negative asymmetry in social discrimination because this was one of the first fields concerning and applying self-regulation to the group level. Afterwards, self-regulation is defined and a framework for group-based self-regulation research is provided. Then, the research on self regulation in the intra- and intergroup domain is summarized and differences between individual and group-based self-regulation are analyzed. Finally, the existing evidence is discussed focusing on the question of whether self regulation can actually be truly group based.

For a long time, research on motivation and (inter)group behaviour mainly focused on needs and motives, but did not take self-regulation (i.e., the processes underlying motivated action) into account. Similarly, self-regulation research concentrated on the regulation of the personal self, but did not study the regulation of the social self. The current article summarizes work applying self-regulation approaches to intergroup behaviour. Within this approach, it has been shown (a) that the social self is regulated based on the same mechanisms as the personal self, (b) that intergroup contexts impact on group members’ self-regulation strategies, and (c) that the fit between an individual’s self-regulation strategy and the behavioural options provided by the group impact on group liking and potentially also on the integration of the group into the self-concept. The relation between current and earlier approaches to motivation in groups and further avenues for research on group-based self-regulation are discussed.

Author’s Introduction: In our globalized world individuals are frequently confronted with intergroup encounters. Some of them pass by more smoothly than others. Understanding group members’ motivational dynamics provides the key for positive intergroup encounters and the creation of environments fostering such positive events. For a long time, research on motivation in the domain of intergroup behavior mainly focused on needs and motives such as the need for self-esteem in social identity theory and the need to reduce uncertainty in uncertainty-identity theory. In contrast, approaches to motivation in many other domains of psychological research have switched from such need-based approaches to self-regulation approaches (i.e., theories and models focusing on the processes underlying motivated action). This change of focus from the content of motivation (i.e., need and motives answering the question what motivates behavior) to studying the motivational processes (i.e., self-regulation approaches answering the question how motivation translates in to action) has led to an enormous progress. To give just one example, this approach allows for much more precise predictions of behavior. Only recently research on intergroup behavior has adopted this change of paradigms in research on motivation. The current article summarized one line of research within this domain, namely the work applying regulatory focus theory (one of the dominant self-regulation theories) to intergroup behavior.

Self-regulation has recently been introduced as a means to investigate motivational processes in (inter)group research, thus granting new insights into similar mechanisms underlying diverse intergroup phenomena. This article focuses on empirical studies applying the predominant self-regulation approach to intergroup research: regulatory focus theory and its sister theory self-discrepancy theory. Studies conducted along these research lines are summarised, integrated, and evaluated as to whether the collective level has actually been addressed in terms of four criteria (adopted from Smith, Seger, & Mackie, 2007): effects stemming from ingroup rather than individual variables, stronger effects among more highly identified individuals, functionality for and social sharedness of the behaviour within the ingroup. The current evaluation leads to the conclusion that group-based self-regulation does indeed exist, meaning that group members self-regulate based on their social identity. Finally, the relation between current group-based self-regulation research and earlier research on motivation and (inter)group phenomena is clarified.

Migration hat die deutsche Gesellschaft verändert. In jüngster Zeit wird dies auch auf politischer Ebene verstärkt diskutiert. Wenngleich die Integration von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund angestrebt wird, so sind sie dennoch häufig sozialer Diskriminierung ausgesetzt, die einer erfolgreichen Integration entgegensteht. Ausgehend vom sozial-kognitiven Ansatz und dem Ansatz der sozialen Identität gibt der vorliegende Beitrag einen Überblick zum Stand der Forschung bezüglich der Faktoren, die zu sozialer Diskriminierung beitragen bzw. ihr entgegenwirken. Dieser Überblick dient in Folge als Grundlage für die Ableitung von Empfehlungen bezüglich der Gestaltung politischer und gesellschaftlicher Prozesse mit dem Ziel, durch die Reduzierung sozialer Diskriminierung einen Beitrag zur erfolgreichen gesellschaftlichen Integration von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund zu leisten. Die resultierenden Empfehlungen werden abschließend integriert und diskutiert. Die Praxisrelevanz, aber auch die diesbezüglichen Grenzen sozialpsychologischer Forschung werden ebenfalls dargestellt.