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Research has found that psychological groups based on opinion congruence are an important group type. Previous research constructed such groups around opinions potentially connected to pre‐existing identities. We strip away the socio‐structural context by using novel opinions to determine whether opinion congruence alone can be a category cue which can foster identification and whether such group identification mediates the relationship between opinion exposure and opinion polarization. We assess this across two pre‐registered online interactive experiments. Study 1 (N = 1168) demonstrate that opinion congruence fostered stronger identity than minimal groups. Study 2 (N = 505) demonstrate that opinion congruence fostered stronger identification than non‐opinion congruence. The relationship between opinion exposure and opinion polarization occurs through group identification in both. Results demonstrate that (novel) opinions can be self‐categorization cues informing identification and influencing opinion polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social identity approach asserts that self‐categorization is fluid and created anew in context. Despite this, research often conceptualizes identities as being based on static categories. In this article, we assess: how attitudes may be relevant attributes used to categorize the self and others, and therefore have the potential to foster social identification; how such categories/identities can be updated with new attitudinal information; and how attitudes have greater impact when socially expressed. Across three preregistered computer‐mediated interactive experiments (N = 3087), involving attitudes relating to the Ukraine‐Russia conflict of 2022, we find, identities can be updated with the introduction of new attitudes in interaction; cumulative attitude congruence strengthens identification; attitudinal interaction strengthens opinion‐based group identification and activism intentions, and ingroups can strategically align their attitudes. We conclude that to fully understand identity formation, we must acknowledge the fluidity of self‐categories and resultant identities, in line with the original specifications of the social identity approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polarization is a key phenomenon which has been linked to increasing disliking between people of opposite political groups. Furthermore, polarization can extend to new topics such as the debate on COVID-19 vaccines, making it more complex to coordinate efforts for such a problem. The social identity approach (SIA) offers a robust theoretical framework for understanding identity-based social processes. This approach suggests that people’s perceptions and behaviour depend on their group identity (e.g., Democrat vs Republican). In this article, we developed an opinion-dynamics model integrating SIA to explore how polarization can extend to new topics. Furthermore, we developed this model from experiments with human participants. This allows us to use already validated micro-dynamic rules in the model. Empirical results show lack of repulsive effects, more attraction during in-group interactions and a new effect: increased stubbornness when people are exposed to opinions of an out-group member. The model was built mimicking the interaction structure of the experiment. At each iteration, an agent observes the opinion of another agent. Depending on their respective groups the agent will experience a stronger or weaker attractive force, together with some noise. This model was able to produce polarization without the use of repulsive forces. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis tells us that polarization in new topics can appear when all the following conditions are satisfied: (1) each person recognizes who is belonging to which political group, (2) there are more in-group than out-group interactions and (3) there is some initial asymmetry on the topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the strategic alignment of attitudes and the active construction of attitude-based identity across two studies. Study one assessed the twitter response (hashtags in English) to the war in Ukraine for five months after Russia's first invasion of Ukraine 2022 (N = 8149). Results demonstrated that individuals publicly expressed hashtags similar to others close to them in the followership network, showing their support for Ukraine and condemnation of the Russian invasion in qualitatively different ways. Study two was a preregistered Prolific experiment with geographical European participants ran in September, 2022 (N = 1368). Results demonstrated that attitude interaction with ingroup members motivated interactants towards attitude alignment, and attitude alignment strengthened the identification that motivated the alignment in the first place. Results suggest that attitude expression is performative and constrained by one's group relationship with one's audience and the definition of social identity can be constrained by opinion-based identity performance., (© 2024. The Author(s).)