The role of social identity on the 'contagious' transmission of scratching behaviour: Study 4, 2016-2019

Research into ‘contagion’ has been applied to a range of different behaviours. However, the failure to explain the apparent group-boundaries present in ‘passive’ social influence invites an explanation for behaviours incorporating social identification. This study aimed to explore the mechanisms underlying contagious scratching. That it might be the result of ‘mere exposure’ was previously accepted in much contagion research, but this idea has since been shown to be insufficient in explaining the spread of behaviour. More complete explanations of contagious behaviour take into account the social context. Using theories such as Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorisation theory, social explanations of contagion suggest that the spread of behaviour is limited by social identification processes. This explanation has been successfully applied in the study of contagious behaviours during large scale crowd events but has never been applied to the study of everyday contagious behaviour such as scratching. This study attempts to bridge the gap in this research by applying an ingroup-outgroup manipulation to scratching behaviour. Participants (n= 38) where manipulated to have either a British (ingroup) identity or English (Outgroup) identity while observing a video of a Scottish man itching. It was hypothesised that having a shared social identity with the target would increase scratching behaviour, with identity strength used as a moderator. However, although the results show that strength of identification moderated the relationship between video watched (scratching vs no scratching) and self-reported itchiness, more scratching was reported in the outgroup condition.<p>How and why do behaviours spread from person to person? In particular, how does aggression and violent behaviour spread? When, as in 2011, riots began in London, why did they then occur in Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool? One of the most common ways of addressing such issues is through the notion of 'contagion'. The core idea is that, particularly in crowds, mere exposure to the behaviour of others leads observers to behave in the same way. 'Contagion' is now used to explain everything from 'basic' responses such as smiling and yawning (where the mere act of witnessing someone yawn or smile can invoke the same response in another) to complex phenomena like the behaviour of financial markets and, of course, rioting. What is more, laboratory experiments on the 'contagion' of simple responses (such as yawning) serve to underpin the plausibility of 'contagion' accounts as applied to complex phenomena (such as rioting).
Despite this widespread acceptance, the 'contagion' account has major problems in explaining the spread of behaviours. In particular, there are boundaries to such spread. If men smile at a sexist joke, will feminists also smile in response to the men's smiles? If people riot in one town, why is it that they also riot in some towns but not others? For example, in 2011, disturbances spread from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool but they did not spread to Sheffield, Leeds or Glasgow.
'Contagion' explanations cannot answer such questions because they assume that transmission is automatic. They do not take account of the social relations between the transmitter and receiver. We propose a new account of behavioural transmission based on the social identity approach in social psychology. This suggests that influence processes are limited by group boundaries and group content: we are more influenced by ingroup members than by outgroup members, and we are more influenced by that which is consonant with rather than contradictory to group norms. The social identity approach is therefore ideally suited to explaining the social limits to influence, both for 'basic' phenomena and rioting.
In order to advance both theoretical understanding and practical interventions, our research will develop a social identity analysis of transmission processes at multiple levels. Accordingly, the aims and objectives of this research project are as follows:
First, we will conduct a series of experimental studies on 'basic' behaviours (yawning, itching) to examine whether the effects of being exposed to a behaviour depend on observers and actors being fellow ingroup members. We will also examine 'complex' behaviours (aggression and rioting) to see if (1) observers are more influenced when the actors are ingroup members; (2) observers are more influenced by the responses of other observers when these are also ingroup members; (3) willingness to copy others depends upon whether their behaviour is consonant with observer group norms. Second, we will examine the spread of urban disorder during the 2011 English riots. We have been granted special access to the full data-set from the Guardian/LSE 'Reading the Riots' study (270 interviews with participants carried out immediately following the events). This, along with other secondary sources (such as detailed crime figures), will allow us to examine the extent to which the spread of these riots was linked to a sense of shared identity with those who had rioted previously (that is, those who rioted 'saw themselves' in those who rioted before them, and those who lacked such a sense were less likely to riot). Third, we will use our findings to generate a wider debate about the nature of psychological transmission and the practicalities of addressing them. Activities will include workshops which will bring together researchers, practitioners (e.g., the police) and policy-makers in local and national government to address how we can mitigate against the spread of riots and violence. </p>

关于“行为传染（contagion）”的研究已被应用于多种不同的行为范畴。然而，现有研究无法解释“被动”社会影响中存在的明显群体边界，这促使学界需要结合社会认同来解释各类行为。本研究旨在探究传染性挠痒行为背后的作用机制。此前，多数传染研究曾认为其可能源于“单纯暴露效应”，但后续研究表明该观点不足以解释行为的传播机制。更为完善的传染行为解释框架会纳入社会情境因素。借助社会认同理论（Social Identity Theory）与自我归类理论（Self-Categorisation Theory）等理论，社会传染视角提出，行为传播会受到社会认同过程的制约。该解释框架已成功应用于大型群体事件中的传染行为研究，但尚未被用于挠痒等日常传染性行为的探究。本研究尝试通过对内群体-外群体（ingroup-outgroup）操控挠痒行为，填补这一研究空白。38名被试被分别启动英国籍（内群体）身份或英格兰籍（外群体）身份，随后观看一名苏格兰男子挠痒的视频。研究假设，与目标对象共享社会身份会提升被试的挠痒行为，且身份认同强度将作为调节变量。不过，尽管研究结果显示，身份认同强度确实调节了观看视频类型（挠痒vs无挠痒）与自我报告瘙痒程度之间的关系，但外群体条件下的挠痒行为报告量反而更高。

行为如何、为何会在人际间传播？具体而言，攻击与暴力行为又是如何扩散的？2011年伦敦爆发骚乱后，为何骚乱会蔓延至伯明翰、曼彻斯特与利物浦？解决这类问题最常见的思路之一便是“传染”概念。其核心观点为，尤其是在群体场景中，单纯目睹他人的行为会促使观察者做出相同行为。如今，“传染”理论已被用于解释从微笑、打哈欠等“基础”反应（仅需目睹他人打哈欠或微笑，即可引发观察者产生相同行为），到金融市场行为、骚乱等复杂现象的各类场景。不仅如此，针对打哈欠等简单行为传染的实验室实验，也为将“传染”解释框架应用于骚乱等复杂现象提供了可信度支撑。

尽管该解释框架得到广泛认可，但“行为传染”理论在解释行为传播时存在重大缺陷。具体而言，行为传播存在明确边界。若男性对性别歧视笑话发笑，女权主义者是否会因男性的发笑而同样发笑？若某城镇爆发骚乱，为何部分城镇会跟进效仿，另一部分却不会？例如2011年的骚乱从伦敦蔓延至伯明翰、曼彻斯特与利物浦，却并未波及谢菲尔德、利兹或格拉斯哥。

“传染”解释无法回答这类问题，因为其假设传播过程是自动发生的，未考虑传播者与接收者之间的社会关系。我们基于社会心理学的社会认同路径，提出了全新的行为传播解释框架。该框架指出，社会影响过程会受到群体边界与群体内容的制约：个体受内群体成员的影响大于外群体成员，且个体更易受到与群体规范一致而非相悖的行为影响。因此，社会认同路径非常适合解释社会影响的边界限制，无论是针对“基础”现象还是骚乱行为。

为推进理论认知与实际干预，本研究将从多个层面对行为传播过程开展社会认同分析。本研究项目的目标与具体内容如下：
其一，我们将针对打哈欠、挠痒等“基础”行为开展一系列实验研究，验证目睹行为产生的影响是否取决于观察者与行为发起者是否为同一内群体成员。同时，我们也将探究攻击与骚乱等“复杂”行为，验证以下三点：（1）当行为发起者为内群体成员时，观察者更易受影响；（2）若其他观察者同为内群体成员，观察者会更易受其反应的影响；（3）个体模仿他人行为的意愿，取决于该行为是否符合观察者所在群体的规范。
其二，我们将考察2011年英国骚乱期间城市骚乱的传播情况。本研究已获得《卫报》与伦敦政治经济学院（LSE）联合开展的“解读骚乱（Reading the Riots）”研究的完整数据集权限（包含事件发生后立即对270名骚乱参与者进行的访谈）。结合犯罪统计数据等其他二手资料，我们将分析此次骚乱的传播程度与此前骚乱参与者的共享身份认同之间的关联（即，后续骚乱参与者是否会将此前的骚乱者视为同类，而缺乏此类身份认同的个体参与骚乱的可能性更低）。
其三，我们将基于研究结果，围绕心理传播的本质与相应应对措施展开广泛讨论。相关活动包括举办研讨会，汇聚研究者、实务工作者（如警方）以及地方与中央政府的政策制定者，共同探讨如何缓解骚乱与暴力行为的传播。