Part 1: Introduction
1. Write a background statement of approximately 1–2 pages
that includes:
a. What you have learned about social change as a social
issue. You can look this up or use the attached articles.
b. What you have learned about social change as a
research problem. You can look this up and use the
attached articles for citations please. Support your
insights with academic citations from the Learning
Resources.
c. Describe the gap that your study will address. There is
little to no research on the specific proficiencies that are
fundamental for principals to be effective special education
leaders (Lasky & Karge, 2006; Lynch, 2012; Pazey & Cole,
2013; Cusson, 2010; Roberts & Guerra, 2017).
From the gap, create a brief purpose statement that is aligned
with the following research question: What is the meaning of
social change for College graduate students? This is my purpose
statement you can use that and repurpose it on how to be a social
change graduate student.
The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate principals
perceptions on their knowledge of special education.
Part 2: Role of the Researcher
•
Review your analytic memos, field notes, etc., written
during each aspect of the data collection process, and
examine your role and experience and how that is shaping
your experience (reflexivity). My role is the graduate
•
•
student through the field notes and data collection process
it helped me to examine my role as a more effective social
change agent. I felt connected to all the scholar of change
participants throughout this course. Everyone was part of
something very meaningful and impacted my view and
passion for what I want to do my dissertation on especially
Isaac Benjamin. He wants to create an animated show to
inspire children with special needs (Benjamin, 2014).
Elaborate more.
Describe the roles you are portraying in this research effort
(i.e., a graduate student, classmate, interviewer, etc.). I am
the graduate student of social change.
Identify any ethical issues that could or did arise during the
data collection processes (i.e., these could include doing a
study within one’s own work environment, conflict of
interest, or power differentials). You can make this up. Or
you can use the doing a study within one’s own work
environment because I am a special education teacher
looking for the perceptions of principals on special
education. Elaborate more.
Part 3: Results
During this course, you have coded your two Scholars of
Change videos, you have conducted and coded your phone
interview, and you have gathered data from the Walden social
change website and any other documents or websites you might
have included. For this Part 3 of your Major Assignment, you
will write up the results of your findings. You will include the
following in your write-up:
A.Data Sources—briefly describe each data source including
location, duration of data collection, how data were
recorded, and unusual circumstances.
o Two Scholars of Change videos I used the video field
notes guide as a source of data collection it was
recorded and saved on my computer. I watched the
scholar of change video featuring Isaac Benjamin at
work about four times to make sure I was able to catch
all codes. I used the video field notes guide as a source
of data collection it was recorded and saved on my
computer. I watched the scholar of change video
featuring Christin Topper at home about five times.
There was no unusual circumstances for either video.
o One phone interview I did my phone interview with a
fellow colleague using the interview questions
provided by the instructor while I was in my kitchen. I
recorded the interview and I downloaded a free app
called transcribeme to transcribe my interview to
record codes throughout the interview. The only
unusual circumstances that came up was a time that I
could find to get my home completely quite that
worked for my interviewee.
o Resources from the Walden social change website
B. Instrumentation—briefly describe the type of
instrumentation you used for your data collection. I used
the Excel video coding document template and video field
notes provided by Walden as my source to collect data.
a. Who developed each data collection tool and what is
the date of publication?
b. Where and with which participant group has it been
used previously?
c. How appropriate is it for current study and include
whether modifications will be or were needed? It is
appropriate for my current study since I will be
collecting data from multiple participants. I will be
able to look for the themes and categories throughout
the surveys and interviews that I will conduct in my
research.
C. Data Analysis—based on the data sources in “A.”, provide
a detailed analysis to include the following:
o Report the process used to move inductively from
coded units to larger representations including
categories and themes. You will have to research this.
o Describe the specific codes, categories, and themes
that emerged from the data using quotations as needed
to emphasize their importance.
1. 1st cycle—describe, give examples.
Q1 What is nature deficit disorder? Who coined this term?
Line/Paragraph Response
1st
1st
2nd
Memo
#1
Cycle
Cycle Cycle
3
Nature deficit disorder
The problem.
is a real social problem
in a big city like Hong
Kong.
Q2 What problem has been identified in Hong
Kong?
Line/Paragraph Response
#1
2
High rise buildings are
taking over the natural
1st
Cycle
1st
2nd
Memo
Cycle Cycle
What do we know in
Hong Kong?
green spaces where
children usually play
and media technology is
keeping people indoors
and changing the
lifestyle of society from
active to sedentary.
2. 2nd cycle—describe, give examples/moving from
codes to categories.
Identify themes—provide examples and illustrate your results
with a figure or a chart.
Code: According to Ravitch and Carl (2016) coding is a way for data organization, and coding
allows for the connection of patterns throughout several data points or sources. Codes are
descriptive or inferential labels that are assigned to units of data. Codes help researchers to
consolidate information into manageable pieces to engage with logically. Ratvitch and Carl
(2016) state that all data can be coded, including transcripts, field notes, archival data,
photographs, videos, research memos, and research journals. In short, it’s the label you attach to
a phrase or other short sequence of the text you are analyzing.
Category: a grouping you impose on the coded segments, in order to reduce the number of
different pieces of data in your analysis.
Theme: Theme” is the main product of data analysis that yields
practical results in the field of study (Krauss, 2005). A higher-level of categorization usually
used to identify a major element (perhaps one of four or five) of your entire content analysis of
the text(s). The theme is used as an attribute, descriptor, element, and concept. As an implicit
topic that organizes a group of repeating ideas, it enables researchers to answer the study
question (Saldaña, 2016). It contains codes that have a common point of reference and has a high
degree of generality that unifies ideas regarding the subject of inquiry (Buetow, 2010)
Notes
Research shows that
students with special
learning needs who
feel good about
themselves perform
better academically
than those with low
self-concept (Isaac,
2014).
Code
SND
Special needs
disorders
Jackie Kunderts was
Family
inspired to study drug
addiction as her son
got caught up in the
cycle of addiction
and she discovered
this is a nationwide
phenomenon that was
once a big city
problem that now
affects small cities
too.
Text
I am interested in making a
difference.
Social change drew me to
Walden.
Code
Making a
Difference
Social
Change
Category
Research
Theme
Perception
Research
Perception
Category
Personal Interest
Theme
Social Change
Growth
Opportunity
Social change
Making things better for my
students and their families is an
important part of what I do and
who I am.
Making a
Difference
Personal Interest
Social change
Buetow, S. (2010). Thematic analysis and its reconceptualization as “saliency analysis”. Journal
of Health Services Research & Policy.; 15(2):123-5.
Isaac, B. (2014). Benjamin Isaac, EdD student, inspiring children with special needs [Video
file].
Krauss S.E. (2005). Research paradigms and meaning making: A primer. The Qualitative
Report.; 10(4): 758-770.
Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical,
and methodological Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage Publications.
3.
Part 4: Trustworthiness and Summary
D.Trustworthiness—summarize across the different data
sources and respond to the following: Using the graphs I
provided above you can answer these questions.
o What themes are in common?
o What sources have different themes? The video and
phone interview had different themes.
o Explain the trustworthiness of your findings, in terms
of:
▪ Credibility
▪ Transferability
▪ Dependability strategies
▪ Confirmability
Summary
•
Based on the results of your analyses, how would you
answer the question: “What is the meaning of social change
for Walden graduate students?” I provide a link to the page
where they talk about social change on the website.
https://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change
Self-Reflection—Has your own understanding of you as a
positive social change agent changed? Yes Explain your
reasoning. According to Walden University I am a
Purposeful Participant
You are a Purposeful Participant. Your commitment to positive social change probably is
strongly connected to your work or school activities and responsibilities. While you may place
less importance on being personally involved in social change and may be less likely to donate
money or services, you may tend to make greater sacrifices or take larger risks in order to be
involved in social change. Elaborate on the reasoning for positive social change.
•
Based on your review of the three articles on social change,
which one is aligned with your interests regarding social change
and why? This is the article that is more aligned with my interest
because its based on apathy into movement you can look up the
article and take citations from it.
Thomas, E. F., McGarty, C., & Mavor, K. I. (2009). Transforming “apathy into movement”: The
role of prosocial emotions in motivation action for social change. Personality & Social
Psychology Review, 13(4), 310–333.
Reference:
Isaac, B. (2014). Benjamin Isaac, EdD student, inspiring children with special needs [Video
file].
Lasky, B., & Karge, B. (2006). Meeting the needs of students with disabilities:
Experience and confidence of principals. NASSP Bulletin, 90(1), 19-36.
doi: 10.1177/0192636505283950
Education for Information 22 (2004) 63–75
IOS Press
63
Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative
research projects
Andrew K. Shenton∗
Division of Information and Communication Studies, School of Informatics, Lipman Building,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Received 14 November 2003
Accepted 6 January 2004
Although many critics are reluctant to accept the trustworthiness of qualitative research, frameworks
for ensuring rigour in this form of work have been in existence for many years. Guba’s constructs, in
particular, have won considerable favour and form the focus of this paper. Here researchers seek to satisfy
four criteria. In addressing credibility, investigators attempt to demonstrate that a true picture of the
phenomenon under scrutiny is being presented. To allow transferability, they provide sufficient detail of
the context of the fieldwork for a reader to be able to decide whether the prevailing environment is similar
to another situation with which he or she is familiar and whether the findings can justifiably be applied
to the other setting. The meeting of the dependability criterion is difficult in qualitative work, although
researchers should at least strive to enable a future investigator to repeat the study. Finally, to achieve
confirmability, researchers must take steps to demonstrate that findings emerge from the data and not their
own predispositions. The paper concludes by suggesting that it is the responsibility of research methods
teachers to ensure that this or a comparable model for ensuring trustworthiness is followed by students
undertaking a qualitative inquiry.
Keywords: Qualitative methods, research
1. Introduction
The trustworthiness of qualitative research generally is often questioned by positivists, perhaps because their concepts of validity and reliability cannot be addressed
in the same way in naturalistic work. Nevertheless, several writers on research
methods, notably Silverman [1], have demonstrated how qualitative researchers can
incorporate measures that deal with these issues, and investigators such as Pitts [2]
have attempted to respond directly to the issues of validity and reliability in their
own qualitative studies. Many naturalistic investigators have, however, preferred to
use different terminology to distance themselves from the positivist paradigm. One
such author is Guba, who proposes four criteria that he believes should be considered
∗ Address for correspondence: 92 Claremont Road, Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, NE26 3TU, UK.
E-mail: ashenton1@hotmail.com.
0167-8329/04/$17.00 2004 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved
64
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
by qualitative researchers in pursuit of a trustworthy study [3]. By addressing similar issues, Guba’s constructs correspond to the criteria employed by the positivist
investigator:
a)
b)
c)
d)
credibility (in preference to internal validity);
transferability (in preference to external validity/generalisability);
dependability (in preference to reliability);
confirmability (in preference to objectivity).
Although as recently as the mid 1990s Lincoln wrote that the whole area of qualitative inquiry was “still emerging and being defined” [4], Guba’s constructs have been
accepted by many. This paper considers the criteria in detail and suggests provisions
that the qualitative researcher may employ to meet them. The strategies advocated
are based on the experience gained by Shenton when undertaking a qualitative PhD
study devoted to the information-seeking behaviour of school-aged children [5].
2. Credibility
One of the key criteria addressed by positivist researchers is that of internal validity, in which they seek to ensure that their study measures or tests what is actually
intended. According to Merriam, the qualitative investigator’s equivalent concept,
i.e. credibility, deals with the question, “How congruent are the findings with reality?” [6] Lincoln and Guba argue that ensuring credibility is one of most important
factors in establishing trustworthiness [7]. The following provisions may be made by
researchers to promote confidence that they have accurately recorded the phenomena
under scrutiny:
a) the adoption of research methods well established both in qualitative investigation in general and in information science in particular. Yin recognises
the importance of incorporating “correct operational measures for the concepts
being studied” [8]. Thus, the specific procedures employed, such as the line
of questioning pursued in the data gathering sessions and the methods of data
analysis, should be derived, where possible, from those that have been successfully utilised in previous comparable projects. In terms of investigation
of information-seeking behaviour, the work of Dervin has proved particularly
influential in this regard. In their study of the information needs of Seattle’s residents, Dervin et al. initially invited participants to reflect on situations
“where you needed help. . . where you didn’t understand something. . . where
you needed to decide what to do. . . or, where you were worried about something” [9]. Dervin’s respondents then described in detail a particular instance
within one of these categories. Similar strategies have been used subsequently
by Chen and Hernon [10], Poston-Anderson and Edwards [11] and Shenton [12]
amongst others;
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
65
b) the development of an early familiarity with the culture of participating organisations before the first data collection dialogues take place. This may be
achieved via consultation of appropriate documents and preliminary visits to
the organisations themselves. Lincoln and Guba [13] and Erlandson et al. [14]
are among the many who recommend “prolonged engagement” between the
investigator and the participants in order both for the former to gain an adequate understanding of an organisation and to establish a relationship of trust
between the parties. The danger emerges, however, that if too many demands
are made on staff, gatekeepers responsible for allowing the researcher access
to the organisation may be deterred from cooperating. The investigator may
also react with some suspicion to the notion of prolonged engagement in view
of the undesirable side effects that have been noted by Lincoln and Guba [15]
and Silverman [16]. The former draw particular attention to the way in which
investigators may become so immersed in the culture under scrutiny that their
professional judgements are influenced;
c) random sampling of individuals to serve as informants. Although much qualitative research involves the use of purposive sampling, a random approach may
negate charges of researcher bias in the selection of participants. As Preece
notes, random sampling also helps to ensure that any “unknown influences”
are distributed evenly within the sample [17]. Furthermore, it may be that a
random method is particularly appropriate to the nature of the investigation.
The work may, for example, take the form of a “collective case study” of the
type described by Stake, in that multiple voices, exhibiting characteristics of
similarity, dissimilarity, redundancy and variety, are sought in order to gain
greater knowledge of a wider group [18], such as a more general population,
rather than simply the individual informants who are contributing data. This
form of research is also recognised by Hamel, Dufour and Fortin, who dub
it a “macroscopic” case study, and emphasise the importance of appropriate
selection tactics if the investigator is to be confident that informants are typical
of members of a broader, “selected society” [19]. According to Bouma and
Atkinson, “A random sampling procedure provides the greatest assurance that
those selected are a representative sample of the larger group” [20]. A significant disadvantage of random method, however, stems from the fact that, since
the researcher has no control over the choice of informants, it is possible that
quiet, uncooperative or inarticulate individuals may be selected;
d) triangulation. Triangulation may involve the use of different methods, especially observation, focus groups and individual interviews, which form the
major data collection strategies for much qualitative research. Whilst focus
groups and individual interviews suffer from some common methodological
shortcomings since both are interviews of a kind, their distinct characteristics
also result in individual strengths. According to Guba [21] and Brewer and
Hunter [22], the use of different methods in concert compensates for their
individual limitations and exploits their respective benefits. Where possible,
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A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
supporting data may be obtained from documents to provide a background
to and help explain the attitudes and behaviour of those in the group under
scrutiny, as well as to verify particular details that participants have supplied.
Opportunities should also be seized to examine any documents referred to by
informants during the actual interviews or focus groups where these can shed
more light on the behaviour of the people in question.
Another form of triangulation may involve the use of a wide range of informants. This is one way of triangulating via data sources. Here individual
viewpoints and experiences can be verified against others and, ultimately, a
rich picture of the attitudes, needs or behaviour of those under scrutiny may
be constructed based on the contributions of a range of people. Van Maanen
urges the exploitation of opportunities “to check out bits of information across
informants” [23]. Such corroboration may, for example, take the form of comparing the needs and information-seeking action described by one individual
with those of others in a comparable position. In addition, the investigator
may draw informants from both users of an information service and the professionals who deliver it. Even in a user study, where the thrust of the work
is likely to lie in analysing the ideas and experiences of users themselves, data
provided by those responsible for the management and delivery of the service
under scrutiny may well prove invaluable in order to check that supplied by the
users, to help explain their attitudes and behaviour and to enhance the contextual data relating to the fieldwork site(s). Just as triangulation via data sources
can involve the use of a diversity of informants, a range of documents may also
be employed as source material. For example, documents created corporately
by each participating organisation may be examined, as well as those relating
to the organisation but produced externally. Further data dealing with the wider
context in which the organisation is operating may be elicited from official
publications.
Where appropriate, site triangulation may be achieved by the participation of
informants within several organisations so as to reduce the effect on the study of
particular local factors peculiar to one institution. Where similar results emerge
at different sites, findings may have greater credibility in the eyes of the reader.
The sampling of a range of people in different organisations may be employed
to provide the diversity that underpins Dervin’s concept of “circling reality”,
which she defines as “the necessity of obtaining a variety of perspectives in
order to get a better, more stable view of ‘reality’ based on a wide spectrum of
observations from a wide base of points in time-space” [24];
e) tactics to help ensure honesty in informants when contributing data. In particular, each person who is approached should be given opportunities to refuse
to participate in the project so as to ensure that the data collection sessions
involve only those who are genuinely willing to take part and prepared to offer
data freely. Participants should be encouraged to be frank from the outset of
each session, with the researcher aiming to establish a rapport in the opening
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
f)
g)
h)
i)
67
moments and indicating that there are no right answers to the questions that will
be asked. Where appropriate, the independent status of the researcher should
also be emphasised. Participants can, therefore, contribute ideas and talk of
their experiences without fear of losing credibility in the eyes of managers of
the organisation. It should be made clear to participants that they have the
right to withdraw from the study at any point, and they should not even be
required to disclose an explanation to the investigator. In many instances, such
an unconditional right for subjects to withdraw may be a requirement that must
be accepted by the researcher when seeking approval for the work;
iterative questioning. In addition to the “preventative” strategies outlined above,
specific ploys may be incorporated to uncover deliberate lies. These might include the use of probes to elicit detailed data and iterative questioning, in
which the researcher returns to matters previously raised by an informant and
extracts related data through rephrased questions. In both cases, where contradictions emerge, falsehoods can be detected and the researcher may decide to
discard the suspect data. An alternative approach and one that provides greater
transparency lies in drawing attention, within the final research report, to the
discrepancies and offering possible explanations;
negative case analysis, as recommended by commentators such as Lincoln and
Guba [25], Miles and Huberman [26] and Silverman [27]. One form of negative
case analysis may see the researcher refining a hypothesis until it addresses all
cases within the data. If the study includes the production of typologies, on
completing the initial categories the investigator may revisit the data in order
to confirm that these constructs do indeed account for all instances of the
phenomenon involved, even if some of the types embrace only one instance;
frequent debriefing sessions between the researcher and his or her superiors,
such as a project director or steering group. Through discussion, the vision
of the investigator may be widened as others bring to bear their experiences
and perceptions. Such collaborative sessions can be used by the researcher to
discuss alternative approaches, and others who are responsible for the work in
a more supervisory capacity may draw attention to flaws in the proposed course
of action. The meetings also provide a sounding board for the investigator to
test his or her developing ideas and interpretations, and probing from others
may help the researcher to recognise his or her own biases and preferences;
peer scrutiny of the research project. Opportunities for scrutiny of the project
by colleagues, peers and academics should be welcomed, as should feedback
offered to the researcher at any presentations (e.g. at conferences) that are made
over the duration of the project. The fresh perspective that such individuals
may be able to bring may allow them to challenge assumptions made by the
investigator, whose closeness to the project frequently inhibits his or her ability
to view it with real detachment. Questions and observations may well enable
the researcher to refine his or her methods, develop a greater explanation of the
research design and strengthen his or her arguments in the light of the comments
made;
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A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
j) the researcher’s “reflective commentary”. In addition to the outside scrutiny
discussed above, the investigator should seek to evaluate the project, again as
it develops. This may be done through a reflective commentary, part of which
may be devoted to the effectiveness of the techniques that have been employed.
The reflective commentary may also be used to record the researcher’s initial
impressions of each data collection session, patterns appearing to emerge in the
data collected and theories generated. The commentary can play a key role in
what Guba and Lincoln term “progressive subjectivity”, or the monitoring of the
researcher’s own developing constructions, which the writers consider critical in
establishing credibility [28]. Ultimately, the section of the commentary dealing
with emerging patterns and theories should inform that part of the research
report that addresses the project’s results, and any discussion in the report
of the effectiveness of the study maybe based on the investigator’s methods
analysis within the reflective commentary;
k) background, qualifications and experience of the investigator. According to
Patton, the credibility of the researcher is especially important in qualitative
research as it is the person who is the major instrument of data collection and
analysis [29]. Alkin, Daillak and White go so far as to suggest that a scrutineer’s
trust in the researcher is of equal importance to the adequacy of the procedures
themselves [30].
The nature of the biographical information that should be supplied in the
research report is a matter of debate. Maykut and Morehouse recommend including any personal and professional information relevant to the phenomenon
under study [31], and Patton adds that arrangements by which the investigator
is funded should also be addressed [32]. Any approvals given to the project by
those providing access to the organisation and individual participants should
also be made explicit;
l) member checks, which Guba and Lincoln consider the single most important
provision that can be made to bolster a study’s credibility [33]. Checks relating
to the accuracy of the data may take place “on the spot” in the course, and at
the end, of the data collection dialogues. Informants may also be asked to read
any transcripts of dialogues in which they have participated. Here the emphasis
should be on whether the informants consider that their words match what
they actually intended, since, if a tape recorder has been used, the articulations
themselves should at least have been accurately captured.
Another element of member checking should involve verification of the
investigator’s emerging theories and inferences as these were formed during the
dialogues. This strategy has been employed by Pitts [34] and is recommended
by Brewer and Hunter [35] and Miles and Huberman [36]. Where appropriate,
participants may be asked if they can offer reasons for particular patterns
observed by the researcher. The importance of developing such a formative
understanding is recognised by Van Maanen, who writes that
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
69
“analysis and verification. . . is something one brings forth with them from
the field, not something which can be attended to later, after the data are
collected. When making sense of field data, one cannot simply accumulate
information without regard to what each bit of information represents in
terms of its possible contextual meanings” [37];
m) thick description of the phenomenon under scrutiny. Detailed description in
this area can be an important provision for promoting credibility as it helps to
convey the actual situations that have been investigated and, to an extent, the
contexts that surround them. Without this insight, it is difficult for the reader
of the final account to determine the extent to which the overall findings “ring
true”. Moreover, if the researcher employs a reporting system in which he or
she defines a series of types within a typology and illustrates these types using
real qualitative episodes, the inclusion of the latter enables the reader to assess
how far the defined types truly embrace the actual situations;
n) examination of previous research findings to assess the degree to which the
project’s results are congruent with those of past studies. Silverman considers
that the ability of the researcher to relate his or her findings to an existing body
of knowledge is a key criterion for evaluating works of qualitative inquiry [38].
In this respect, reports of previous studies staged in the same or a similar
organisation and addressing comparable issues may be invaluable sources.
3. Transferability
Merriam writes that external validity “is concerned with the extent to which the
findings of one study can be applied to other situations” [39]. In positivist work, the
concern often lies in demonstrating that the results of the work at hand can be applied
to a wider population. Since the findings of a qualitative project are specific to a small
number of particular environments and individuals, it is impossible to demonstrate
that the findings and conclusions are applicable to other situations and populations.
Erlandson et al. note that many naturalistic inquirers believe that, in practice, even
conventional generalisability is never possible as all observations are defined by the
specific contexts in which they occur [40]. A contrasting view is offered by Stake [41]
and Denscombe [42], who suggest that, although each case may be unique, it is also
an example within a broader group and, as a result, the prospect of transferability
should not be immediately rejected. Nevertheless, such an approach can be pursued
only with caution since, as Gomm, Hammersley and Foster recognise, it appears to
belittle the importance of the contextual factors which impinge on the case [43].
Bassey proposes that, if practitioners believe their situations to be similar to that
described in the study, they may relate the findings to their own positions [44].
Lincoln and Guba [45] and Firestone [46] are among those who present a similar
argument, and suggest that it is the responsibility of the investigator to ensure that
sufficient contextual information about the fieldwork sites is provided to enable the
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reader to make such a transfer. They maintain that, since the researcher knows
only the “sending context”, he or she cannot make transferability inferences. In
recent years such a stance has found favour with many qualitative researchers. After
perusing the description within the research report of the context in which the work
was undertaken, readers must determine how far they can be confident in transferring
to other situations the results and conclusions presented. It is also important that
sufficient thick description of the phenomenon under investigation is provided to
allow readers to have a proper understanding of it, thereby enabling them to compare
the instances of the phenomenon described in the research report with those that they
have seen emerge in their situations.
Authors disagree on the nature and extent of background information that should
be offered but few would dispute the need for “a full description of all the contextual
factors impinging on the inquiry”, as recommended by Guba [47]. Nevertheless, the
situation is complicated by the possibility, noted by Firestone, that factors considered
by the researcher to be unimportant, and consequently unaddressed in the research
report, may be critical in the eyes of a reader [48]. Many investigators stop short of
the course of action advocated by Denscombe that the researcher should demonstrate
how, in terms of the contextual data, the case study location(s) compare(s) with other
environments [49]. This reluctance is based on the fact that the process would demand
a considerable knowledge of the “receiving contexts” of other organisations, and the
researcher is in no position to comment on what Merriam calls the “typicality” of the
environment(s) in which the fieldwork took place [50].
The work of Cole and Gardner [51], Marchionini and Teague [52] and Pitts [53]
highlights the importance of the researcher’s conveying to the reader the boundaries
of the study. This additional information must be considered before any attempts at
transference are made. Thus information on the following issues should be given at
the outset:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
the number of organisations taking part in the study and where they are based;
any restrictions in the type of people who contributed data;
the number of participants involved in the fieldwork;
the data collection methods that were employed;
the number and length of the data collection sessions;
the time period over which the data was collected.
It is easy for researchers to develop a preoccupation with transferability. Ultimately, the results of a qualitative study must be understood within the context of
the particular characteristics of the organisation or organisations and, perhaps, geographical area in which the fieldwork was carried out. In order to assess the extent to
which findings may be true of people in other settings, similar projects employing the
same methods but conducted in different environments could well be of great value.
As Kuhlthau [54] and Gomm, Hammersley and Foster [55] recognise, however, it is
rare for such complementary work to be undertaken. Nevertheless, the accumulation
of findings from studies staged in different settings might enable a more inclusive,
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
71
overall picture to be gained. A similar point is made by Gross, in relation to her work
on imposed queries in school libraries. She writes of the “multiple environments” in
which the phenomenon of her interest takes place and believes her study to provide
a “baseline understanding” with which the results of subsequent work should be
compared [56]. As Borgman [57] and Pitts [58] have acknowledged, understanding
of a phenomenon is gained gradually, through several studies, rather than one major
project conducted in isolation. Even when different investigations offer results that
are not entirely consistent with one another, this does not, of course, necessarily
imply that one or more is untrustworthy. It may be that they simply reflect multiple
realities, and, if an appreciation can be gained of the reasons behind the variations,
this understanding may prove as useful to the reader as the results actually reported.
Such an attitude is consistent with what Dervin considers should be key principles
within information-seeking research, namely: “To posit. . . every contradiction, every
inconsistency, every diversity not as an error or extraneous but as fodder for contextual analysis. To ask and re-ask what accounts for this difference or this similarity
and to anchor possible answers in time-space conceptualizings” [59]. It should thus
be questioned whether the notion of producing truly transferable results from a single
study is a realistic aim or whether it disregards the importance of context which forms
such a key factor in qualitative research.
4. Dependability
In addressing the issue of reliability, the positivist employs techniques to show
that, if the work were repeated, in the same context, with the same methods and
with the same participants, similar results would be obtained. However, as Fidel [60]
and Marshall and Rossman [61] note, the changing nature of the phenomena scrutinised by qualitative researchers renders such provisions problematic in their work.
Florio-Ruane highlights how the investigator’s observations are tied to the situation
of the study, arguing that the “published descriptions are static and frozen in the
‘ethnographic present’ ” [62]. Lincoln and Guba stress the close ties between credibility and dependability, arguing that, in practice, a demonstration of the former goes
some distance in ensuring the latter [63]. This may be achieved through the use of
“overlapping methods”, such as the focus group and individual interview.
In order to address the dependability issue more directly, the processes within the
study should be reported in detail, thereby enabling a future researcher to repeat the
work, if not necessarily to gain the same results. Thus, the research design may
be viewed as a “prototype model”. Such in-depth coverage also allows the reader
to assess the extent to which proper research practices have been followed. So as
to enable readers of the research report to develop a thorough understanding of the
methods and their effectiveness, the text should include sections devoted to
a) the research design and its implementation, describing what was planned and
executed on a strategic level;
72
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
b) the operational detail of data gathering, addressing the minutiae of what was
done in the field;
c) reflective appraisal of the project, evaluating the effectiveness of the process of
inquiry undertaken.
5. Confirmability
Patton associates objectivity in science with the use of instruments that are not
dependent on human skill and perception. He recognises, however, the difficulty
of ensuring real objectivity, since, as even tests and questionnaires are designed
by humans, the intrusion of the researcher’s biases is inevitable [64]. The concept
of confirmability is the qualitative investigator’s comparable concern to objectivity.
Here steps must be taken to help ensure as far as possible that the work’s findings are
the result of the experiences and ideas of the informants, rather than the characteristics
and preferences of the researcher. The role of triangulation in promoting such
confirmability must again be emphasised, in this context to reduce the effect of
investigator bias. Miles and Huberman consider that a key criterion for confirmability
is the extent to which the researcher admits his or her own predispositions [65].
To this end, beliefs underpinning decisions made and methods adopted should be
acknowledged within the research report, the reasons for favouring one approach
when others could have been taken explained and weaknesses in the techniques
actually employed admitted. In terms of results, preliminary theories that ultimately
were not borne out by the data should also be discussed. Much of the content in
relation to these areas may be derived from the ongoing “reflective commentary”.
Once more, detailed methodological description enables the reader to determine
how far the data and constructs emerging from it may be accepted. Critical to this
process is the “audit trail”, which allows any observer to trace the course of the
research step-by-step via the decisions made and procedures described. The “audit
trail” may be represented diagrammatically. Two such diagrams may be constructed.
One may take a data-oriented approach, showing how the data eventually leading to
the formation of recommendations was gathered and processed during the course of
the study. This is what is typically understood by the term, “audit trail”. In addition,
however, the manner in which the concepts inherent in the research question gave
rise to the work to follow may be tracked. This more theoretical “audit trail”, which
should be understood in terms of the whole of the duration of the project, may be
depicted in a second diagram.
6. Summary and conclusion
Over the last twenty years, much has been achieved by advocates of qualitative
inquiry in demonstrating the rigour and trustworthiness of their favoured form of
A.K. Shenton / Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects
73
Provisions that may be Made by a Qualitative Researcher Wishing to Address Guba’s Four Criteria
for Trustworthiness
Quality criterion
Possible provision made by researcher
Credibility
Adoption of appropriate, well recognised research methods
Development of early familiarity with culture of participating organisations
Random sampling of individuals serving as informants
Triangulation via use of different methods, different types of informants and different
sites
Tactics to help ensure honesty in informants
Iterative questioning in data collection dialogues
Negative case analysis
Debriefing sessions between researcher and superiors
Peer scrutiny of project
Use of “reflective commentary”
Description of background, qualifications and experience of the researcher
Member checks of data collected and interpretations/theories formed
Thick description of phenomenon under scrutiny
Examination of previous research to frame findings
Transferability Provision of background data to establish context of study and detailed description of
phenomenon in question to allow comparisons to be made
Dependability Employment of “overlapping methods”
In-depth methodological description to allow study to be repeated
Confirmability Triangulation to reduce effect of investigator bias
Admission of researcher’s beliefs and assumptions
Recognition of shortcomings in study’s methods and their potential effects
In-depth methodological description to allow integrity of research results to be
scrutinised
Use of diagrams to demonstrate “audit trail”
research. Nevertheless, criticisms of work of this kind continue to be made by
positivists. This paper has addressed four criteria that may be addressed by qualitative
researchers wishing to present a convincing case that their work is academically
sound. A range of strategies that may be adopted by investigators in response to
these issues has been highlighted. These are summarised in the chart below:
The challenge for those involved in teaching courses in research methods lies in
ensuring that those contemplating undertaking qualitative research are not only aware
of the criticisms typically made by its detractors but they are also cognisant of the
provisions which can be made to address matters such as credibility, transferability,
dependability and confirmability. Prospective researchers can then assess the extent
to which they are able to apply these generic strategies to their particular investigation.
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Transforming “Apathy Into Movement”:The
Role of Prosocial Emotions in Motivating
Action for Social Change
Emma F. Thomas
The Australian National University, Canberra
Craig McGarty
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia
Kenneth I. Mavor
The Australian National University, Canberra
This article explores the synergies between recent developments in the social identity of helping, and advantaged groups’ prosocial emotion. The authors review
the literature on the potential of guilt, sympathy, and
outrage to transform advantaged groups’ apathy into
positive action. They place this research into a novel
framework by exploring the ways these emotions shape
group processes to produce action strategies that emphasize either social cohesion or social change. These prosocial emotions have a critical but underrecognized role in
creating contexts of in-group inclusion or exclusion,
shaping normative content and meaning, and informing
group interests. Furthermore, these distinctions provide
a useful way of differentiating commonly discussed emotions. The authors conclude that the most “effective”
emotion will depend on the context of the inequality but
that outrage seems particularly likely to productively
shape group processes and social change outcomes.
Keywords:
I
emotion; social identity; helping/prosocial behavior; group processes; morality
n 1938, Carl Jung wrote, “There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into
movement without emotion” (p. 32). In this sentence,
Jung celebrates the profound role that emotion plays in
directing and shaping human behavior. Although individual emotion has long been a mainstay of clinical,
personality, and social psychological research (e.g., the
work of Ekman et al., 1987; Manstead & Fischer, 2001;
Scheff, 1990; Scherer, Schorr, & Johnstone, 2001, to
name a few), the advent of intergroup emotions theory
(Mackie, Devos, & Smith, 2000; Mackie, Silver, &
Smith, 2004; Smith, 1993) signaled increasing interest in
the contribution that group-based emotion can add to
the study of social phenomena, including prejudice and
discrimination (Brown & Hewstone, 2005; Smith, 1993),
social harmony and reconciliation (Nadler & Liviatan,
2006), and social and political action (e.g., Iyer, Schmader,
& Lickel, 2007; Leach, Iyer, & Pedersen, 2006; van
Zomeren, Spears, Leach, & Fischer, 2004; see earlier
contributions from relative deprivation theory, Runciman,
1966; Walker & Smith, 2002, for a review).
This article concentrates on a specific aspect implied
in the Jung quote above: the power of emotion to transform “apathy into movement.” More specifically, this
article explores the transformation of an advantaged
group’s apathy into movement to promote greater social
equality. Following Leach, Snider, and Iyer (2002), we
define advantaged groups as those “secure in their position, due to their greater size or control over resources”
(p. 137). Thus, the scope of this article is defined by,
first, a focus on group emotion and, second, a focus on
emotions that advantaged group members experience in
relation to other people’s deprivation. We argue that it
is in this situation of relative advantage that the power
Authors’ Note: The research has been supported in part by the
Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant No. DP0770731.
The authors wish to thank Galen Bodenhausen and two anonymous
reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this
article. Please address correspondence to Emma F. Thomas, Regulatory
Institutions Network, The Australian National University, Canberra,
ACT, 0200, Australia; e-mail: emma.thomas@anu.edu.au.
PSPR, Vol. 13 No. 4, November 2009 310-333
DOI: 10.1177/1088868309343290
© 2009 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
310
Thomas et al. / TRANSFORMING APATHY INTO MOVEMENT 311
of emotion to transform apathy to action is most profound—what Nietzsche (quoted in Leach et al., 2002)
called “poisoning the consciences of the fortunate” (p.
136). Accordingly, this article explores the various emotional reactions that advantaged groups can have to the
disadvantage of others and the potential for these discrete emotions to motivate efforts to achieve greater
social equality.
We draw on recent developments in the social identity literature that outline the ways that social group
memberships shape prosocial behavior (e.g., helping
and solidarity; Reicher, Cassidy, Wolpert, Hopkins, &
Levine, 2006) to provide a framework for understanding the various prosocial effects of group emotion.
Taking a social identity perspective (Tajfel & Turner,
1979; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell,
1987; Turner, Oakes, Haslam, & McGarty, 1994), we
explore the ways that social identities and emotion can,
in combination, profoundly inform perceivers about the
social context and shape their reaction to it. We argue
that such an approach can help to differentiate oftenconfused emotion labels (e.g., sympathy and empathy)
but also provide a useful way to distinguish between
different prosocial strategies (e.g., tokenism, helping,
solidarity, cooperation).
We begin our analysis by outlining the developme
nts in the social identity literature that detail the
underlying group processes responsible for producing
prosocial outcomes. In particular, Reicher et al. (2006)
have argued that there are three interrelated group
properties that are implicated in prosocial behavior.
We then go on to explore the ways that emotion may
theoretically shape these three prosocial group processes. In the next section, we move on to discuss the
possibility that prosocial emotions might usefully be
further classified on the basis of the sorts of social
strategies they promote. We draw on Wright and
Lubensky’s (2008) distinction between social cohesion
and social change strategies.
On the basis of these arguments, the main sections of
this article are underpinned by a framework that uses
Reicher et al.’s (2006) three categories to explore group
processes and emotion and Wright and Lubensky’s
(2008) two strategies to delineate prosocial emotion
outcomes. In particular, we provide an analysis of the
three prosocial emotions (guilt, sympathy, and outrage;
Montada & Schneider, 1989), structured in terms of the
etiology of the emotion; its implications for group processes (as relates to Reicher et al.’s, 2006, insights); and
the sorts of social strategy outcomes likely to emerge
(social cohesion or social change; Wright & Lubensky,
2008). We conclude with a discussion of implications
for existing research but also the implications for people
seeking to mobilize advantaged group members in support of positive social change.
SOCIAL IDENTITY AND GROUP EMOTION: A
DYNAMIC FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
What sorts of identity processes underpin prosocial
behavior? Let us note at the outset that we are using the
general term prosocial to cover a number of separate
behaviors including helping behavior, altruism, cooperation, and solidarity (Penner, Dovidio, Piliavin, & Schroeder,
2005; Schroeder, Penner, Dovidio, & Piliavin, 1995).
These prosocial strategies will be differentiated throughout the article—indeed, it is one of the key purposes of
the article—but at this point, let us generalize across
them and explore the psychological underpinnings that
are generally understood to motivate an advantaged
group to help, assist, and otherwise take action on
behalf of members of another disadvantaged group. The
social identity approach (Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Turner
et al., 1987) suggests that there are three core processes
that underpin prosocial group behavior: category inclusion, category norms, and category interests. Reicher et
al. (2006) crystallized these three elements into their
social identity model of helping (see also Reicher,
Hopkins, Levine, & Rath, 2005).
The first, category inclusion, is a cognitive perceptual
process that relates to the location of (inter)group
boundaries. A wealth of evidence now supports the assertion, derived from the social identity perspective, that
people will take action to support in-group members and
that this can manifest in intergroup helping (Levine &
Thompson, 2004; Reicher et al., 2006), political solidarity (Subašic´, Reynolds, & Turner, 2008), cooperation
between groups (Gaertner, Dovidio, Anastasio, Bachman,
& Rust, 1993), and even bystander emergency intervention (Levine, Cassidy, Brazier, & Reicher, 2002; Levine,
Prosser, Evans, & Reicher, 2005). In Reicher et al.’s
(2006) social identity model of helping, the first element
relates to the need for a meaningful superordinate categorization to be available, such that advantaged and
disadvantaged can be included in a common in-group.
In a similar vein, Subašic´ et al.’s (2008) recent model of
political solidarity emphasizes a shared identity meaning with the minority group (and not the authority) as
underpinning support for, and solidarity with, a disadvantaged minority.
The second element, category norms, relates to the
rhetorical meaning associated with the group, as evidenced by the group norms. When an identity is salient,
people will behave in line with group norms that prescribe
312 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
appropriate and normative forms of action (Jetten,
McAuliffe, Hornsey, & Hogg, 2006; Jetten, Spears, &
Manstead, 1997; Terry & Hogg, 1996). Reicher et al.
(2006) argue that the group norms must promote helping. Their analysis of documents used to mobilize support of Bulgarian Jews during World War II demonstrated
the ways that the category norms for the Bulgarian identity prescribed support for a persecuted people.
The final element, category interests, relates to the
strategic concerns that accompany helping behavior. In
particular, Reicher et al. (2006) suggest that helping is
more likely to come about when in-group interests (e.g.,
maintenance of a positive in-group identity) are served
by helping. Thus, in the WWII era documents, identity
concerns were represented such that the Bulgarian ingroup would be threatened by not helping. Other
research has shown that group members can engage in
helping behavior to strategically improve the group’s
stereotype (Hopkins et al., 2007) and/or restore a
threatened identity (van Leeuwen, 2007).
Overall, Reicher and colleagues argue that effective
categories will be those that are able to include everyone
whom one is seeking to mobilize (category inclusion)
but also those categories that have the resources to
render normative the actions one is advocating (category norms) and represent the strategic reasons for
doing so (category interests). However, the social identity approach also emphasizes the fluid, dynamic, and
constructed nature of social identity (Onorato & Turner,
2004). Other work by Reicher, Haslam, and colleagues
(e.g., Reicher, 1996, 2004; Reicher, Haslam, & Hopkins,
2005) has highlighted the ways that social identities are
contested by group members, yielding a continual process of identity construction, reconstruction, and transformation through consensus (see also Postmes, Haslam,
& Swaab, 2005; Postmes, Spears, Lee, & Novak, 2005).
Put another way, the category inclusion, category norms,
and category interest elements discussed by Reicher and
colleagues are also dynamic, contestable, changeable,
and fundamentally shaped through processes of argumentation and consensualization among group members (Reicher et al., 2006). Building on these insights, in
this article we explore the ways that emotions can powerfully shape the social identity processes outlined by
Reicher et al. (2006) and others (Hopkins et al., 2007;
Levine et al., 2005; Subašic´ et al., 2008; van Leeuwen,
2007). We argue that exploring the synergies between
group emotion, and the sorts of identity processes outlined above would contribute much to our understanding of prosocial group behavior.
For group emotion to contribute usefully to our understanding of the dynamic processes of identity construction, reconstruction, and transformation, it is necessary
to have a dynamic theory of group emotion. Indeed, the
existing literature on social identity and group emotion
suggests that the causal relationships between the two
are likely to be bidirectional, dynamic, and complex
(Kessler & Hollbach, 2005; Smith & Mackie, 2006).
Consistent with these points, Baumeister, Vohs, DeWall,
and Zhang (2007) have emphasized the role of anticipation, reevaluation, and reconstruction in the emotion
process, whereas Smith and Mackie (2006) have discussed the ways that group members can, over time,
disengage with groups that elicit negative group emotions. Let us briefly discuss this literature, toward further clarifying the dynamic causal properties of social
identity and group emotion.
On one hand, group emotion is often theoretically
understood as stemming from the straightforward appr
aisal process elaborated in intergroup emotion theory,
where appraisal based on a group (social) self leads to
group emotion, which leads to group action (Mackie
et al., 2000; Smith, 1993). Similarly, in the recently
articulated social identity model of collective action
(SIMCA; van Zomeren, Postmes, & Spears, 2008),
these authors causally place a salient social identity
before the experience of emotional reactions to injustice
(group emotion). Figure 1a depicts the simple causal
model where a salient social identity leads to congruent
group emotions, which then shape particular action
strategies. This is group-based emotion, as it is traditionally defined and understood (Iyer & Leach, 2008;
Smith, Seger, & Mackie, 2007), where social identities
are (partially) enacted through an emotion pathway
(van Zomeren et al., 2008).
On the other hand, we argue that it is also useful to
explore the ways that emotions can equally give rise to
social group memberships and/or inform group norms.
Indeed, recent evidence suggests that social identities
can be actively created by group members based on
shared cognition (where shared cognition refers to shared
knowledge structures; Swaab, Postmes, van Beest, &
Spears, 2007). In a similar vein, Peters and Kashima
(2007) have described the ways that the social sharing
of emotion can create links among people and foster a
shared understanding of the world. This shared understanding can be used to coordinate social interaction
within a group but also action between groups (Leach
& Tiedens, 2004; Peters & Kashima, 2007; Smith et al.,
2007). Figure 1b depicts this simple causal model where
emotion can form the basis for an effective social category, which then motivates social action. Given that we
propose that group formation can stem from emotional
experience, it seems likely that perception is personalized, or individuated, in this context (which is different
from how group emotion is traditionally defined and
Thomas et al. / TRANSFORMING APATHY INTO MOVEMENT 313
1a: salient social self (social identity) gives rise to group emotion.
Social
Identity
Group
Emotion
Social
Action
1b: recognition of shared emotion precipitates group formation.
(Individual)
Emotion
Social
Identity
Social
Action
Figure 1 A dynamic causal model of social identity and group emotion.
NOTE: In everyday social interaction, the two processes would be
interactive.
understood; Iyer & Leach, 2008). That is, the emotion
is initially experienced at an individual level, but the recognition that others share the emotion forms the basis for
group formation (see Peters & Kashima, 2007). We further
articulate some of the implications of this causal order
below where we consider how group emotion might
shape the processes outlined by Reicher et al. (2006).
Thus, on the basis of the available literature, both
causal orderings seem likely and plausible in the everyday
social context of group emotion and identity. Consistent
with these points, Kessler and Hollbach (2005) emphasized the bidirectionality of causal links between emotion and identification. Elsewhere (Thomas, McGarty,
& Mavor, 2009), we have argued that these elements
are best seen as part of a dynamic system of interrelations, where causal ordering will vary over time and
depending on social context. In particular, we argued
that a shared group membership can give rise to, or
facilitate, the experience of group emotion and other
action-relevant beliefs (as in Figure 1a; see Mackie et al.,
2000; van Zomeren et al., 2008), as may be the case in
established, historical social groups, but that, similarly,
those emotional experiences can also trigger psychological group formation and subsequently become
encapsulated in “what it means” to be a group member
(Turner, 1991), as may be the case of incipient, emergent social groups (Figure 1b). Such ideas are also
broadly consistent with recent developments exploring
the role of individuality within the group, which have
emphasized the ways that individuality can shape emergent groups (as in Figure 1b) and groups shape individuals (as in Figure 1a) (Postmes, Haslam, & Swaab,
2005; Postmes & Jetten, 2006). Thus, incorporating
these different causal orderings is consistent with the
dynamic, iterative, transformational, and constructed
nature of social identity described above.
Given these points, what are the ways that group
emotion can contribute to our understanding of the
three interrelated processes outlined by Reicher et al.
(2006)? We argue that the experience of emotion can
fundamentally inform the perceiver about the social
context by (a) providing a basis on which to categorize
in-group members or out-group members based on
whether the emotion is shared or not; (b) informing the
content, and relational meaning, of the identity; and
(c) shaping the ways that group members take strategic
action. These are the three general processes considered
most important in the work outlined above on social
identity and helping (Reicher et al., 2006). Let us consider each of these points in more detail.
Category Inclusion
With regard to the first component, category inclusion, we argue that advantaged groups’ emotions have
the potential to shape and restructure (inter)group
boundaries. For example, experiencing feelings of fear
in relation to another person is unlikely to lead to a
categorization of that person as an in-group member;
the very fact that someone elicits a fearful reaction is
indicative of a different worldview and antagonistic
relationship (Bar-Tal, 2001; Turner, 2005). Conversely,
experiencing the same emotion is more likely to give rise
to a perception of the other person as an in-group member (see Peters & Kashima’s, 2007, work on emotion
sharing; Swaab et al., 2007). Extending on this point,
we argue that some emotions have the potential to
traverse ostensible intergroup boundaries. Because emotions can assist in creating a shared worldview and uniting previously separate groups in coordinated social
action (Peters & Kashima, 2007), then it follows that
emotions that can be experienced by both the advantaged and the disadvantaged are likely to be more successful at motivating genuine attempts to create intergroup
equality and cooperation.
Category Norms
Emotions can also inform group members about the
reasons for, and context of, disadvantage and, in doing
so, can powerfully shape normative considerations
(the second component). For example, group guilt is
understood to be accompanied by appraisals of ingroup responsibility (Branscombe, Doosje, & McGarty,
2002). To the extent that perceptions of in-group
responsibility become embodied in the group membership (in relation to the disadvantage suffered by the
other group), then this emotion is likely to inform
norms for specific sorts of action. The idea that an
emotional reaction can inform relational meaning, or
normative content, of an identity is contained in the
arguments of Stürmer, Simon, and Klandermans (Simon
& Klandermans, 2001; Stürmer & Simon, in press).
314 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
These authors argue that anger plays a powerful role
in politicizing a social identity, transforming the identity such that it is more ready for social action. Thus,
to the extent that anger becomes normatively engaged
with the identity, this will engender particular sorts of
normative action (usually surrounding political
action).
There also is converging evidence that it may be fruitful to explore emotions as normative processes themselves (Smith et al., 2007; Tarrant, Dazeley, & Cottom,
in press; Thomas & McGarty, 2009). In other words, it
is possible that the emotion overall will shape group
memberships both directly (by shaping behavior norms)
and indirectly (by shaping emotion norms).
Category Interests
Finally, related to the points above, emotions will
shape the sorts of strategies that group members prefer
(category interests), in particular depending on where
the emotion implies that blame lies (one of the key
appraisal components; Lazarus, 1991). Emotions will
also inform the perceiver about the (group) self-relevant
strategic dimensions to the inequality. For example, as
we will argue below, moral outrage is likely to make
strategic representations concerning the need to restore
a moral status quo, whereas empathy is likely to represent category interests based on a perceived interchangeability between self and other.
Nadler and Liviatan (2006) have also explored the
ways in which emotions themselves can be deployed
tactically, to aid in promoting intergroup cooperation,
reconciliation, or conflict. Thus, it seems that, just as
groups can be strategic about their behavior in the helping context (Hopkins et al., 2007; Reicher et al., 2006;
van Leeuwen, 2007), it can be beneficial for both the
intergroup relationship and the disadvantaged group in
particular if they can be equally tactical about the ways
they express themselves.
Overall, then, we argue that incorporating an understanding of group emotion has much to contribute to
our understanding of the dynamic social identity
processes and prosocial behavior outlined by Reicher
and colleagues. We acknowledge, though, that we are
far from the first to make such points; indeed, it was
similar arguments concerning the potential for emotion to usefully capture and differentiate group processes that motivated E. R. Smith, Mackie, and
colleagues (Mackie et al., 2000; Mackie et al., 2004;
Smith, 1993; Smith & Ho, 2002) to develop intergroup emotion theory in the first place. Rather, our
concern is that group emotion is sometimes explored
in rather static ways. Thus, our point is to reenergize
a focus on the ways in which emotions can shape and
reshape group boundaries and transform subjective
group memberships, to promote either action or apathy. We pursue these points with regard to prosocial
emotion and behavior.
THE PROSOCIAL EMOTIONS
Appraisal theory, on which intergroup emotion theory is based, makes it clear that emotional reactions are
premised on a basic process of appraising, or evaluating, features in the environment. For something to be
appraised, it must first be observed (Frijda, 1993;
Lazarus, 1991; Smith & Lazarus, 1993). However,
Leach et al. (2002) have explored the ways that members of advantaged groups can go to great lengths to
either minimize or completely ignore their own privilege. Only when the advantage is recognized, with the
associated emotion, is the potential for promoting social
equality greatest (Leach et al., 2002).
It is also clear that not all feelings of relative advantage will produce a reaction designed to overcome the
inequality and promote action to bring about positive
social change. For example, disdain is unlikely to motivate positive prosocial behavior (Leach et al., 2002).
Given the broad range of emotions that can be experienced in situations of relative advantage, Leach and colleagues (Leach et al., 2002), drawing on work by Montada
and Schneider (1989), differentiated four appraisal dimensions on which feelings of relative advantage might be
differentiated: the extent to which the advantaged are
focused on themselves (self) or on the disadvantaged
(other); the perceived legitimacy of the privilege; the perceived stability of the advantage; and the degree of perceived control that the advantaged have over their
position. Overall, the emotion that is experienced in the
face of relative advantage is a function of the structure
of the intergroup relations, along the four dimensions
(see also Harth, Kessler, & Leach, 2008).
In this work (Leach et al., 2002; Montada &
Schneider, 1989) and in that on interpersonal emotion
(Feather, 2006; Lazarus, 1991), there are understood to
be three primary prosocial emotions implicated in a
desire to help another: guilt, sympathy, and moral outrage. The first goal of this article is to provide a review
of what is known about each of these emotions in motivating positive group-level action. That is, what role
does each of these play in turning apathy into social
action on behalf of another group? We also expand the
analysis of these three prosocial emotions to include
two additional, related emotions that can also be associated with prosocial outcomes: empathy and (self-focused) anger. Thus, we argue that there are three general
categories of prosocial emotion: guilt; sympathy and
Thomas et al. / TRANSFORMING APATHY INTO MOVEMENT 315
empathy; and anger and outrage. Leach et al. (2002)
provided an overview of these emotions; however, the
subsequent proliferation of research on these emotions
makes an updated review timely.
As suggested, a second goal of this article is to explore
the ways that these same prosocial emotions might shape
and restructure intergroup boundaries, to produce different prosocial strategies to reduce inequality. Advantaged
groups can use a range of social strategies to “help” or
provide assistance to the disadvantaged; however, not
all of these are premised on a genuine desire to change
the status quo (Iyer, Leach, & Pedersen, 2004; Nadler,
2002; Nadler & Halabi, 2006; Wright & Lubensky,
2008; Wright, Taylor, & Moghaddam, 1990). Indeed,
Wright and Lubensky (2008; see also Wright, Kiu,
Semenya, & Comeau, 2008) explored the differences
between the collective action and prejudice reduction
literatures, arguing that the two traditions have resulted
in antithetical approaches to the question of addressing
social inequality. Wright and Lubensky (2008) broadly
differentiate the strategies preferred by the two literatures thus: “The prejudice reduction approach focuses
on themes of intergroup harmony and social cohesion. . . . The collective action perspective speaks in
terms of equality across groups, not harmony between
groups, and focuses on social justice” (p. 306). We draw
broadly on this critical distinction between approaches
that attempt to address inequalities by creating social
cohesion and those strategies that attempt to address
inequalities by achieving social justice and social change.
In this article, we are particularly interested in those
social strategies that are likely to bring about a change
in the social status of historically (or incidentally) disadvantaged groups. From our perspective, genuine social
change is about redressing social inequality at a group
level; thus, we are less interested in those approaches
that might elevate individuals of disadvantaged groups
(as in tokenism) but without changing the status of the
group as a whole.
Thus, we consider the ways in which the three categories of prosocial emotion act to (re)structure group
boundaries and shape group processes and the different
forms of prosocial strategies (broadly, social cohesion or
social change) that may result. Emotion that is shared
with others can create a shared understanding of the
world (Leach & Tiedens, 2004; Peters & Kashima,
2007). Accordingly, our key argument throughout is that
the most effective emotion (to mirror Reicher et al.’s,
2006, discussion of effective categories) is likely to be
one that (a) can be shared by both the advantaged and
disadvantaged, (b) will direct normative forms of social
and political action, and (c) strategically recognizes the
expertise and experience of both advantaged and disadvantaged groups. In other words, if the goal is genuine
social cooperation toward positive social change, rather
than top-down paternalistic assistance (Nadler, 2002;
Nadler & Halabi, 2006), it may be more fruitful to
explore emotions that both the advantaged and the disadvantaged groups can experience. In exploring this
proposition, we propose new ways of conceptualizing
the differences between two sets of often-confused emotions at a group level: sympathy and empathy; outrage
and anger.
Given these two goals, in what follows we will first
provide a review of the relevant literature relating to
group-based emotions: guilt, sympathy and empathy,
and anger and moral outrage, respectively. For each of
these emotions, we will then consider the ways that the
emotion might affect group boundaries, and the relational meaning of the social identities. We then conclude
by exploring the sorts of prosocial strategies that group
emotions seem likely to promote. Our overall analysis of
each of these emotions can be seen in Figure 2, which
depicts each of the prosocial emotions that are the focus
in this article, the ways that they shape group processes,
and the specific sorts of social strategies likely to
emerge. It also organizes each emotion under the Wright
and Lubensky (2008) social cohesion or social change
framework.
GUILT
Etiology
Broadly, guilt arises from internalized values about
right and wrong (Lazarus, 1991). At an individual
appraisal level, it centers around actions (or imagined
actions) that we regard as morally reprehensible and the
appraisal pattern is characterized by a moral transgression, for which there is blame to the self (Lazarus,
1991). Group-level guilt has been shown to be similar
in nature to individual-level guilt; however, the self that
has committed the transgression is a social self (see
Turner et al., 1994). Consistent with a group-level perspective of guilt, there is good evidence that people can
feel guilt based on their social group memberships
(Branscombe & Doosje, 2004).
Doosje et al. (1998, Study 1) used minimal groups to
show that it is possible to induce guilt in people even
though their personal self was not responsible for the
harm inflicted on another. There is a large literature on
the experience of guilt, in particular “White guilt,” in
relation to the historical mistreatment and continuing
inequality in the context of the White American treatment of African Americans (Iyer, Leach, & Crosby,
2003; Iyer et al., 2004; Swim & Miller, 1999), the
Dutch colonial treatment of Indonesians (Doosje et al.,
1998; Zebel, Doosje, & Spears, 2004), and the White
316 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
SOCIAL COHESION
GUILT
SOCIAL CHANGE
(SELF-FOCUSED) ANGER
Advantaged
group
Tokenism
Disadvantaged
group
Advantaged
group
Regulation
Disadvantaged
group
SYMPATHY
Advantaged
group
OUTRAGE
Paternalism
System, government,or third party
Disadvantaged
group
Social
and
political
action
EMPATHY
Advantaged
Disadvantaged
group
group
Cooperation
Figure 2
Disadvantaged
group
Advantaged
group
Solidarity
The prosocial emotions and group processes as a function of social cohesion or social change strategies.
Thomas et al. / TRANSFORMING APATHY INTO MOVEMENT 317
Australian mistreatment of Indigenous Australians
(Branscombe et al., 2002; Leach et al., 2006; McGarty
& Bliuc, 2004; McGarty et al., 2005; Pedersen, Beven,
Walker, & Griffiths, 2004). Furthermore, there is related
research on the atrocities committed against Jewish
people during the Second World War (Wohl &
Branscombe, 2004, 2005), the American and British
occupation of Iraq (Iyer et al., 2007), and gender inequality between men and women (Branscombe, 1998;
Schmitt, Branscombe, & Brehm, 2004; Schmitt,
Ellemers, & Branscombe, 2003).
What of cases where the group is not responsible for
the disadvantage of another group? People in developed
nations could hardly be held responsible for the disadvantage experienced by people in developing nations,
yet members of developed countries often report feeling
guilty about their advantage. Hoffman (1976) coined
the term existential guilt to describe the emotional experience of feeling guilty about mere, unearned advantages that one group has over another (see also Montada
& Schneider, 1989; Schmitt, Behner, Montada, Müller,
& Müller-Fohrbrodt, 2000).
Consistent with individual-level appraisal notions of
guilt, the experience of group-based guilt is characterized by three interrelated properties (Branscombe et al.,
2002; Iyer et al., 2004; McGarty et al., 2005). First, the
person must self-categorize as a member of a group that
has caused harm to another group. Second, the focus of
attention of guilt is on the self rather than the disadvantaged, that is, guilt will be experienced when the inequality is in-group focused and seen to be illegitimate
(Harth et al., 2008; Leach et al., 2002). Finally, guilt
motivates either avoidance or narrow attempts at restitution, mainly to assuage the advantaged group’s own
aversive state. Indeed, like personal guilt, there are at
least three ways that individuals can avoid the experience of group-based guilt: They can minimize the harm
that was done to the other group, question the appropriateness of guilt, and engage in argument about the
cost of apology (McGarty et al., 2005).
Group Processes and Outcomes
Given the etiology of guilt, it is likely that guilt will
maintain group boundaries between the disadvantaged
and advantaged, that is, because it is not possible for the
disadvantaged to feel guilt in relation to their own circumstances, guilt will effectively maintain an intergroup
context. The intergroup relationship associated with
guilt is depicted in Figure 2. The figure shows guilt
maintaining strong intergroup boundaries, but where
the advantaged group maintain their privileged status in
society (i.e., at the top). Thus, as far as the framework
provided by existing social identity models of helping
and solidarity (Reicher et al., 2006), guilt is missing one
of the key components (category inclusion) that is most
likely to promote effortful attempts to create genuine
social change.
This implies that the positive prosocial outcomes associated with guilt can be seen as an outcome of normative
considerations, vis-à-vis what is appropriate and consistent with the salient identity, or of strategic ones.
Indeed, Berndsen and Manstead (2007) have argued
that, rather than being an antecedent appraisal to guilt,
responsibility may actually be an outcome of the experience of guilt. To the extent that this guilt, and accompanying acceptance of responsibility, becomes associated
with the advantaged group membership, this is likely to
lead to forms of assistance motivated by group normative prescriptions related to “doing the right thing”
rather than genuine desires to achieve social equality.
Thus, we argue that guilt will be ill-equipped to challenge the existing social structure, and assistance will
inevitably flow in a top-down fashion (Figure 2).
Consistent with this analysis, group-based guilt has
been shown to be a useful, although limited, emotion in
motivating attempts to overcome intergroup inequality
or bring about collective action. Iyer et al. (2003) showed
that guilt associated with the unearned advantages
experienced by European Americans compared with
African Americans predicted the abstract goal of compensation but not affirmative action policies. Similarly,
McGarty et al. (2005) showed that guilt predicted apology to Indigenous Australians for historical mistreatment. Finally, Leach et al. (2006) showed that guilt is
associated with the abstract goal of compensation but
not at all associated with specific political actions designed
to redress injustice. Other work has shown only very
weak links with action designed to overcome inequality
(Harth et al., 2008) or no links at all with collective
action (Iyer et al., 2007). Thus, consistent with our
arguments above, it seems that guilt promotes apology
and compensation to the injured party (symbolic attempts
to reduce inequality) but does not form a platform for
ongoing opposition to inequality (Iyer et al., 2004;
Leach et al., 2006).
Iyer and colleagues have argued that because of its
conceptual self-focus, guilt will motivate often relatively
empty reparations in an attempt to stave off the unpleasant and aversive feelings that accompany guilt. Similarly,
Leach et al. (2006) have argued that its “dejected phenomenology and low action potential” (p. 1233) make
it a weak motivator of specific political actions. In an
interesting twist on these ideas, Schmitt and colleagues
(Schmitt et al., 2004; Schmitt, Miller, Branscombe, &
Brehm, 2008) showed that the relationship between collective guilt and taking action on behalf of a disadvantaged group, in this case women, was mediated by the
318 PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW
difficulty associated with making reparations. It was
found that, if the cost of making reparations was either
too easy or too difficult, then levels of group-based guilt
were low. That is, only when reparations are achievable
but moderate would levels of collective guilt be sufficient to promote action. Consistent with these findings,
recent work by Berndsen and McGarty (in press) found
perceived difficulty of making reparations for historical
harm and that this relationship was mediated by the
experience of group-based guilt. When reparations were
seen as impossible, group-based guilt levels were low.
This speaks to the idea that actions must be sufficiently,
but not substantially, effortful to alleviate guilt. In so
much as guilt can be understood to motivate action only
under very specific circumstances (that is, when the
required action is moderately effortful), these findings
also provide further insight into the work of Iyer, Leach,
and colleagues, who have found that guilt is associated
with the abstract goal of compensation (arguably a
moderate response to social inequality) and/or no action
at all (if the context of the inequality is such that change
is too difficult).
Overall, then, guilt seems to be associated with a social
cohesion approach, in general, and tokenism, as outlined
by Wright and colleagues (Wright et al., 1990), more
specifically. Because guilt maintains group boundaries
and the advantaged group generally has greater control
over resources, any prosocial outcomes may be largely
symbolic (Iyer et al., 2004) and may even serve to entrench
the subordination of the disadvantaged (as per Wright &
Lubensky, 2008; Wright & Taylor, 1998), while simultaneously relieving the consciences of the advantaged.
SYMPATHY
Etiology
Sympathy has been defined as “heightened awareness
of another’s plight as something to be alleviated” (Wispé,
1986, p. 314). For Lazarus (1991), the core relational
theme for sympathy (or compassion, as he prefers to call
what we would term sympathy) involves “being moved
by another’s suffering and wanting to help” (p. 289). Its
appraisal pattern is characterized by a lack of self-involvement and an absence of blame for the plight (either
to ourselves or to the victim; Weiner, 1995). Similarly,
Feather’s work on the structural model of deservingness
(Feather, 2006; Feather & Nairn, 2005) suggests that
sympathy will occur when another person has suffered
an undeserved outcome (characterized by a positive
action and a negative outcome). Its key motivating
action tendency is to attempt to help the disadvantaged
and mitigate their suffering (Lazarus, 1991).
Consistent with this, sympathy has been implicated in
both interpersonal (Batson, 1991; Batson et al., 1988;
Betancourt, 1990; Dovidio, Schroeder, & Allen, 1990) and
intergroup prosocial behavior (Harth et al., 2008; Iyer et
al., 2003).1 More recent work by Batson and colleagues
(Batson, Chang, Orr, & Rowland, 2002; Batson et al.,
1997) increasingly blurs the interpersonal-intergroup
boundaries by exploring the effect of group memberships on sympathy and willingness to help. At a
group level, sympathy is conceptually understood to
have an other-focus in that it is based in a recognition
of the plight of the disadvantaged rather than the
person’s own distress at the situation, and it will arise
where there is an illegitimate but stable disadvantage
over which the victim has little control (Leach et al.,
2002). Harth et al. (2008) experimentally manipulated the structural conditions described by Leach et al.
(2002) and showed that sympathy was indeed incre
ased by a focus on the suffering group and an illegitimate inequality.
Group Processes and Outcomes
Given that sympathy is premised on an “other” focus
(that is, the suffering of the other group) but it is still
not possible for the disadvantaged themselves to share
in feelings of sympathy (such feelings would, instead, be
akin to self-pity), it is likely that sympathy will also
maintain group boundaries between the disadvantaged
and advantaged. The intergroup relationship that is
associated with sympathy is depicted in Figure 2, where
sympathy actively maintains group boundaries but also
the group status hierarchy (advantaged group stays at
the top, disadvantaged group stays at the bottom). Thus,
as far as the framework provided by social identity
processes outlined above (Reicher et al., 2006), sympathy is also missing one of the key components (category
inclusion) that is most likely to promote concerted
attempts to create genuine social change.
This suggests that the positive prosocial outcomes
associated with sympathy can be seen as an outcome of
normative considerations vis-à-vis what is appropriate
and consistent with the salient identity. The experience
of sympathy does not imply responsibility for the disadvantage in the ways that guilt does; rather, sympathy
simply recognizes that the disadvantage exists, that it is
illegitimate, and that the disadvantaged were not themselves responsible for their plight (Feather & Nairn,
2005; Leach et al., 2002). As such, it is likely that where
there are strong feelings of sympathy and this becomes
contextually embedded in a salient identity, this will
motivate a range of attempts to help. Consistent with
these points, Harth et al. (2008, Study 3) showed that
Thomas et al. / TRANSFORMING APATHY INTO MOVEMENT 319
group-based sympathy predicted support for equal
opportunity for an artificially created group, whereas
Iyer et al. (2003) showed that sympathetic emotion
motivates broad and concerted attempts to help disadvantaged Black Americans. Indeed, Iyer et al. (2003; see
also Iyer et al., 2004) have argued that the attentional
other-focus on the disadvantaged makes sympathy a
powerful motivator of prosocial behavior.
Recent work by Tarrant et al. (in press) has shown
the utility of directly invoking a sympathy in-group
emotion norm on prosocial behaviors. Note that their
research actually refers to empathy, but given that their
definition is more consistent with our conceptualization
of sympathy (see Note 1 and our arguments below), we
will review it briefly here. In particular, Tarrant et al.
showed that invoking a sympathy group norm by
informing participants that in-group members “typically respond to the experiences of other people with
high levels of compassion, tenderness and sympathy”
actively invoked feelings of sympathy among in-group
members and improved overall attitudes toward the
ostensible out-group. Tarrant et al.’s research, in particular combined with other evidence surrounding the utility
of outrage norms and prosocial behavior (Thomas &
McGarty, 2009), provides one clear instantiation of emotion norms to positively influence what Reicher et al.
(2006) would term the rhetorical meaning associated
with group memberships.
Despite the evidence that sympathy can promote
fruitful outcomes if it becomes contextually embedded
in an identity (Harth et al., 2008; Iyer et al., 2003), or
if a group emotion norm for sympathy is prescribed
(Tarrant et al., in press), it is likely that sympathy may
also have some limits in terms of its ability to motivate
genuine attempts to achieve greater social equality.
Specifically, given that there is still structural differentiation between groups (Figure 2), the assistance may
neglect to recognize the role and expertise of the disadvantaged group members they are seeking to help (a
recognition that would take place with genuine cooperation). In their political solidarity model of tripolar
intergroup power relations, Subašic´ et al. (2008) argue
that sympathy is likely to be an outcome where the
majority group has shared identity meaning with both
the (disadvantaged) minority group and the authority.
Under these conditions, the advantaged group has little
intention of challenging the authority (perhaps because
they meet other tactical majority group needs) but will
maintain feelings of sympathy for the disadvantaged
group. Put another way, they “feel sorry for them” but
are simultaneously committed to maintaining the status
quo. Consistent with these points, in the international
development context, Thomas (2005) showed that there were
high levels of sympathy in relation to the disadvantage
suffered by people in developing nations, but this was a
poor predictor of actual social and political action (see
also Schmitt et al., 2000).
Furthermore, because sympathy does not allocate
blame for the inequality (Leach et al., 2002), it is illequipped to direct group behavior in productive ways.
That is, cooperative social action to achieve equality
across groups involves directed, tactical behavior that
sympathy is unlikely to motivate. Given this overall
picture, we argue that sympathy is generally likely to be
associated with a social cohesion approach (Wright &
Lubensky, 2008) and, in some contexts, more specifically associated with top-down, paternalistic forms of
helping (as opposed to genuine cooperative efforts to
achieve social equality; see Figure 2). Nadler (2002;
Nadler & Halabi, 2006) has described the ways that
high status groups can use intergroup helping as a
method of maintaining social inequality. Nadler (2002)
distinguishes between autonomy-oriented help, which is
focused on providing recipients with tools to solve their
own problems and implies that the disadvantaged are
effective agents in overcoming their situation, and
dependency-oriented help, which provides recipients
with the full solution and implies that the disadvantaged are unable and incapable of contributing toward
solving their own problems. It is significant that Nadler
suggests that high status groups are more likely to provide dependency-oriented help when the disadvantage is
illegitimate, which, according to Leach et al. (2002), is
one of the antecedents of group sympathy. Overall,
Nadler’s (2002; Nadler & Halabi, 2006) analysis highlights the complexities involved in intergroup helping,
in particular where those in-group boundaries are maintained (as with sympathy) and are strongly meaningful
to the groups involved.
EMPATHY
Etiology
Sympathy and empathy are easy to confuse. Conceptually
differentiating sympathy from empathy and compassi...
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