Study title

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between shared social identity and the transmission of behaviour via observation alone. The study used a 1x3 design (In-group/Out-group/undefined) in which participants watched a video of actors scratching various body parts and their scratching responses were measured using a video recorder and a self report questionnaire. There were no significant main effects of condition on shared identity, self-reported itchiness, time to first scratch, number of scratches, duration of scratches of average scratch duration. However, there were significant differences between IG and OG (planned contrasts) for shared identity and self-relevance but no significant differences between IG and OG (planned contrasts) for self-reported itchiness and the behavioural data. Using only IG/OG participants, there was a significant indirect effect for Condition (IG/OG) - Shared Identity - Self-reported Itchiness - Number of Scratches (serial mediation using PROCESS v3). There were no significant moderation effects of Identity strength between Condition (IG/OG) and Shared identity or any of the scratching variables. This study is part of a series of studies that contributes to the understanding of the process of ‘passive’ social influence, in which the level of social identification with the behavioural target impacts the spread of behaviour, rather than ‘mere exposure’, a concept that has been so widely adopted in the past. Research into ‘contagion’ has been applied to a range of different behaviours. However, the failure to explain the apparent group-boundaries present in ‘passive’ social influence invites an explanation for behaviours incorporating social identification.How and why do behaviours spread from person to person? In particular, how does aggression and violent behaviour spread? When, as in 2011, riots began in London, why did they then occur in Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool? One of the most common ways of addressing such...