The Mobile-individuals’ Performance And Group Status Influence Attitudes Of Leaders In Receive-group: A Mediating Role Of Perceived Similarity

In recent years,there has been a significant increase in cross-regional mobility and migration within China,leading to challenges for individuals in integrating into new social groups.This phenomenon has drawn attention from researchers in the field of social psychology.Previous studies have mainly focused on the impact of perceived rejection or acceptance on the mental health of mobile individuals,from their own perspective.However,group integration is a two-way interaction process,and the role and perception of the acceptors also play a crucial role in determining the outcome of group integration.Therefore,examining the group integration process from the perspective of the acceptors can complement the previous research and consider the importance of both group information and individualized information in attitude formation.This study employed measurement and experimental methods to investigate the impact of the original group status and individual performance of mobile individuals on the acceptance attitudes of the acceptors,while also considering the role of the identity of the acceptors and its perception similarity towards mobile individuals.In Study 1,we used a situational experimental method to recruit 107 college students as participants and measured their acceptance attitudes towards mobile individuals in the context of exchange students,a scenario familiar to college students.The study examined the impact of group information(original group status)and individualized information(individual performance)of mobile individuals on acceptance attitudes.The results showed that both the original group status and individual performance of mobile individuals had a significant impact on acceptance attitudes.The accepting group demonstrated the most positive acceptance attitude towards mobile individuals with high original group status and excellent individual performance.However,when there was a conflict between original group status and individual performance,the accepting group showed greater acceptance towards mobile individuals with excellent individual performance but low original group status,compared to those with high original group status but average individual performance.In Study 2,we further explored the impact of the role of the acceptors(whether the acceptors were leaders or not)on their acceptance attitudes towards mobile individuals.Two sub-studies recruited 204 college students and 189 workers as participants,respectively.The situational experiments designed for the two sub-studies were exchange student and employee communication scenarios,and the study manipulated the participants’ identities as leaders or non-leaders through situation imagination.Building on the results of Study 1,both sub-studies found that the role of the acceptors significantly affected their acceptance attitudes towards mobile individuals from high-status groups.Leaders showed greater acceptance towards mobile individuals from high-status groups than non-leaders.Study 3 further explored the mechanism by which the role of the acceptors affects their acceptance attitudes towards mobile individuals,specifically the role of perceived similarity of the acceptors towards mobile individuals.Study 3A recruited338 workers as participants,added a measurement of perceived similarity based on the experimental design of Study 2,and the mediation analysis found that perceived similarity played a mediating role in the impact of the role of the acceptors on acceptance attitudes.Compared to non-leaders,leaders perceived greater similarity towards mobile individuals from high-status groups,leading to more positive acceptance attitudes.Study 3B recruited 407 workers as participants,used an experimental priming method to manipulate perceived similarity and further validated the causal relationship between perceived similarity,the role of the acceptors,and their acceptance attitudes towards mobile individuals.Overall,this study provides a comprehensive understanding of the group integration process from the perspective of the acceptors,which complements previous research on the topic.The findings suggest that although the role of the acceptor affects acceptance attitudes towards mobile individuals from high-status groups through perceived similarity,individualized information on mobile individuals may be more important than group information in attitude formation..Future research can explore the boundary conditions that influence people’s acceptance attitudes and improve the understanding of group mobility or integration process from the perspective of the acceptor,so as to construct a more comprehensive theoretical system of group integration.