Who belongs in our community and who doesn't? The influence of collective concerns on judgments of inclusion and exclusion

In social interactions, people tend to form groups and to maintain the groups' boundaries. The delineation of boundaries is important because it influences decisions about the distribution of both material and social goods. The group functions model is developed as a conceptual framework for examining the factors that influence judgments of inclusion and exclusion (i.e., who we want to include within the group and what goods we are willing to extend to them). The model proposes that group members make decisions about who to include or exclude based on their beliefs about the impact those individuals would have on the achievement of important collective goals. The influence of two such goals is examined: upholding important community norms (identity maintenance goal) and establishing a mutually beneficial resource exchange relationship (utility goal). The general premise of the group functions model is supported in three experiments in which members of an organized community were asked to make judgments of inclusion and exclusion about a target group. Results across all three experiments indicate that such judgments are shaped primarily by concerns about maintaining a desired, collective identity. Furthermore, results from the third experiment show that the relationship between the expressed norms of the target group and specific judgments of inclusion and exclusion was stronger among those who perceived threat to the community than among those who did not perceive threat to the community. This pattern of findings suggests that those who perceived collective threat were more sensitive to the consequences of inclusion and exclusion for the functioning of the group. The nature of the construct of inclusion-exclusion is also explored. Findings from Studies 1 and 2 suggest that inclusion-exclusion is a multidimensional construct comprised of judgments about sharing resources, applying procedural protections to others, and treating others with fairness, dignity and respect. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.