Un nombre important d’individus subit des conséquences négatives en lien avec une appartenance à un groupe peu adapté socialement (p. ex., membre d’un gang de rue). Certains parviennent à mettre fin à cette identification, alors que d'autres n’y arrivent pas. Nous proposons que les individus qui réussissent le peuvent grâce à l’intégration d’une nouvelle identité, davantage adaptée, et conflictuelle avec leur identité d’origine. Dans ce mémoire, nous mettons de l’avant l’argument que lors de conflit identitaire majeur entre deux identités, le processus d’intégration identitaire est soustractif. Cinq sous hypothèses ont été testées lors de deux études effectuées avec des participants vivant un conflit identitaire majeur. Un niveau élevé de conflit identitaire prédit un faible niveau d’identification envers l’identité au statut le moins élevé (hypothèse 1). Un lien prédictif est postulé entre le statut perçu d’une identité et le niveau d’identification à cette identité (hypothèse 2). Un niveau d’intégration identitaire élevé de la nouvelle identité prédit un faible niveau d’identification envers l’identité au statut le moins élevé (hypothèse 3). Un niveau d’intégration identitaire élevé de la nouvelle identité prédit un faible niveau de déviance (étude 1) et d’alcoolisme (étude 2) (hypothèse 4). Finalement, un niveau d’intégration identitaire élevé de la nouvelle identité prédit un niveau de bien-être élevé (hypothèse 5). Les résultats de la première étude (N=42), effectuée sur un échantillon de jeunes filles placées en Centre Jeunesse, vont dans le sens des hypothèses 2 et 3. Les résultats de la deuxième étude (N=28), effectuée sur un échantillon d’individus membres des Alcooliques Anonymes, vont dans le sens des hypothèses 2 et 5. / An important number of individuals suffer from negative consequences associated with a negative social identity (i.e., members of street gangs). A number of them are able to get rid of that identity, whereas others continue to belong to a negative group. We theorize that individuals who no longer identify to a negative group are those who integrate a pro-social identity, in conflict with their original identity. In this thesis, we bring forward the argument that in the presence of a strong identity conflict between two identities; the identity integration process follows a subtractive pattern. In order to support this statement, the five following sub-hypotheses have been tested: a high level of identity conflict predicts a low level of identification towards the identity with a perceived lower status (hypothesis 1). The status attributed to an identity predicts of the level of identification toward that identity (hypothesis 2). A high level of identity integration of the new identity predicts a low level of identification towards the identity with the perceived lower status (hypothesis 3). A high level of identity integration of the new identity predicts a low level of deviance (study 1) and alcoholism (study 2) (hypothesis 4). Finally, a high level of identity integration of the new identity predicts a high level of well-being (hypothesis 5). Results from the first study (N=42), conducted on a sample of young girls placed in a rehabilitation center, support hypothesis 2 and 3 whereas results from study 2 (N=28), conducted on a sample of individuals member of Alcoholics Anonymous, support hypotheses 2 and 5.

This thesis is a contribution to the formalisation of the notion of an agent within the class of finite multivariate Markov chains. In accordance with the literature agents are are seen as entities that act, perceive, and are goaldirected. We present a new measure that can be used to identify entities (called i-entities). The intuition behind this is that entities are spatiotemporal patterns for which every part makes every other part more probable. The measure, complete local integration (CLI), is formally investigated within the more general setting of Bayesian networks. It is based on the specific local integration (SLI) which is measured with respect to a partition. CLI is the minimum value of SLI over all partitions. Upper bounds are constructively proven and a possible lower bound is proposed. We also prove a theorem that shows that completely locally integrated spatiotemporal patterns occur as blocks in specific partitions of the global trajectory. Conversely we can identify partitions of global trajectories for which every block is completely locally integrated. These global partitions are the finest partitions that achieve a SLI less or equal to their own SLI. We also establish the transformation behaviour of SLI under permutations of the nodes in the Bayesian network. We then go on to present three conditions on general definitions of entities. These are most prominently not fulfilled by sets of random variables i.e. the perception-action loop, which is often used to model agents, is too restrictive a setting. We instead propose that any general entity definition should in effect specify a subset of the set of all spatiotemporal patterns of a given multivariate Markov chain. Any such definition will then define what we call an entity set. The set of all completely locally integrated spatiotemporal patterns is one example of such a set. Importantly the perception-action loop also naturally induces such an entity set. We then propose formal definitions of actions and perceptions for arbitrary entity sets. We show that these are generalisations of notions defined for the perception-action loop by plugging the entity-set of the perception-action loop into our definitions. We also clearly state the properties that general entity-sets have but the perception-action loop entity set does not. This elucidates in what way we are generalising the perception-action loop. Finally we look at some very simple examples of bivariate Markov chains. We present the disintegration hierarchy, explain it via symmetries, and calculate the i-entities. Then we apply our definitions of perception and action to these i-entities.

L’intégration identitaire, la perception de compatibilité, de complémentarité et de cohérence entre les différentes identités d’un individu, est associée à un plus grand ajustement psychologique. Selon le modèle cognitif développemental de l’intégration des identités sociales (MCDIIS), la création de liens cognitifs entre les identités et le regroupement de celles-ci dans des identités supraordinales seraient les principaux mécanismes derrière l’intégration. Le présent programme de recherche propose de définir et d’investiguer empiriquement les processus cognitifs derrière l’intégration identitaire. Suivant les modèles connexionnistes et bayésiens de la cognition, il est proposé que l’apprentissage d’associations et de catégories explique les processus d’intégration identitaire. En effet, selon les modèles connexionnistes, la perception de similarités entre les identités et l’exposition simultanée à celles-ci favorise la création de liens cognitifs. De plus, les modèles bayésiens de la catégorisation suggèrent que les représentations des identités supraordinales se complexifient avec le temps et l'expérience, passant d'une représentation prototypique à une représentation par exemplaires. Les représentations par exemplaires étant plus flexibles, celles-ci devraient être associées à plus d'intégration. Trois articles destinés à tester ces hypothèses sont présentés. Le premier article vise à déterminer si des liens cognitifs sont établis entre les identités intégrées. Le second article vise à déterminer la plausibilité des mécanismes cognitifs de façon corrélationnelle. Le troisième et dernier article étudie le rôle des représentations de l'identité de l'exogroupe et des identités supraordinales dans l'intégration. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats des études présentées dans les articles suggèrent que les mécanismes proposés par le MCDIIS sont plausibles. / Identity integration, the perception of compatibility, complementarity and coherence between an individual's different identities, is associated with greater psychological adjustment. According to the Cognitive Developmental Model of Social Identity Integration (CDMSII), the creation of cognitive links between identities and the grouping of identities into supraordinal identities are the main mechanisms behind integration. The present research programme proposes to define and empirically investigate the cognitive processes behind identity integration. Following connectionist and Bayesian models of cognition, it is proposed that association and category learning explain identity integration processes. Indeed, according to connectionist models, the perception of similarities between identities and the simultaneous exposure to them promotes the creation of cognitive links. Moreover, Bayesian models of categorization suggest that the representation of supraordinal identities become more complex with time and experience, going from a prototypîcal representation to a representation by exemplars. As representations by exemplars are more flexible, they should be associated with more integration. Three papers designed to test these hypotheses are presented. The first paper investigates whether cognitive links are established between integrated identities. The second paper investigates the plausibility of cognitive mechanisms in a correlational manner. The third and final paper examines the role of representations of exogroup identity and supraordinal identities in integration. Overall, the results of the studies presented in the papers suggest that the mechanisms proposed by the CDMSII are plausible.

Globalisation, technological advancements and changing social needs result in virtual work arrangements becoming more prominent. Virtual work is conducted away from the traditional office setting and usually occurs in employees’ personal home environments. Virtual work has been called virtualling in this study, and virtual employees are referred to as virtuallers. A phenomenological orientation was adopted in studying completely virtual workers in a completely virtual context; sourcing of participants and data collection were also conducted completely virtually. This study presented new ways of conducting research in the modern, virtual world of work. An autoethnography was included, as the researcher is also a virtualler and insider of virtualling. Four key case studies are presented to provide a holistic picture of virtualling and virtuallers. Thematic results indicate key influencing factors that originate from virtualling, as well as factors and mindset requirements that pertain to the virtualler personally. It was further found and proposed that the resulting virtual environment changes virtuallers’ ways of doing things and viewing the world, hence results in changes in their lifestyle and career identity. The abstract psychological structure as it resulted from the thread of meanings was presented as virtualness. Authentic psychological identification with virtualling and adopting a boundarylessness employability mindset oriented towards psychological success are highlighted as key requirements in order to experience virtualness. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / MCOM (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Les changements dramatiques sont fréquents dans la vie moderne. Néanmoins, l’étude des effets des changements dramatiques sur l’identité est lacunaire. Premièrement, aucune recherche ne démontre que le changement social dramatique a un effet négatif sur la clarté de l’identité culturelle, soit la capacité de l’individu à identifier avec certitude et de manière stable les caractéristiques de son groupe culturel (Usborne & Taylor, 2010). Deuxièmement, il n’a jamais été proposé que le changement personnel dramatique affecte négativement la clarté de l’identité personnelle (la capacité d’un individu à identifier avec certitude et de manière stable les caractéristiques de son identité personnelle; Campbell, 1990). Finalement, aucun mécanisme psychologique expliquant comment l’individu confronté à de tels changements peut renouer avec une identité claire n’a été proposé dans la littérature sur le changement social dramatique ou celle sur le changement personnel dramatique. La présente thèse répond à ces trois lacunes en 1) montrant que le changement social dramatique a un effet négatif sur la clarté de l’identité culturelle, 2) exposant que le changement personnel dramatique réduit la clarté de l’identité personnelle, et 3) exposant que l’intégration du changement dramatique à l’identité permet de clarifier l’identité. Pour répondre à ces trois objectifs, cinq études ont été exécutées et sont séparées en trois articles. Le premier article investigue les effets du changement social dramatique sur la clarté de l’identité culturelle à travers deux études expérimentales. Dans la première étude, l’indépendance du Québec est manipulée à titre de changement social dramatique alors que dans la seconde un retour à des rôles sexuels traditionnels est utilisé. Les résultats deux des études indiquent que le changement social dramatique a un effet négatif sur la clarté de l’identité culturelle. iii Le second article, qui comporte deux études, examine l’effet du changement dramatique personnel sur la clarté de l’identité personnelle ainsi que le rôle de l’intégration du changement personnel dramatique à l’identité sur la relation entre le changement personnel dramatique et la clarté de l’identité personnelle. Dans la première étude, un scénario d’immigration forcée est manipulé à titre de changement personnel dramatique. Les résultats de cette étude indiquent que le changement personnel dramatique a un effet négatif sur la clarté de l’identité personnelle. La seconde étude utilise un devis longitudinal afin de montrer que l’intégration du changement personnel dramatique à l’identité personnelle clarifie l’identité personnelle. Les résultats indiquent que les participants qui ont davantage intégré à leur identité personnelle le fait qu’ils sont des étudiants universitaires possèdent une identité personnelle plus claire que ceux qui ont moins intégré ce changement à leur identité. Le troisième article a pour but de montrer que l’intégration du changement social dramatique à l’identité culturelle augmente la clarté de l’identité culturelle. Pour y parvenir, le changement social dramatique (retour à des rôles sexuels traditionnels) et l’intégration de ce changement sont manipulés expérimentalement. Les résultats indiquent que la manipulation visant à favoriser l’intégration du changement n’a pas augmenté l’intégration du changement à l’identité et n’a pas augmenté la clarté de l’identité culturelle. / Dramatic changes, whether personal or social, are common in modern societies. Nevertheless, the effects of dramatic change on identity are understudied. Specifically, three important questions have yet to be answered. First, the negative impacts that dramatic social changes have on identity clarity, that capacity that individuals have to define the characteristics of their cultural group with certainty and consistency (Usborne & Taylor, 2010), have yet to be established. Second, the negative impacts that dramatic personal changes have on personal identity clarity, defined as the individual’s capacity to confidently and consistently identify the characteristics of his personal identity (Campbell, 1990), are still undetermined. Finally, nor the dramatic social change nor the dramatic personal change literature suggest a psychological mechanism explaining how an individual confronted to such changes may renew with a clear identity. The present thesis answers these three limitations by 1) showing that dramatic social change has a negative effect on cultural identity clarity, 2) exposing the negative effect of dramatic personal change on personal identity clarity, and 3) exposing that integrating the dramatic change to one’s identity helps to clarify this identity. To answer to these limitations, five studies were conducted and are reported in three articles. The first article investigate dramatic social change effects on cultural identity clarity in two experimental studies. In the first study, Québec’s independence is manipulated as a dramatic social change while the return to traditional gender role manipulates social change in the second study. The results of both studies demonstrate that dramatic social change decreases cultural identity clarity. v The second article, composed of two studies, focuses on dramatic personal changes. Specifically, the decrease of personal identity clarity following a dramatic personal change is shown. Furthermore, the role that integrating the dramatic personal change has on clarifying one’s personal identity following a dramatic personal change is brought to light. In the first study, a forced immigration scenario is manipulated as a dramatic personal change. The second study utilises a longitudinal design to show that integrating a dramatic personal change to personal identity clarifies personal identity. Results indicate that participants who integrated more to their personal identity the fact that they were university students possess a clearer personal identity than those who integrated that change to a lesser extent. The goal of the third article is to exhibit that integrating a dramatic social change to cultural identity strengthens cultural identity clarity. To achieve this goal, a dramatic social change (return to traditional gender roles) and the integration of the change are experimentally manipulated. Results show that the manipulation aimed at favoring the integration of the dramatic social change did not favor the integration of the change to the participants’ social identity and hence did not increase cultural identity clarity.

Globalisation, technological advancements and changing social needs result in virtual work arrangements becoming more prominent. Virtual work is conducted away from the traditional office setting and usually occurs in employees’ personal home environments. Virtual work has been called virtualling in this study, and virtual employees are referred to as virtuallers. A phenomenological orientation was adopted in studying completely virtual workers in a completely virtual context; sourcing of participants and data collection were also conducted completely virtually. This study presented new ways of conducting research in the modern, virtual world of work. An autoethnography was included, as the researcher is also a virtualler and insider of virtualling. Four key case studies are presented to provide a holistic picture of virtualling and virtuallers. Thematic results indicate key influencing factors that originate from virtualling, as well as factors and mindset requirements that pertain to the virtualler personally. It was further found and proposed that the resulting virtual environment changes virtuallers’ ways of doing things and viewing the world, hence results in changes in their lifestyle and career identity. The abstract psychological structure as it resulted from the thread of meanings was presented as virtualness. Authentic psychological identification with virtualling and adopting a boundarylessness employability mindset oriented towards psychological success are highlighted as key requirements in order to experience virtualness. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.Comm. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

The research problem of this thesis is to explore the effects of top-down, bureaucratic definitions of belonging and social identity on urban social relations. More specifically, the thesis analyses the ways in which the nativist categorisations of indigeneity in Kano and autochtonie in Amsterdam can help to understand the tensions between ethnic groups in these two cities. Methodologically, the study is designed as a least-similar, comparative exploration and uses mixed qualitative and quantitative methods in its case studies of Kano and Amsterdam. Theoretically, this study uses identity cleavages and identification as the mediators between policy categories and social relations. It combines social-psychological, historical, and institutional theories to link bureaucratic nativism to ethnic identities and, finally, to conflictual (or ‘destructive’) interethnic relations. The resulting theoretical argument of the thesis is that nativist policy categorisations are likely conducive to antagonism, avoidance, and conflict between groups defined as ‘natives’ and ‘settlers’. The central finding of the thesis is that both in Kano and in Amsterdam, indigeneity and autochtonie have entrenched a primordial and competitive (or ‘exclusionary’) notion of ethnic identities and have thus been conducive to interethnic antagonism, avoidance, and conflict. Introduced at a time of rapid immigration, social change, and persistent horizontal inequalities, the two top-down policy categories came to redefine urban belonging in Kano and Amsterdam. As a result, previously apolitical ethnic boundaries between ‘natives’ and ‘settlers’ became politicised, connected to exclusionary definitions of religion and class, and ranked on the basis of their claim to a primordial ‘native’ status - that is, their status as historical ‘first-comers’ in their place of residence. The categorisation and group positioning effects of nativism have, therefore, intensified the urban struggle to belong in Kano and Amsterdam. At the same time, however, the thesis underlines that ethnic conflict in Kano and Amsterdam is limited, partly because nativist forms of belonging are continuously challenged by, for example, inclusive multiculturalism in Kano and urban citizenship in Amsterdam.

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