Embedded Intergroup Relations Theory,
Membership in a group plays a crucial role in influencing how individuals experience themselves and the development of those experiences. According to the Embedded Intergroup Relations Theory, group membership influence how an individual behaves, or feels towards themselves and others both consciously and unconsciously (Springer, 2012). This theory provides an analysis of the five properties that govern intergroup relations, which include leadership behavior, cognitive formations, affective formations, power differences, and group boundaries.
Two groups in a Christian educational institution include the management and the students. This division in groups falls under the organizational group where members of each position are thought to share the same roles and position of authority, among other elements. Group boundaries between the two groups determine their membership (Springer, 2012). Boundaries could be either physical, such departmental separation, types of uniforms won, and the building where members work, or psychological such as level of experience. Besides, power differences dictate the relationship between these two groups since it is a factor of resource input. The more the resources a group has, the more the power (Ozen et al., 2016). As such, between the two groups, the management has more power and authority over the students.
The affective patterns are characterized by negative and positive feelings in relation to the members in the in-group and out-groups (Ozen et al., 2016). In reference to the groups mentioned above, members in the student group will highlight positive feelings to their group and negative feelings to the management group, and vice versa. Besides, leadership behavior dictates the permeability to a group. How the leaders in the student and management group behave dictates how members will either join or not. The cognitive formations of the group are dictated by the boundaries, leadership behavior, power difference, and affective patterns (Springer, 2012).
References
Springer, J. (2012). The Primacy of Embedded Intergroup Relations Theory. Psyccritiques, 57(4). doi: 10.1037/a0024771
Ozen, S., Uysal, O., & Cakar, M. (2016). Seemingly embedded but obviously exploitative relations: Organizational contingencies of mutual dependence, power imbalance, and embedded relations. European Management Review, 13(1), 53-68. doi: 10.1111/emre.12066