Contact Details:
Telephone: (+44)(1382) 384628
Email: Fabio Sani
Postal Address:
School of Psychology
The University of Dundee
Dundee
DD1 4HN
Scotland, UK
Fabio Sani is professor of social psychology in the School of Psychology. His research - which has been mainly funded by the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) - concerns the interplay between the self and group processes. At present, he is investigating the health implications of group identification. Fabio is the author of four books and more than fourty articles published in top international journals.
A major insight of the ‘social identity’ approach (Tajfel & Turner, 1986; Turner et al., 1987) is that subjective group identification (i.e., one's sense of belonging to a social group and of commonality with other group members), increases adherence to group norms and standards, and facilitates mutual influence, cooperation and mutual support among group members.
For many years I have investigated the developmental aspects of group identification, and the implications of group identification for schismatic processes. At present, I am focussing on the relationship between group identification and the perception of groups as temporally persistent entities, and on the effects of group identification on both mental and physical health.
A question I have tried to address over the last decade, in collaboration with Mark Bennett (University of Dundee), is that of when subjective identification with relevant groups (e.g., the family, the gender group) emerge in children, and how flexible and context-sensitive is the perception of these ingroups. We have addressed these and other related questions using a variety of research methods, ranging from controlled laboratory experiments to content analysis of verbal material. Our results suggest that subjective identification with particular social groups - operationalised either as (i) self-stereotyping in terms of the normative behaviours and traits of the group or as (ii) cognitive confusion between self and ingroup - emerges between 5 and 7 years of age. Also, we have found that conceptions of ingroup identity vary as a function of the intergroup, comparative context. For instance, when describing the ingroup, 'boys' are more likely to draw attention to being 'brave' and 'tough' when the cognitively salient outgroup is 'girls', but 'loud' and 'talkative when the salient outgroup is 'grown up men'.
A line of research that I have carried out since my PhD, in collaboration with Steve Reicher (University of St. Andrews) first and then with other colleagues, is to do with the role played by social identity in the genesis and development of schisms in social groups. Why do groups fall apart? What does lead a subgroup to secede from the parent group and form a new, breakaway group? My research - which is based on both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of real groups (e.g., the Italian Communist Party, the Church of England) - has revealed that social identity occupies a central role in the dynamics of schism. More precisely, at the basis of a schism there is normally an argument about the nature of the relationship between a change (i.e, either the adoption of a new norm or the revision of an old norm) and the group identity. Group members may either feel that the change is consistent with the group identity, or that it implies a radical subversion of the group identity, a denial of its ‘true’, deep, historically grounded essence. Those who perceive identity subversion tend to experience negative emotions, perceive group disunity, and lessen their identification with the group. Schism will then constitute an option to escape from painful affect and from a group with which they feel increasingly alienated.
Identification with a group often implies a sense that this group has temporal endurance, a sense that the group is an entity that moves through time. What are the dimensions of this 'perceived collective continuity' (PCC)? How does it relate to central aspects of social identity? What are the implications of PCC for one’s sense of well-being and mental health? And what are its psychological functions? Over the last few years I have developed a research program aimed at addressing these issues, in collaboration with Mhairi Bowe (University of Nottingham Trent) and Marina Herrera (University of Valencia). We have found that PCC comprises two main dimensions - one concerning continuity of beliefs, values, customs and traditions ('cultural' continuity), and one related with the perception that different events and ages in the history of the group are causally interconnected ('historical' continuity). We have also found that PCC is positively correlated with group-related cognitions, emotions, and behavioural intentions (e.g., ‘group identification’, ‘collective self-esteem’, and ‘collective action’), and with well-being indicators (especially social integration). Concerning psychological functions, our laboratory has produced experimental evidence that death-related thoughts lead people to enhance group identification because this affords a sense of collective continuity, which constitutes a form of symbolic immortality and therefore shields people for death-anxiety.
Recently I have started a research program on the effects of group identification on various health and well-being dimensions. A number of preliminary studies have confirmed - in line with work conducted by other social identity researchers (e.g., Alex Haslam and Cath Haslam from Exeter University, Jolanda Jetten from University of Queensland) that the stronger one's identification with a group the better his or her mental and physical health. For instance, in a sample of Spanish and Scottish people, my colleagues (Marina Herrera and Mhairi Bowe) and I have found that those who are more strongly identified with their family are less depressed, more satisfied with life, and experience less physical pain. I have also studied a group of guards working in an Italian prison, in collaboration with Maria Elena Magrin and Marta Scrignaro (both at the University of Milan Bicocca), and found that the guards who are more strongly identified with the group have lower levels of psychiatric disturbance and stress, and higher levels of job satisfaction.
Self and Identity
Social identity; Group processes; Schisms; Self-continuity; Well-being and Mental Health.
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Research
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| F. Sani, (principal investigator), M. Norbury & P. Lockhart. Group identification and health: A longitudinal and cross-national investigation. ESRC; Ref.: ES/I038349/1. (Start and end dates: 01/11/11 - 31/08/15). £504,000. |
| Sani, F. - Perceiving collective continuity: Social psychological implications. ESRC Fellowship; Ref.: RES-000-27-0185. (Start and end dates: 01/09/05 - 31/08/08). £ 166,530. |
| Sani, F. - Perceived group historical continuity: A cross-cultural investigation. ESRC research grant; Ref.: RES-000-22-0738. (Start and end dates: 30/06/04 – 31/07/05). £ 46,925. Research rating: Outstanding. |
| Sani, F. & Bennett, M. - The ingroup becomes part of the self: The genesis of children's sense of "we". ESRC research grant; Ref.: RES-000-22-0494. (Start and end dates: 01/08/04 - 31/07/05). £ 35,085. Research rating: Outstanding. |
| Reicher, S., Cassidy, C., Sani, F. & Cronin, P. - Social immersion lab for the Tay Social Psychology Group. ESRC grant for research lab construction; Ref.: RES-474-25-0015. (Start and end dates: 01/11/03 - 31/10/05). £ 150,411. |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. - A developmental investigation of stereotype variability. ESRC research grant; Ref.: RES-000-22-0203. (Start and end dates: 01/11/03 - 31/07/04). £ 28,126. Research rating: Good. |
| Sani, F. - Extending the social psychological model of schisms in social groups. British Academy research grant; Ref.: SG-35625. (Start and end dates: 01/03/03 - 31/08/03). £. 4,890. |
| Sani, F. & Bennett, M. - Developmental aspects of social identity. ESRC research grant; Ref.: R000223776. (Start and end dates: 01/08/02 - 31/10/03). £ 42,661. Research rating: Outstanding. |
| Sani, F. - An empirical testing of a social psychological model of schisms within social groups. British Academy research grant; Ref.: SG-30189. (Start and end dates: 01/05/00 - 30/09/00). £ 2,510. |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. - Developmental aspects of the process of social categorization. ESRC research grant; Ref.: R000222801. (Start and end dates: 30/04/99 - 31/05/00). £ 35,296. Research rating: Outstanding. |
| Barrett, M., Bennett, M., Sani, F., et al. - The Development of National, Ethnolinguistic and Religious Identity in Children and Adolescents Living in the NIS. EC INTAS research grant; Ref.: INTAS 97 - 1363. (Starting and end dates: 01/12/98 - 30/11/01). 80,000 ECUs. |
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Publications
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| Bennett, M., & Sani, F. (2011). The internalization of group identities in childhood. Psychological Studies, 56, 117-124. | |
| Sani, F., Magrin, M. E., Scrignaro, M., & McCollum, R. (2010). Ingroup identification mediates the effects of subjective ingroup status on mental health. British Journal of Social Psychology, 49, 883-893. | |
| Svirydzenka, N., Sani, F., & Bennett, M. (2010). Group entitativity and its perceptual antecedents in varieties of groups: A developmental perspective. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 611-624. | |
| Herrera, M., Sani, F., & Bowe, M. (2010). Percepción de continuidad e identificación grupal: implicaciones para el bienestar social. Revista de Psicologia Social, 25, 203-214. | |
| Sani, F., & Bennett, M. (2009). Children's inclusion of the group in the self: evidence from a self-ingroup confusion paradigm. Developmental Psychology, 45, 503-510. | |
| Sani, F., Herrera, M., & Bowe, M. (2009). Perceived collective continuity and ingroup identification as defence against death awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 242-245. | |
| Sani, F. & Pugliese A. C. (2008). In the name of Mussolini: Explaining the schism in an Italian right-wing political party. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 12, 242-253. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2008). Children's subjective identification with social groups: A group-reference effect approach. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 26, 381-387. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2008). Social identities in childhood: When does the group become a part of the self-concept? Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 1281-1296. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2008). Children’s subjective identification with social groups: A self-stereotyping approach. Developmental Science, 11, 69-78. | |
| Sani, F., Bowe, M., & Herrera., M. (2008). Perceived collective continuity and social well-being: Exploring the connections. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 365-374. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2008). The effect of comparative context upon stereotype content: Children’s judgments of ingroup behaviour. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 141-146. | |
| Sani, F. (2008). Schism in groups: A social psychological account. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 718-732. | |
| Sani, F., Bowe, M., Herrera, M., Manna, C., Cossa, T., Miao, X., Zhou, Y. (2007). Perceived collective continuity: Seeing groups as entities that move through time. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 1118-1134. | |
| Sani, F. (2007). Alcune proposte per intensificare il dialogo tra la psicologia sociale italiana e quella internazionale. Psicologia Sociale, 2: 17-19. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2006). Contextual variation in stereotype content: An investigation of children’s central tendency and group variability judgments. Social Development, 15, 692-708. | |
| Sani, F. (2005). When subgroups secede: Extending and refining the social psychological model of schisms in groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31:1074-1086. | |
| Sani, F., Todman, J. & Lunn, J. (2005). The fundamentality of group principles, and perceived group entitativity. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41: 567-573. | |
| Sani, F., Bennett, M. & Soutar, A. U. (2005). The ecological validity of "Who said What?" technique: An examination of the role of self-involvment, cognitive interference and acquaintanceship. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 46: 83-90. | |
| Sani, F. (2004). Approccio dell'identità sociale e teoria dell'interdipendenza del destino: È davvero necessaria la loro integrazione? Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 21: 69-74. | |
| Sani, F., Bennett, M., Mullally, S. & McPherson, J. (2003). On the assumption of fixity in children's stereotypes: A reappraisal. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21: 113-124. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2003). The role of target gender and race in children's encoding of category-neutral person information. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 21: 99-112. | |
| Sani, F. & Todman, J. (2002). Should we stay or should we go? A social psychological model of schisms within groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28: 1647-1655. | |
| Sani, F. & Bennett, M. (2001). Contextual variability in young children's gender ingroup stereotype. Social Development, 10: 221-229. | |
| Sani, F. & Thomson, L. (2001). We are what we wear: The emergence of consensus in stereotypes of students and managers' dressing style. Social Behaviour and Personality, 29: 695-700. | |
| Todman, J., Sani, F. & Reicher, S. (2001). Testing hypotheses about structural change in social psychology. Social Psychological Review, 3:27-33. | |
| Bennett, M., Sani, F., Hopkins, N., Agostini, L. & Malucchi, L. (2000). Children's gender categorisation: an investigation of automatic processing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18: 97-102. | |
| Sani, F., Bennett, M., Agostini, L., Malucchi & L., Ferguson, N. (2000). Children's conception of characteristic features of category members. Journal of Social Psychology, 140: 227-239. | |
| Sani, F. & Reicher, S. (2000). Contested Identities and Schisms in Groups: Opposing the ordination of women as priests in the Church of England. British Journal of Social Psychology, 39: 95-112. | |
| Sani, F. & Reicher, S. (1999). Identity, argument and schism: two longitudinal studies of the split in the Church of England over the ordination of women to the priesthood. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2: 279-300. | |
| Bennett, M., Lyons, E., Sani, F. & Barrett, M. (1998). Children's subjective identification with the group and ingroup favouritism. Developmental Psychology, 34: 902-909. | |
| Reicher, S. & Sani, F. (1998). Introducing SAGA: Structural Analysis of Group Arguments. Group Dynamics: Research, Theory and Practice, 2: 267-284. | |
| Sani, F. & Reicher, S. (1998). When consensus fails: an analysis of the schism within the Italian Communist Party (1991). European Journal of Social Psychology, 28: 623-645. | |
| Eiser, J. R., Eiser, C., Sani, F., Sell, L. & Casas, R. M. (1995). Skin cancer attitudes: a cross-national comparison. British Journal of Social Psychology, 34: 23-30. | |
Books |
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Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (Eds.) (2004). |
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Sani, F. & Todman, J. (2006). |
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| Sani, F. (Ed.) (2008). Self-continuity: Individual and collective perspectives. New York: Psychology Press. |  |
| Myers, D. G., Abell, J., Kolstad, A., & Sani, F. (2010). Social Psychology: A European perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill. |  |
Book Chapters |
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| Sani, F. (2012). Group identification, social relationships, and health. In J. Jetten, C. Haslam, & S. A. Haslam (Eds.), The social cure: Identity, health, and well-being (pp. 21-37). New York: Psychology Press. | |
| Sani, F. (2009). When subgroups secede: A social psychological model of factionalism and schism in groups. In F. Butera & J. Levine (Eds.), Coping with minority status: Responses to exclusion and inclusion (pp. 243–266). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | |
| Sani, F., Bowe, M., & Herrera, M. (2008). Perceived collective continuity: Seeing groups as temporally enduring entities. In F. Sani (Ed.). Self-continuity: Individual and collective perspectives (pp. 159-172). New York: Psychology Press. | |
| Sani, F. (2008). Introduction and overview. In F. Sani (Ed.). Self-continuity: Individual and collective perspectives (pp. 1-10). New York: Psychology Press. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2008). Children’s subjective identification with social groups. In S. R. Levy & M. Killen (Eds.), Intergroup attitudes and relations in childhood through adulthood (pp. 19-31). Oxford: Oxford University Press. | |
| Barrett, M., Arcuri, L., Bennett, M., Bombi, A. S., de Rosa, A., del Valle, A., Garagozov, R., Giménez de la Peña, A., Kipiani, G., Lyons, E., Pavlenko, V., Reizábal, L., Riazanova, T., Sani, F., Valencia, J., & Vila, I. (2007). Children’s knowledge, beliefs and feelings about the people who belong to different national groups. In M. Barrett (Ed.), Children’s knowledge, beliefs and feelings about nations and national groups. Hove: Psychology Press. | |
| Barrett, M., Arcuri, L., Bennett, M., Berti, A. E., Bombi, A. S., Castelli, L., de Rosa, A., del Valle, A., Garagozov, R., Giménez de la Peña, A., Kacharava, T., Kipiani, G., Lyons, E., Pavlenko, V., Reizábal, L., Riazanova, T., Sani, F., Valencia, J., & Vila, I. (2007). The development of children’s subjective identifications with their own nation state. In M. Barrett (Ed.), Children’s knowledge, beliefs and feelings about nations and national groups. Hove: Psychology Press. | |
| Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (2004). Introduction: Children and social identity. In M. Bennett & F. Sani (Eds.). The development of the social self. Hove: Psychology Press. | |
| Sani, F. & Bennett, M. (2004). Developmental aspects of social identity. In M. Bennett & F. Sani (Eds.). The development of the social self. Hove: Psychology Press. | |
Laurea in Pedagogy, Florence, Italy
M.Sc. Social Psychology, London School of Economics, UK
Ph.D. Psychology, Exeter, UK
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