How we empowers me: the availability of agentic ingroups elevates group-based control perceptions following threat

Group-based control theory assumes that people can restore a sense of control by membership in agentic groups and engaging in group-based action. We present first systematic evidence for successful group-based control restoration: In three experiments (n = 475), we manipulated the salience of low vs. high personal control and whether an agentic ingroup was salient or not. Across experiments, salient low (vs. high) personal control resulted in elevated estimates of control on the collective level when an agentic ingroup was salient (vs. no agentic group salient). Also, salient ingroup agency resulted in elevated collective control perceptions only when low, but not when high, personal control was salient. In line with predictions of group-based control theory, people restored their sense of control through their social self when an opportunity for group-based control restoration was provided.