Abstract

The present study examined a moderated mediation model that stipulates an interaction of the two subcomponents of social identity uncertainty (identity-uncertainty and membership-uncertainty) and individuals’ self-construal in predicting ingroup identification (i.e., national identification), which in turn predicts intention to leave the ingroup (i.e., South Korea). We surveyed a total of 121 South Korean undergraduates and found that identity-uncertainty predicts the exit intention via ingroup identification only among individuals with an independent self-construal. By contrast, no significant relationships were found when the model included membership-uncertainty as a predictor. Implications of these findings and directions for future research on social identity uncertainty are discussed.