Group Membership and Social Identities in a Formative Intervention in a Mexican Hospital

Area of Science:

• Organizational Psychology
• Sociolinguistics
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Formative intervention is a participatory methodology for organizational change.
• It involves interactive dialogue between researchers and participants to examine work practices and foster innovation.
• Understanding the discursive strategies employed by researchers is crucial for effective intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how researchers sustain organizational change through discursive strategies in formative interventions.
• To examine the use of the collective pronoun "we" as a membership categorization device.
• To understand the rhetorical and pragmatical aims of using "we" in a Mexican hospital setting.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of transcripts from videotaped sessions of formative intervention meetings.
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis focusing on the use of the collective pronoun "we".
• Examination of "we" as a membership categorization device for rhetorical and pragmatical purposes.

Main Results:

• Researchers strategically deploy "we" to question the need for intervention, engage participants, and introduce innovations.
• The use of "we" effectively signals group membership and social identity.
• This linguistic strategy supports collaboration, participant involvement, and the creation of common ground.

Conclusions:

• Strategic use of membership categorization devices, particularly "we", enhances researcher effectiveness in formative interventions.
• Informed application of these devices can increase the success of organizational change initiatives.
• This study highlights the power of language in facilitating dialogue and innovation within organizations.