Social Identity Theory and its Impact on People’s Reactions to Petrol Queue Jumping Essay Abstract This study aimed to investigate whether the social identity theory applies when it comes to peoples’ reactions to petrol queue jumping. It intended to ascertain whether participants demonstrated more reaction to those who jump queues, outside their own in-group (those who drive luxurious cars as opposed to non-luxurious car drivers). This study was influenced by a similar experiment conducted by Helweg-Larsen LoMonaco (2008) about queuing among U2 fans and their reactions to queue jumping. The experiment involved 49 participants who indicated they didn’t drive a luxury car, in a Melbourne metropolitan petrol queue, 26 of whom were males, aged 18-58 years (M =33:82; SD = 11. 26), in addition to this there were 23 females, aged 18-61 years (M =33.11; SD = 11.26). A questionnaire was utilized which included basic information as well as strength of identification with other drivers. Assessment of how upset queue jumping made them feel on a scale of 1-7 was also utilised.
