‘Them and Us’: Social Psychology and ‘The New Industrial Relations’

Abstract This article sets out to examine the impact of ‘new industrial relations’ techniques on worker attitudes to management and to worker‐management relations. We found 17 case studies of share schemes, profit‐sharing, quality circles and autonomous work‐groups which reported relevant evidence on worker attitudes. Although workers often welcome new industrial relations techniques, there is very little evidence of any impact on ‘them and us’ attitudes. Drawing on social‐psychological theories of attitude change, the persistence of ‘them and us’ attitudes can be explained by the ways in which new industrial relations techniques have been implemented and managed in organisations. Workers have often lacked choice over participation in new schemes; there has been a lack of trust between the parties involved, together with inequality in status and benefits and a lack of institutional support for the schemes among senior management. It is argued that these conditions explain the failure of new organisational initiatives to bring about changes in ‘them and us’ attitudes.