“Small but mighty”: Conditions for prototypicality claims in pre-merged minority organisations. Editor’s Note This work in progress report (WiP) was developed by the 2014–2015 cohort of the Junior Researcher Programme (JRP), a service supported by the European Federation of Psychology Students’ Associations (EFPSA). During the course of the JRP calendar, the six research groups that are initiated via the European Summer School submit the WiPs of their research to the Journal of European Psy- chology Students (JEPS). The WiPs are short methodology papers that outline steps undertaken by research groups in developing and carrying out a research project in the context of low-resource, independent, student-driven, cross-cultural research. The WiPs are submitted prior to project completion to enable the authors to improve their research according to the comments resulting from the peer-review process. WiPs also support the dissemination of methods used by student-driven, independent research projects, with the hope of informing others carrying out such work. The 2014–2015 cohort was inducted into the JRP at the European Summer School 2014, held in Vorarlberg, Austria. Background Intergroup relations largely influence the success of a corporate merger and/or acquisition (M&A) (Giessner, Ullrich, & van Dick, 2012). Merger partners often have asymmetrical group relations (majority vs. minority sta- tus), and minorities may perceive themselves as inferior (e.g., Butera & Levine, 2009), constraining their influ- ence. Identification with the post-merger organisation is vital for ensuring employee cooperation (Richter, West, van Dick, & Dawson, 2006). Thus, this research aims to examine factors that promote representativeness of the low-status minority merger partner in such asymmetric environments, because it is very important for post-merger identification that employees perceive identity continuity in the post-merged organisation (van Knippenberg, van Knippenberg, Monden, & Lima, 2002). Conditions for minority merger partners to perceive themselves as prototypical (i.e., representative) of the post-merger organisation will be tested, applying the Ingroup Projection Model (Wenzel, Mummendey, & Waldzus, 2007). Ingroup projection occurs when two or more groups compare themselves within a common superordinate category (SC). The model describes a ten- dency to generalise ingroup attributes onto the overall SC WORK IN PROGRESS REPORT ”Small but Mighty”: Conditions for Prototypicality Claims Within Low-Status Merger Partners Ivan Gorski * , Sylwia Jarosz † , Eithne Kavanagh ‡ , Anna-Maria Kersting § , Pavel Kounov ‖ , Katarina Veličković ¶ and Miriam Rosa ** Mergers and acquisitions often exhibit asymmetric group structure and dynamics. Minority (low-status) merger partners frequently perceive themselves as less prototypical of the new organisation, potentially hindering corporate development. This research examines three variables – morality, indispensability, and merger patterns, which may infuence prototypicality perceptions in minority merger partners. In respec - tive online-based surveys, each of the variables is experimentally manipulated via scenarios and percep- tions of relative ingroup prototypicality and indicators of merger support are measured as dependent variables. Ultimately, the aim of the studies is to give an insight into minority perceptions and suggest better practices for human resource management. Keywords: minority; prototypicality; morality; indispensability; merger patterns * University of Zagreb, Croatia ivan.gorski@hotmail.com † University of Lodz, Poland s_ jarosz@wp.pl ‡ Trinity College Dublin, Ireland eikavana@tcd.ie § University of Salzburg, Austria am.kersting@yahoo.de ‖ University of Glasgow, United Kingdom p.kounov@gmail.com ¶ University of Belgrade, Serbia katarinavelickovic16@gmail.com ** Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), CIS-IUL, Portugal miriam.rosa@iscte.pt Corresponding author: Eithne Kavanagh Gorski, I. et al (2015). ”Small but Mighty”: Conditions for Prototypicality Claims Within Low-Status Merger Partners. Journal of European Psychology Students, 6(2), 70–74, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/jeps.cy journal of european psychology students efpsa