Social Identity Theory

 Acronym

SIT

Alternate name(s)

NA

Main dependent construct(s)/factor(s)

Social Identity, Personal Identity

Main independent construct(s)/factor(s)

Social Categorization, Social Identification, Social Comparison

Concise description of theory

Social identity theory is a conceptualization recognizing that the way we perceive others and ourselves on both our unique characteristics and our membership in various groups. It also compares the other individual to other individual groups to help them to define exactly who they are actually. The theory was proposed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner in 1970’s and 1980’s through which they explained the intergroup behavior. There are two identities.

a)Personal Identity: Its bout the person characteristics which can be the person appearance personality. E.g. Hight of person, Weight of the person, etc. b)Social Identity: It is basically talked about the group the person belongs to, such as a citizen of a particular country, student of a particular university, etc.

So to understand the Social Identity Theory we need to understand the three mental processes involved in it so that we can evaluate it properly. That are social categorization, social identification, and social comparison.

1)Social Categorization: It is the process of classifying people into a group based on similar characteristics. In this categorization, there are further two more groups that are ingroup and out-group. In-group is defined as a group in which people come up with the same interest or identity, and opposite to that out-group are those people who do not belong to a specific in-group. 2)Social Identification: It is basically accepting as self-descriptive the qualities attributed to one’s group, e.g. a doctor will behave like a doctor and help the patient. 3)Social Comparison: It is evaluated by ourselves or our own group by comparing it with others, in the absence of objective measure for self-evaluation we compare ourselves to others to find out how we are actually doing the comparison.

Importance of social identity theory

This theory identifies themselves in terms of their characteristics and their own group membership to prevent stereotypes and discriminating against others. Some of the key extension and development of the social identity approach focus on contextual factors that can affect the silence and strategy expression of identity theory. The identity is transformed and radicalized through collective struggle and the importance of emotion to group identity and group life.

Diagram/schematic of theory

NA

Originating author(s)

Henri Tajfel, John Turner

Seminal articles

Tajfel, H. (1974). Social identity and intergroup behaviour. Information (International Social Science Council), 13(2), 65-93.

Tajfel, H. E. (1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. Academic Press.

Ashforth, B. E., & Mael, F. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of management review, 14(1), 20-39.

Turner, J. C., & Tajfel, H. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. Psychology of intergroup relations, 5, 7-24.

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behaviour. u: Worchel S. i Austin WG (ur.) Psychology of intergroup relations. Chicago: Nelson Hall.

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