Age of Champions and the Social Identity Theory Stephanie Brodwater Shelby Spiwak Madison Suhr Missouri State University Abstract In our society, older adults are deemed inactive and socially withdrawn. However, in the documentary, Age of Champions, the older adults are competing in the National Senior Olympics, defying all stereotypes that are associated with older adults. There are 11 older adults that constitute the participants of this study. These participants align themselves with a different social identity than the stigmas that society gives them, such as being unable to compete in sports. In this study, research about social identity theory from various authors is compared to the lives of the participants in the documentary, …show more content…
Social identity theory is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s) (Harwood, 2007). “In social identity theory and identity theory, the self is reflexive in that it can take itself as an object and can categorize, classify, or name itself in particular ways in relation to other social categories or classification” (Stets & Burke, 2000). The social identity theory has been known to let individuals find their own niche and group that they want to belong to. This could include what the individuals are active in or involved in. Research has also found that the groups that they classify themselves in can cause the participants to look down upon other groups that they are not involved in (Harwood, 2007). Negative attitudes are more of a complex issue, but interesting ideas come from explanations that emerge for social identity theory (Harwood, …show more content…
Older adults can transition themselves into groups at their living facility or at a community center, which improves the likelihood of becoming a part of a group. After becoming a part of a group, the individual will feel a certain identity that pertains to that specific group. Communication skills will then begin to improve over time and they will communicate more often when they are in their social group or talking about their social
Tajfel (1979) states that pride and self-esteem were things people gained from belonging to a group. The theory is based on how cognitive process influence people to group things together. In-groups are groups you identify yourself with, and out-groups are groups you do not identify with, and may discriminate against. The theory suggests that we increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudiced views against the out group, there are three stages involved, the first stage is categorization, this is the process of categorizing objects or interests in order to understand them and identify with them, the second stage is social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have feel like we belong to and begin to fulfil a role within that group, the final stage is social comparison, this is the tendency to compare your group with other groups, to maintain your high self-esteem and minimum prejudice and discrimination, the comparisons need to favour your group. Group membership is a real part of a person and some need it more than others (McLeod, 2008).
In his often cited essay, “The Formation of In-Groups,” Gordon Allport offers his theory on how the groups with which one identifies directly influence the development of one’s individual identity. An “in-group” is a group where members share common traits such as societal status, religion, values or sexual orientation. All the members are alike in some way and that similarity unites them as a group. Allport suggests that one belongs to many in-groups throughout his or her lifetime. Individuals are born into some in-groups, such as one’s family, race or socio-economic level; this Allport terms as an “ascribed status”. People also obtain “achieved status” in a group such as one’s circle
The social identity theory (SIT) was proposed by Taifel and later on established by Taifel and Turner (1971) to better understand the intergroup relations and group processes. The SIT is based on the assumption that people may try to improve their self-image by trying to boost their self-esteem, based on either personal or social identities that may be caused by either in-groups or out-groups. Several studies have investigated the social identity theory, including experiments such as the Tajfel (1970), Howarth (2002), and Cialdini et al. (1976). These studies show how they have demonstrated the minimal group model created by in-group bias; investigated the tendency to associate one’s self publicly with successful others; and showed how social representations of where you live can affect the social identity juvenile girls. This essay will evaluate the strengths and limitations of the social identity theory by using the studies above.
(Steele, 1997) It is a general phenomenon – standard predicament of life – that springs from
People are always making judgements on who a person is just by looking at someone. They take in what that person looks like and starts to make judgements on who he or she is. In “Who am I and What am I Going to do with my Life? Personal and Collective Identities as Motivators of Action”, Jacquelynne Eccles explains her view on a person’s identity: “I am defining collective identities as those personally valued parts of the self that serve to strengthen one’s ties to highly valued social groups and relationships—such as one’s gender, race, religion, social class, culture and family” (web). She believes that these characteristics listed above are what make up a person’s identity and those make an impact on what people will look at to make judgements on that particular person.
While there are many theories within the Social Work/Gerontology discipline that is relevant to this topic, the one theory that seems most relevant is Activity Theory. Activity Theory argues that older people continue to benefit society as well as themselves when they continue to be active as they age. The theory argues that a senior’s positive perception
The social identity theory is a theory developed by Henry Tajfel, in which Tajfel believes that who we are socially determines how many positive feelings we have towards ourselves. Basically, if we like where we stand socially, then we will like who we are and display happiness. In this theory, Tajfel labels the “in group” and the “out group” and says that we will always compare our “in group” to another’s “out group.” By comparing these groups, we develop a better personal view on ourselves (King, 2009). A big factor of the social identity theory is that the groups will tend to critique the differences of the groups, and overlook the similarities. A modern day example of the social identity theory would be your everyday high school cheerleaders versus band members. The cheerleaders think of themselves as the queen bees of the school,
Conclusion: The study Demonstrated that people seek a positive social identity and that their social identity is affected by being a part of their group so that you are more positive towards anything that your own group represents.
Social identity theory proposed by Tajfel & Turner (2004) is a theory of group membership and behaviour which has made significant contributions in explaining in-group favouritism, out-group denigration, competition and other interactions of an individual among social groups (Korte, 2007; Brown, 2000; Tajfel & Turner, 2004). Social identity theory can be defined as an individual’s sense of who they are based on the group that they belong to through a process of self-categorisation and depersonalisation (Tajfel & Turner, 2004). In this essay, I will define social identity theory through its three mental processes involved in group evaluation which are: social identification which is a process whereby we are placed into certain
Social identity is a theory which explains how people develop a sense of belong and membership to a group. Individual’s social identity is part of their self-concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership of a social group together with the emotional significance attached to that membership (Forsyth, 13). People are influenced on the group they belong to. Belonging to the in-group makes a person feel good because they belong somewhere in this group and allows them to feel important. The out-group is where people feel to be, they do not belong to a group and have feeling of exclusion and are often times treated more harshly than someone who belongs to the ingroup. This bias of favoring the ingroup relative to the outgroup leads to false impressions being made and stereotypes forming. Stereotypes help us navigate the world around us by providing a quick representation of what we think a person is like. This does not mean our perceptions are always correct and occasionally, this quick mental shortcut can get us into trouble. For example, the film 12 Angry Men stereotyping was rampant among the jury. When a stereotype is used it can cause a disruption of procedures. Instead, of inspecting all the evidence with an objective eye a bias can allow for systematic
The world has become modern and global. Identification of the self is a complicated, though, an important problem of every individual. Self- identity is based on inner values and reflections on culture, politics and social interactions. The main point is that people label themselves to any particular group in the society (Worchel etc., 1998). According to Ferguson: “Identity commonly refers to which it makes, or is thought to make
We each have a unique personality that no one else can match perfectly but our social identity is a way to connect to other through our similar characteristics. King (2012) states “Social identity is the way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership” (pg. 428). We all have titles we carry with us like being a mother or father, a daughter or son, and even a sister or brother the list can go on and on. Within these individualities we have a
Who are you? Who am I? These are questions that we all ponder at some point or another in our lives. As human beings we are seemingly inundated with the desire to classify and categorise. We are constantly defining and analysing the differences that we observe in the world, it seems only natural that we would apply this method of classification to our position within our society. More specifically, we want to understand our social identities and this can be achieved by acknowledging which groups we identify most with.
Social identity theory, it is a person’s sense that is based around the group they are in, either by their personal identity or with different kinds of social identities. That is, people will try to improve their own image of themselves. The theory was proposed by Henri Tajfel. People can increase their self-esteem by both their own achievement and interaction with a successful group of people. This shows the importance of social belonging. This theory is based around three mental processes, social categorization, social identification and social comparison.
An individual’s identity is shaped and created by many factors such as family, culture, and friendship groups (Trepte, S. 2206). The individual’s personal identity of “self” may alter when interacting with any of these groups due to the influence and the characteristics these groups possess (Burke, PJ. Sets, JE. 2000). The human desire to feel a sense of belonging is the driving force for individuals to create themselves around particular groups (Trepte, S. 2206). When people find out that their experiences, thoughts and feelings are mirrored by other people, an immediately connection is formed due to the understanding that they are not isolated in their experiences (Rogers, W.S. 2011). The common ground individuals find in others, allows for the formation of groups (Trepte, S. 2206). The “commonality” amongst certain groups of people allow for Social Categorization (Burke, PJ. Sets, JE. 2000). Social