Identification: Social Theory Analysis

The theory I chose for the annotated bibliography was Social Identity Theory. Social identity is the categorization between individuals who have similarities and can identify themselves within the category (Abram & Hogg, 1988). Social comparison is when we divide the world into groups that we are part of which are called the in groups and the relevant groups that are not part of our group that are called outgroup. Self-concept is brought from how you see yourself and how a person connects to social groups. (Turner & Tajfel, 1979). Overall, this relates to how we perceive ourselves, how you see ourselves and present ourselves in public.

The Social Identity theory (SIT) was proposed by Henry Tajfel. It was then later developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1971 to help them understand inter group relations. The Social Identity theory assumes that individuals strive to improve their self-image by trying to enhance their self-esteem, through social (in and out groups) and personal identities. There are 4 main concepts within the social identity theory all of which will be discussed in the essay.

The concept of Social Identity theory considers the extent to which social identity affects a person’s identity as well as how people can identify themselves as part of an in-group. There is a belief that a person’s social identity can be directly related to the perceived group membership (Social Psychology: Traditional and Critical Perspectives, by Paul Dickerson). The current theory for social identity focuses solely on one group identity when people can be part of more than one social group.

Augoustinos and Walker (1995) stated that social identity theory is based on the concept of social identity, the part of a person’s self-concept that derives from membership in-groups that are important to the person. Such groups can include one’s family, college, nation, and so forth. This theory can be applied when the brown-eyed students were established as the in-group instead of their usual out-group. As indicated in their attitude components, self-esteem of the brown-eyed students increased when the blue-eyed students were treated in a bad

No matter how much a person desires to live according to their personal autonomy, he or she will never escape the influence of societal forces. Explicitly or subtlety, these forces shape our individuality. One intriguing manner that these societal forces manifests itself in is our name. As Ruth Graham writes, “It’s becoming increasingly clear today that names carry a wealth of information about the world around us, the family we arrived in, the moment we were born—and that they mark us as part of cultural currents bigger than we realize.” Names alone provide evidence that individuals are made by interactions with social institutions and groups. Ultimately, the inescapable nature of society’s influence demands individuals to ponder how much personal autonomy is actually autonomous and to what extent does the pursuit of personal autonomy lead to a life of emptiness and vanity.

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 third phase of the Social identity theory is comparison. This involves comparing the in-groups that you are a part of with out-groups in order to raise self-esteem (Burke, Stets,2000). Social groups naturally strive to be positively differentiated from other groups (Mummenfey, Kessler, Link, Mielke, 1999). In order to achieve this positive differentiation and boost in self- esteem, the in-group and out-group are judged on factors that represent the in-group to be superior to the out-group (Burke, Stets,2000). To enhance the position and status of the in-group, discrimination and prejudice will be shown towards the out-group.

Blind obedience is when a person carries out an order even if it goes against their moral values or codes. Prejudice is an unjust attitude towards an individual solely based on their membership of a social group. Both of these issues were present in Abu Ghraib Prison (Iraq). They

“We are not born knowing who we are or what our place is in the social landscape; we learn to be American or Japanese, male or female, husband or wife, or Amy, Richard, Micheal, Rachel, or Rebecca.” Our identities are constructed by this “social landscape”. The social construction of identity

Society has a way of making assumptions based on one’s physical characteristics. Often at times we categorize individuals to a particular social group. In regard to society’ perception of an individual this however, contributes to the development of social construction of racism. Most people want to be identified as individuals rather than a member of specific social group. As a result, our social identity contains different categories or components that were influenced or imposed. For example, I identify as a, Jamaican, Puerto Rican and a person of color. I identify racially as a person of color and ethically as Jamaican and Puerto Rican. According to Miller and Garren it’s a natural human response for people to make assumptions solely

What is social identity theory and how does it influence self-esteem in teens? Lexie Johnson Who are you? Who am I? These philosophical questions often get brought up and debated over by most philosophers from the past and today. Teens go through this process of who am I and what is my purpose in life? To find these purposes we affiliate ourselves with different groups such as our friend groups, extracurricular activities and peer academics. I would identity myself as being a female. I’m a part of international club and I’m a cashier at the café. We identify ourselves with the groups we choose to be a part of. Being a part of these groups help us feel like we belong and that we have some sort of place in this big world. Since most people go through this identity issue, researches have researched how we identify ourselves socially. They came up with a theory called social identity theory.

Introduction Pretty Little Liars is a television show based on a set of novels that focuses on the lives of four teenage girls and the struggles that they face daily. After the murder of their cliques Queen Bee, Alison, each girl begins to get harassed and an anonymous bully threatens to

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

One could argue that this then inflates our sense of belonging in the world if we feel that there are others who share similar values to us. This then strengthens our resolve by essentially confirming that we are engaging in the right behaviours and holding the right ideals as we associate ourselves with others who feel the same as we do. This then leads them to strengthen our tenacity of in-group favouritism by rewarding our prejudiced behaviours. A positive outcome of this is that it can have a flow on effect to our altruistic nature as human beings and we would be more likely to help those with whom we feel a certain affiliation. It is in this regard that the Social Identity Theory can yield positive results through a framework of philanthropic behaviour and support for in-group members. The converse of this behaviour is that we see an increase in negative behaviours towards those with whom we feel have conflicting goals and essentially belong to an “out group”.