Social Identity

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.

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

It is quite uncomfortable and difficult for me to have a discussion about my social identity because I do not identify myself with a specific group of people. I consider myself an open member of our global society. Even though I was born into a Polish household and raised amongst first generation Americans, I do not necessarily identify as a Pole, American, or Polish-American. Technically, I am a Polish American since I was born in America and raised by Polish parents, but that does not necessarily mean that I identify as a "Polish American." If I were to identify myself as one, I would feel as though my identity would be limited to Polish and American cultural and social values. I am not a book that can be neatly and properly stored on

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: An identity given by connections to other people and social situations. Similar to a personal identity. For example, middle-classed bank manager.

My father is Mexican, and my mother is White. I was born in California, however, when was 4 yrs. old we moved to Mexico. We did not returned to the United States till I turned 15 yrs. old. Although my first language was English, once I moved to Mexico, I became fluent in Spanish. Life coming back to America was hard, I did understand English perfectly since my mother always spoke to us in English, however, and I could no longer speak it. I was placed in ELL classes, and although I was very smart in many subjects, because I did not speak English, I was placed in easy classes, where we did nothing. They focus so much on learning the language that they fail to teach you. I survived; however, I knew the other classmates looked down at us. They would not speak to us, and they will make rude racial comments when referring to any of us.

My social identity plays a huge part in shaping and defining my role as a leader. The way I view myself combined with the way that others view me frames the narrative of my opportunities to be a leader in many ways. Of my various social identity characteristics, the two that play the largest part in my life are my gender and appearance as a woman and my economic standing as lower middle class.

Personal identity is essential in the human experience. Identity is complex and can be broken down into two main groups: introspective identity, and bodily identity. Introspective identity is based off of the groups, mentalities, or beliefs that you align yourself with, and bodily identity is based off of the physical side of yourself. Whether physical or introspective, your identity impacts every action you take. Whether choices ranging from what colors you prefer to which college you want to attend are primarily based off of your introspective identity, which is a combination of both memory and consciousness, physical identity impacts how others perceive you. Consciousness is mainly the awareness of bodily identity as well as continuous introspective identify, while memory is awareness of introspective identity. These two different facets of identity are imperative in the distinction between bodily identity and introspective identity. In means of personal identity introspective identity (which is evident in memory), is essential, while bodily identity (based partially in consciousness) has less credit.

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.

For example, my grandfather Jerry was a doctor and my Great Aunt Margaret and Pat were nurses. Anytime I was sick, my mom would always call her dad up and talk to him rather than rushing me to a doctor. When I was in the 7th grade, it was one of the hardest times of my life, Jerry was suffering from heart attacks and fluid in his lungs. I had never been exposed to the feeling of loss until he passed away. Losing one of my role models and someone that I cared deeply about made me a stronger person. Since his passing, I have seen more and more of my aunts and uncles than I had before, and growing strong relationships with all of them.

The Social Identity Theory was developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1979. The theory was originally developed to understand the psychological basis of intergroup discrimination. Tajfel in 1971 attempted to identify the minimal conditions that would lead members of one group to discriminate in favour of the in group to which they belonged and against another out group. In simple words Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership.

In today’s Western society, self-identity and social roles are important dimensions that are at times challenging to face. Social roles have always been a fundamental part of society and yet as time goes on, it seems to be increasingly difficult to understand. As discussed in class, in the medieval period, people were assigned roles based on family status. In modern days, however, societal roles have expanded and opportunities are endless, which raises the question: Is there more uncertainty about identity in modern society?

“Some…memberships are more salient than others; and some may vary in salience in time and as a function of a variety of social situations” (Tajfel, 2-3) Salience of identity, in the way that we need to understand it in the case of perception and decision making, can be operationalized as the likelihood that a particular identity will be invoked within a certain situation that the individual is being faced with (Hogg, Terry, & White, 257). As mentioned previously, everyone holds various identities but salience is the process through which we subconsciously decide which we be used to base our decision making or preferences on. “The salience of a particular social identity for an individual may vary from situation to situation and indeed from

Attempting to explain how individuals form their identity is impossible as many diverse approaches exist. A number of sociology and psychological identity theories were considered in the selection of a framework to explain the dynamics associated with the academic role in higher education. Sociological identity theories are constructive when one wants to explain the different roles that lecturers have in the academic environment of higher education. From literature the identity theory and social identity theory were identified as been central to conceptualising the identity forming process. These two theories were found to be useful in explaining the psychological processes of identity development. Many social psychology theorists have philosophised about how individuals develop their identity.