The Importance Of Social Identity Theory

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 is based on four main concepts; social categorization, which is the tendency to divide and categorize people into in-groups and out-group; category accentuation effect,

Being identified with a group can shape one’s thoughts on theirself, and what is expected of them within their society. Some things that in one’s mind seem so normal and expected may be far from

Have you ever judged a person by their age, gender or appearance rather than really knowing them? When you meet a tattooed man on the street, your first impression of him might be bad, i.e. a negative categorization, since tattoos are associated with criminals and unemployed people. However, he could be a person who does volunteer and works as a business manager. People tend to automatically categorize a person into groups by visual judgements, demographic features, personality and own perceptions or beliefs (Billig & Tajfel, 1973). Social categorization is a process of classifying people into different groups based on their similar characteristics and group memberships. It is a natural part of social perception and serves a basic epistemic and identity function in organizing and structuring people’s knowledge about the world and make things become manageable in daily life (Bodenhausen, Kang & Peery, 2012). It occurs spontaneously without much thoughts (Crips & Hewstone, 2007). In social categorization, we usually form a general conclusion about other people and begin to respond to them as a member of a particular social group than as individuals. It allows us to communicate and connect with those who share the same or similar group membership. Social groups that we use in social categorization can change under different situations and over time. Whaley and Link (1998) discovered that there is a strong association between categorization and stereotype-based judgments. For

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,

To effectively achieve the goals of political activities, everyone in the group should avoid social comparison and keep his or her original ideas. Social comparison results in people trying to stay in tune with the group. Surowiecki announces that “It means that people are constantly comparing themselves to everyone else with an eye toward maintaining their relative position within the group”(Surowiecki 479) Since all the people depend on each other for existence, it is inevitable to comparing themselves to others and caring about what others think of them. People with unique ideas which are against most of the group members’ beliefs, are more likely to be regarded as aliens and excluded from the group. To “maintain their relative position within the group” and to gain acceptance from other group members,

Social identity theory says that intergroup conflict is a process of comparing individuals in one group (the in-group) to those of another group (the out-group). Instead, it is an instrument for improving self-esteem. These type of comparisons by individuals lead to the following examples:

Referring to the Social identity theory we assume that the differentiation between the ingroup and outgroups is motivated by the members’ desire to improve the evaluation of the ingroup and of their social identity. So, in other words in order to create a social identity a ingroup usually derogates the outgroup, especially in contexts where the groups are interwoven in a conflict

With each identity, I follow the same categorization, identification, and comparison so that I know how to act in my social world. Some of my identities put me in a position of privilege and some put me in a position of disadvantage. In other words, my identities as white, American, Christian, and abled make me an agent in the social world, but my identities as a female and a single individual make me a target in the social world. Thus I am a member of several groups based on my gender, race, nationality, vocation, marital status, and religion. George Herbert Mead, a sociologist I studied at my undergraduate college, believed that groups helped us anticipate how others will react, such as in the example I gave between a student and a professor. In some ways, understanding our group memberships help us work together to the benefit of both individuals, but in other ways, it can create stereotypes and prejudices which constrain an

While group conflict is capable of achieving internal cohesion, social conflict enables group unification for collective actions. These meanings therefore becomes the groundwork for how groups establish their boundaries (Jones, 2011). Group identity is an important feature in each group and this recognition might cause individuals to place the group’s own interest above theirs (Croson, Marks & Snyder, 2008).

While social justice has become a burgeoning discourse in recent years, there are many difficulties associated with its implementation and effectiveness in society.

This particular theory views identity as conditional and self motivated as well as being related to one’s culture. Although other theories on identity consider the personal and social identity to be separate, SCT considers the personal and social identity to be

The social identity theory claims that a person’s identity is directly related to their dominant social groups. According to Jan Stets and Peter Burke of Washington University, social identity theory significantly overlaps with identity theory in its descriptions of concept, bases, and activation of identity. Stets and Burke claim social groups impact a person’s identity through that person’s self-categorization and social comparison: “much of social identity theory deals with intergroup relations – that is, how people come to see themselves as members of one group/category (the

“Social identity motivations encourage people to act in ways congruent with their beliefs about group membership and about their relationships with significant others” (2).

Groups play a vital part in a society social structure. A group can hold special meaning for members because of its relationship to other groups. For example, people in one group sometimes feel antagonistic toward or threatened by another group especially if that group perceived as being different, either culturally or racially (Richard, 2013)