Social categorization is
the process by which people categorize themselves and others into differentiated groups
. Categorization simplifies perception and cognition related to the social world by detecting inherent similarity relationships or by imposing structure on it (or both).
Self-categorization theory was developed by
John Turner
and his colleagues at the University of Bristol and described in a classic 1987 book.
According to Henri Tajfel, who was one of the theorists who developed social identity theory, this categorization of people is part of an unconscious, three-step process in which our brains engage to assess the following before deciding how to proceed: categorization, which determines what group the person belongs to; …
Social categorization refers to
the classification of other individuals into particular group memberships based on characteristics deemed meaningful by society
. Examples of social categories include age group, sex, and race. Social categorization based on age can lead to stereotypical and evaluative biases.
This process of favoring one’s in-group happens in three stages:
social categorization, social identification, and social comparison
. (1) People first categorize themselves and others into social groups based on external or internal criteria.
Social categorization results
in carving the world into ingroups (the groups to which one belongs)
and outgroups (the groups to which one does not belong). Because people have a strong tendency to think favorably about themselves, they also tend to evaluate their ingroups favorably.
Categorization
simplifies perception and cognition related to the social world
by detecting inherent similarity relationships or by imposing structure on it (or both). The main adaptive function of social categorization is that it permits and constrains otherwise chaotic inductive inferences.
Why is categorization important to human functioning?
Categorization and classification allow
humans to organize things, objects, and ideas that exist
around them and simplify their understanding of the world. … Categorization is important in learning, prediction, inference, decision making, language, and many forms of organisms’ interaction with their environments.
What is the Metacontrast principle?
Meta-contrast principle states
that we tend to exaggerate our differences and emphasis the similarities
. Cross categorization occurs when someone shares a group or category with us (i.e., is an in-group member) but not others (i.e., belongs to out-groups as well).
Stereotypes and prejudice may create discrimination. Stereotyping and prejudice begin from social categorization—the natural cognitive process by which we place individuals into social groups. Social categorization
influences our perceptions of groups
—for instance, the perception of outgroup homogeneity.
a
group of people defined by social class or other common attributes of a social nature
, such as homelessness, gender, race, unemployment, or retirement.
Social stereotypes may be defined as
beliefs that various traits or acts are characteristic of particular social groups
.
How do we categorize?
Categorization
is the process through which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, classified, and understood. The word “categorization” implies that objects are sorted into categories, usually for some specific purpose.
Social identity is a
person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership
(s). … Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world. We divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization (i.e. we put people into social groups).
Social loafing describes
the tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group
. Because all members of the group are pooling their effort to achieve a common goal, each member of the group contributes less than they would if they were individually responsible.
Social identity theory can be used in the contexts of multicultural counseling, research, and practice to understand the processes by which individuals develop and maintain social identities and groups. The theory includes three core elements:
social categorization, social identification, and social comparison.
