In 1979
British psychologists Henri Tajfel and John Turner
introduced the Social Identity Theory, where our ‘social identity’ within a group shapes our norms, attitudes and behaviour.
Henri Tajfel’s
greatest contribution to psychology was social identity theory. Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.)
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.
The theory argues that
social identity underpins intergroup behavior and sees
this as qualitatively distinct from interpersonal behavior. It delineates the circumstances under which social identities are likely to become important, so that they become the primary determinant of social perceptions and social behaviors.
Abstract: Social group identity, which refers to a person’s identification with, and membership within, diverse social groups (by race, gender, class, sexuality, etc.), and social identity development, which refers
to the process of stage development regarding each of these social
group identities, are ar- eas of study …
A weaknesses of the Social identity theory is that its
application is restricted in the sense that it has very low ecological validity
. Another weakness is that SIT favors situational factors rather than dispositional is not supported by evidence.
It is
through interaction and community that individuals can perceive the shared task and goal between group members
, which can characterize the shared identity (Wegge & Haslam, 2003). … (2012) argued that individual contributions of group members may contribute to the formation of a social identity.
Social identity can be defined as
an individual’s knowledge of belonging to certain social groups
, together with some emotional and valuational significance of that group membership.
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.
An individual’s social identity indicates who they are in terms of the groups to which they belong. … Examples of social identities are
race/ethnicity, gender, social class/socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, (dis)abilities, and religion/religious beliefs
.
Why is Social Identity Theory important?
Social identity theory posits that
people strive to achieve and maintain a sense of positive distinctiveness for their group memberships
(Tajfel & Turner, 1986). … This is particularly relevant for minority group members whose identities often become overshadowed by the majority group’s culture and values.
Social identification is important
because it influences how people see themselves and how they interact with others
. If people have a positive view of their identity within a group, they are more likely to relate well to others in that group and feel positive emotions about themselves.
self-consciousness
. Awareness of one’s distinct social identity as a person separate from others. Human beings are not born with self-consciousness but acquire an awareness of self as a result of early socialization.
They
recognize how peoples’ multiple identities interact to create unique and complex individuals
. …
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. 1
Personal identity refers to self-categories which define the individual as a unique person in terms of their individual differences from other
(ingroup) persons. … Social identity refers to the social categorical self (e.g., “us” versus “them”, ingroup versus outgroup, us women, men, whites, blacks, etc.).
