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Social Identity Theory-2

Social Identity Theory proposes that people derive their self-esteem from group membership and that social categorization, identification, comparison, and positive distinctiveness influence behaviors and judgments. Studies have found that people are more likely to conform to an incorrect group judgment when they believe others are in their in-group compared to an out-group. Social Identity Theory can help explain behaviors like conformity, football hooliganism, and interactions between social groups.

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Krish Madhav Sheth
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167 views11 pages

Social Identity Theory-2

Social Identity Theory proposes that people derive their self-esteem from group membership and that social categorization, identification, comparison, and positive distinctiveness influence behaviors and judgments. Studies have found that people are more likely to conform to an incorrect group judgment when they believe others are in their in-group compared to an out-group. Social Identity Theory can help explain behaviors like conformity, football hooliganism, and interactions between social groups.

Uploaded by

Krish Madhav Sheth
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Social Identity Theory

Tajfel (1979)
SIT
• The original theory of Social
Identity proposed by Tajfel &
Turner identified four
psychological mechanisms:
• Social Categorization
• Social identification
• Social comparison
• Positive distinctiveness
• Social categorization is the process by which we identity which groups
we belong to and which groups we do not- leads to feelings of
In-group and Out-group.

• Social identification takes place after deciding to belong to the


group.  This is the process of adopting the norms of the group and
taking on the characteristics of the group.
•  Individuals then engage in "social comparison" which is a means of
justifying their group membership
• Finally, we seek to achieve positive self-esteem by positively
comparing our in-group to an out-group on some valued dimension
to achieve positive distinctiveness. We favour the traits of our
in-group, even if we did not necessarily choose to be a part of the
group ourselves.
Studies for SIT
• SIT in research: Chen et al (2005):
• www.student.thinkib.net/psychology/page/27270
• Abrams et al: www.student.thinkib.net/psychology/page/24238
• Tajfel study: Kandinsky and Klee:
www.student.thinkib.net/psychology/page/24245
Application of SIT: To explain Behavior
Abrams et al (1990) did a replication of Asch (1956) to see if people are more likely to conform to the
behaviour of people in their in-group.
Fifty introductory psychology students (23 males and 27 females) thought that they were taking a test of
visual accuracy. At the start of the experiment, three confederates were introduced either as first-year
students from the psychology department (in-group) or as students of ancient history (out-group).
There were 18 trials. In nine of the trials, the confederates gave the correct response. In nine of the trials,
the confederates gave a unanimous, incorrect response.

It was found that the participants conformed to the erroneous confederate judgments more often when
they believed the confederates were from their in-group. The average number of conforming responses
was 5.23 in the in-group condition and only 0.75 in the out-group condition.

The participants also revealed in the post-experimental questionnaire that they had been less confident
about their own judgment in the in-group condition. The results seem to indicate that social
categorization can play a key role in one’s decision to conform.
Other Applications

Link for Football Hooliganism:


https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/hooliganism-euro-2016-social-psychology-english-disease
Evaluation Of SIT
Task:
● Reflection on: https://youtu.be/yAkDHuimJRc
Try to explain the behaviours of people in the video based on your understanding of the theory

● Assess the video: https://youtu.be/Uletl1MAeQ8


Choose one of the people (expect the homeless man and the bartender) to discuss
why they behaved the way that they did - using the vocabulary of social identity
theory.

ATLs:
Self-management Skills (reflection)

Thinking Skills (critical thinking)

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