Social Identity Theory

Social Categorization

Individuals naturally categorize their social environment into those in their ingroup and those in outgroups. Tajfel and Turner suggest that this simple categorization is sufficient to trigger ingroup favoritism and out-group discrimination. That is to say, individuals need only be aware that an outgroup (i.e., those with whom they do not share group membership) exists for them to engage in intergroup competition with those whom they perceive are part of their outgroup.

Individuals engage in categorization because it helps to simplify the social environment. Therefore, individuals will categorize people according to how similar and different they are to each other. Furthermore, individuals will accentuate these perceived differences in a stereotyped fashion, viewing people as more similar to or more different from them than they actually are.

Social Identity

Individuals are thought to have multiple levels of identity that define who they are. On the most basic level, individuals define themselves according to individual personality traits and interpersonal relationships, and this is referred to as personal identity. Through social categorization, individuals also understand themselves as members of social groups and derive social identity from these group memberships. Specifically, social identity includes those aspects of a person's self-concept that are based on their perceived membership in social groups (e.g., Black, Catholic, university student).

Social Comparison and Positive Distinctiveness

To have a positive self-concept and social identity, individuals engage in social comparison with other groups and view themselves as better than and different from members of other groups (i.e., with positive distinctiveness). The dimensions along which individuals of one group differentiate themselves from other groups depend on the social context. For example, race is a salient attribute with which ingroup and outgroup members are defined in the United States, whereas it may not be a relevant attribute in other countries. For [Page 1320]social comparison to take place, outgroups must be seen as similar enough to the ingroup to make social distinctions relevant, and all groups must agree that the attribute of distinction is of importance.

It has been argued that regarding one's ingroup with positive distinctiveness is essentially a form of intergroup competition because the goal of such a comparison is to assert the group's superiority over an outgroup. As such, social identity theory has been widely used to understand intergroup discrimination and conflict, as well as social changes that involve an individual's desire for mobility into a more positively regarded social group or a group's efforts to assert positive distinctiveness.

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