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Social Identity Theory
This social cognitive theory was developed particularly by Henri Tajfel and is one of the main theories in European social psychology.
Social identity theory proposes that the membership of social groups and categories forms an important part of our self concept.
Therefore when an individual is interacting with another person, they will not act as a single individual but as a representative of a whole group or category of people.
Even during a single conversation an individual may interact with another person both on a personal level and as a member of a particular group.
There are three fundamental psychological mechanisms underlying Social Identity theory.
The first psychological process is Categorisation which refers to the process whereby objects, events and people are classified into categories. By doing so we tend to exaggerate the similarities of those in the same group and exaggerate the differences between those in different groups.
The second psychological process is social comparison. Social comparison refers to the process of comparing one’s own social group with others. Some social groups have more power, prestige or status than others and therefore members of a group will compare their own groups with others and determine the relative status of their own group. This also results in the tendency for members of a group to distance themselves from membership of a group which does not share the same beliefs and ideas of their group and take more account of the beliefs and ideas of their social group.
The third psychological process relates to the tendency for people to use group membership as a source of positive self esteem. Maintaining positive Self Esteem is seen as a basic motivation for humans therefore if a group does not compare favourably with others we may seek to leave the group or distance ourselves from it. However if leaving the group is impossible then people may adopt strategies such as comparing their own group to a group of a lower status.
