Social Identity Theory

Question 1

Social Identity

Answer 1

Social identity refers to an individual’s self-concept and comes from how people see themselves in relation to membership of their social groups.

Question 2

Social Categorisation

Answer 2

We categorise ourselves into groups that we belong to (in-group) and groups we don’t belong to (out-group).

Question 3

Social Identification

Answer 3

The process of taking on aspects of our in-group identity as our own e.g. group norms, clothing and attitudes.

Question 4

Social Comparison

Answer 4

To make our in-group seem good and to boost our self-esteem we make unfair negative comparisons to the out-group.

Question 5

In-group Favouritism

Answer 5

The preference for people who belong to a group you identify with e.g. your college, your football team, your family.
This preference results in giving advantage to in-group members, such as the allocation of resources or rating them more highly.