Social Identity Theory

Question 1

Categorisation

Answer 1

• Separation of people into groups
• The most simple instance of this is ‘us’ and ‘them’
• The ‘us’ group is the ingroups and ‘them’ is the outgroup
• It is argued that this process is automatic and can occur without conflicts

Question 2

Identification

Answer 2

• Over time the individual with adopt the values and beliefs of the group that they think they belong to
• They may also alter their behaviour to fit into their own group’s norms better
• This identity will affect the person’s self esteem

Question 3

Social Comparison

Answer 3

• The individual will then compared their own groups to others

Question 4

Positive Distinctiveness

Answer 4

• In these comparison people tends to notice things that makes their group appear superior
• This more positive light can make the person feel better about belonging to their group
• At the same time they would further see or treat the outgroup in negative or unfavourable terms

Question 5

Tajfel Study

Answer 5

• Tajfel wanted to investigate the human tendency to form social identities and produce prejudice
• 48 boys from a Bristol comprehensive school were arranged into 3 groups of 16
• The boys were categorised into groups according to what they thought was their preference of painting
• They told the boys their groups were based on those preferences however in reality the groups assignment was random
• The boys then had to do a point allocation task where the top row represented how many points they assigned to someone in their group and the bottom row represents the corresponding points to the other group would get

Question 6

Findings of Tajfel Study

Answer 6

• It was found that more points were awarded to ingroup members than outgroup members
• The boys opted to maximise the difference in point awarded to the ingroup compared to the outgroup even if this reduced the total final sum awarded to the ingroup
• This study shows how social categorisation is sufficient to trigger ingroup favouritism and discrimination against the outgroup

Question 7

Strength of Tajfel Study

Answer 7

• One strength of Tajfel study is that it supports social identity theory as an explanation of prejudice
• As it tested the behaviours of 15 year old Bristol boys who were put into 2 groups and were told the groups were assigned due to their preferences of painting even though the groups were randomised
• They were told to assign points on a matrix
• The boys opted to maximise the difference in points awarded to the intergroup compared to the outgroup, even if this resulted to a reduce total of final sum awarded
• This suggests that creating an ingroup and outgroup will automatically lead to prejudice behaviour against each group

Question 8

Weakness of Tajfel Study

Answer 8

• One weakness of Tajfel Study is that the evidence may only explain intergroup behaviour in Western Societies
• A replication of Tajfel’s study was done with 8 year old school children in New Zealand, indigenous Polynesian students were more generous with their point allocation to the outgroup as compared to their Caucasian peers
• This suggest that the results and SIT may only be applicable to Western society and fails to predict the non prejudiced behaviours of collectivist cultures when being split into different groups