Social Identity theory Flashcards
what does people being social animals give us a tendency to do - Darwin
identify with a group to aid co-operation which helps us form societies
who created SIT and when
Tajfel and Turner (1979)
what does SIT say about prejudice
prejudice can be explained by our tendency to identify ourselves as a part of a group and to classify other people as either within outside that group
In group
the group we belong to
out group
anyone outside of the in group
3 steps to the formation of prejudice
social categorisation
social identification
social comparison
social categorisation
categorising ourselves and others as members of particular social groups to aid our understanding of people
social identification
adopting the identity of the group we have assigned ourselves to
how do we conform to the group that we have identified ourselves as being a part of
we take on the behaviour and the values that they believe in
social comparisons
we compare the group that we have categorised ourselves as being a part of to other groups
what do we show in the social comparison stage
in group favouritism and out group negative bias
why do we compare our group to others and believe our group is in some way better than others
to maintain self esteem
in group favouritism
what was SIT based on
the minimal group studies - series of lab experiments
why were the minimal group studies called that?
the grounds on which the participants would see themselves as belonging to one group or another was minimal
Lalonde 1992
studied a poorly performing hockey team
to ascertain whether SIT applies to real life
the team claimed the other teams were ‘dirtier’ than them - showing in group favouritism
there was no evidence the other teams were playing dirty
SIT is a grounded theory - strength
based on the minimal group studies - however, most of these were lab experiments
there is strong evidence for the theory to be supported with
alternatives to SIT
RCT and the authoritarian personality
why can SIT be seen as reductionist
reduces the cause of prejudice down to one factor - social categorisation
the cause of prejudice is much more complex, other factors involved, e.g. competition
