Social Identity Theory Flashcards
What is Social Identity Theory?
A persons sense of who they are based on group membership
Who created SIT?
Tajifel and Turner (1979)
What is the Cognitive Element?
The beliefs held about a group
What is the Affective Element?
Feelings experienced in response to the group
What is the Behavioural Element?
Our actions towards the object of prejudice
What are the three stages of SIT?
- Social Categorisation
- Social Identification
- Social Comparison
What happens in Social Categorisation?
The formation of In-Groups and Out-Groups
What happens in Social Identification?
People give themselves positions within the group and adopt certain characteristics
What happens in Social Comparison?
People compare their group with the Out-Group and boost their self esteem by degrading the Out-Group
How does Social Identity Theory conflict Realistic Conflict Theory?
Because SIT states that the formation of groups is enough to cause prejudice whilst RCT states that there must be competition for scarce resources
What happened in Tajfel (1970/71)?
Two groups of boys were given the chance to either reward or punish each other, despite not knowing anything about each other - both chose to punish each other
What happened in Lalonde (1992)?
A bad hockey team blamed their failures on the way other teams played in order to favour their own team
What evidence may support SIT?
- Tajfel (1970): Only groups are needed to cause prejudice
- Sherif: Boys were opposed to each other from the beginning
What evidence may conflict SIT?
Can’t explain individual differences and why some are more prejudiced than other
Sherif - A basis of RCT not SIT
Is SIT useful?
Explains why prejudice occurs between certain groups (e.g. Racism) and how it can be solved
Can’t explain how prejudice/discrimination can be solved (unlike RCT)
