Socialš ā¢ Social Identity Theory + Studies Flashcards
What is social identity?
A personās sense of who they are based on groups that they are included in
What does social identity theory propose about behaviour?
That your behaviour is motivated by your social identity
What are the two ways that are proposed in the theory can be used to increase our self image/ self-esteem?
- Enhancing the status of the group to which we belong e.g. āEngland is the best country!ā
- Discriminating or holding prejudices against your outgroup e.g. āAmerica is the worst!ā
What are the 3 core concepts in Social Identity Theory?
- Categorisation
- Identification
- Comparison
What is categorisation in SIT?
- When people are sorted into groups and label one another based on interests or ethnicities e.g. calling somebody a Muslim is an example of categorisation
What is identification in SIT?
- When a person has been sorted into a group they will start to asociate with that group
- Their own identity will become interchangable with that of the groups
Give some examples of identification?
- using similar vocabulary to your group
- having a similar sense of humour to your group
- behaving in the same way as your group
What is comparison in SIT?
- When people compare themselves/ their group to their outgroups e.g. any other external groups
- Comparison commonly includes discriminatory behaviour/ prejudice
During comparison what are the 2 core patterns that are almost always visible?
- Ingroup Favouritism
- Outgroup Hostility
What are subcultures?
Nowadays, within set groups smaller, more specific āminigroupsā arise under the umbrella of the main group e.g.
* Emos as a main group
* Subcultures could include: Black clothing wearers or Goth music listeners
What is a usefull acronym for remembering the 3 key core concepts of SIT?
- Categorisation
- Identification
- Categorisation
- (Kick)
What does arbitrary mean?
When something is random, when there is no reason behind it
What is the central hypothesis/ idea that SIT suggests?
That if we were to put people into any groups e.g. arbitrary groups (no common interests & randomly sorted) they will still identify and compare and hold prejudice against their outgroups/ other groups to enhance their self image, even though they dont have any thing in common with this group & its random - members in an ingroup will always seek to find negative aspects of an outgroup to discriminate in order to enhance self-esteem
What are the 3 studies used to support this theory?
- Robberās Cave (1954)
- Elliot (1968)
- Tajfel (1970)
Describe how Robberās cave (1954) links to the 3 core concepts of Social Identity Theory
- Categorisation: splitting the 22 boys arbitrarily into 2 separate groups, Rattlers & Eagles
- Identification: Creating flags with their group names on them, adopting certain characteristics that were of their group e.g Eagles: swore more & were more tough Rattlers: cried more when injured & were anti-swearing
- Comparision: Discrimination between groups towards their outgroup/ opposing group e.g. name calling, fights, burining eachothers flags, stealing, raiding cabins
What year was Elliotās Study held in?
1968
Explain Elliotās Study
- segregated primary school class into 2 groups based on eye colour
- Blue eyes told: smarter, quicker and more successful
- Brown eyes told: lazy, untruthful & stupid
- Blue eyed children became: bossy, arrogant & smarter + discriminated agianst browns
- Brown eyed children became: timid, submissive & actually started to take on given charactersitics by preforming less well academically as they believed they were actually āstupidā (identification)
- Roles were reversed and exact same thing happened
Describe how Elliotās (1968) links to the 3 core concepts of Social Identity Theory
- Categorisation: Splitting children into groups due to eye colour and prescribing each group with set characteristics
- Identification: Students actually taking on given characteristics of their ingroup
- Comparision: The superior group would showcase discriminatory behaviour towards the other groups as they believed they were better (in group favouritism, outgroup hostility)
What year was Tajfelās Study held in?
1970
Explain Tajfelās Study?
- Sorted 15-year-old Bristol school boys into ingroups & outgroups arbitrarily but told them it was based on when he asked showed them 2 paintings and asked them to choose their favourite
- He then assembled the groups
- Later boys were asked individually to allocate points to the other boys & were told these points would exchange for cash
- Boys tended to allocate more points to their ingroup members than outgroups
Describe how Tajfelās (1970) links to the some of the core concepts of Social Identity Theory
- Comparison: boys displaying ingroup favouritism and outgroup hostility by litteraly favouring their own ingroup members over outgroup boys & discriminating against outgroup by purposfully awarding them less points
