Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory

Question 1

What are the three stages of group formation according to Tajfel?

Answer 1

-Social identification- once an individual has a social identity, they automatically classify people as either part of their in group or out group.
-Social categorisation- an individual sees themselves as belonging to a group
-Social comparison- an individual views their social identity as superior to others, this can lead to prejudice and if the individual has the power to influence discrimination as well.

Question 2

Describe Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory (4 marks)

Answer 2

Tajfel suggests that prejudice occurs as a result of an individuals social identity, the beliefs and values that an individual stands for and social comparison. Self esteem is argued to be the core of social identity, an individual needs to feel good about the group that they belong to in order to feel good about themselves. Therefore, as a result of social categorisation, this creates social comparisons, where anyone not belonging to the same group as the individual is considered inferior so stereotypes are formed. Consequently, two distinct social groups are formed: the in group and the out group.

Question 3

Evaluate Tajfels Social Identity Theory

Answer 3

Feasibility- Strength
Results obtained from Tajfels study showed that the boys would discriminate against an out group and demonstrate inner group favouritism due to the social identity of the group.
Intergroup participants gave more points to their own group- improves self esteem and demonstrate in group superiority.
Also, provides an explanation for why prejudice occurs when the out group poses no threat to the in group. Individuals need to put down the out group in order to raise their own self esteem.

Usefulness- Strength
Strategies such as counselling can be implemented to help reduce prejudice by increasing people’s sense of personal identity whilst raising self esteem.
Also, encouraging people to see themselves as part of a larger social identity group can decrease the amount of out group prejudice.

Different Theory- Weakness
Sherif Realistic Conflct Theory
Prejudice is a result of competition and occurs due to a limited resource.
Sherif Robbers Cave study supported this theory by showing how increased competition between the two groups of boys increase prejudice and hostility.
This was reduced by introducing a superordinate goal so the groups have to unite and co operate for the same outcome.

Explanation- Weakness
Cannot explain all of prejudice because the task that the boys used was artificial and unrealistic. Therefore, the investigation lacks ecological validity and does not represent how individuals react in reality.
Extraneous variable that the boys already knew of one another before.
The theory does not also take into account personality as people with authoritarian personalities are more likely to be prejudice towards out groups as they are threatened by minority groups.