Week 8 - Social Identity and Social Categorisation

Question 1

Self-categorisation and Social Identity

social identity theory

Answer 1

Self-categorisation - the process of seeing oneself as a member of a social group (self stereotyping)

Social identity - Those aspects of the self-concept that derive from an individual’s knowledge and feelings about the groups the which he or she belongs
Different stimuli activate different identities

Social identity theory (Tajfel) - people favour ingroup over outgroup in order to enhance their self esteem

Striving for positive social identity motivates ingroup bias

Personal identity —–> personal achievements —-> self esteem
Social identities —> group achievements —> self esteem
Social identities —> Ingroup favouritism & outgroup derogation —> self esteem

Question 2

Effects of social categorisation
I becomes ‘we’
3 points

Answer 2

• Self-perceptions : group’s typical characteristics become norms for our own behaviours (minimise self-others differences, self-stereotype)
• personal self-esteem threatened: BIRGing and CORFing (motivational principle)
• Need for optimal distinctiveness : balancing need for ‘connecting’ and ‘distinction’ (principle of connectedness )

Question 3

Effects of social categorisation
Others become’we’
2 points, ingroup prime study

Answer 3

• perceptions of ingroup members : assumed similarity leads us to apply our own characteristics on others
• Collective self-esteem : Liking of ingroup member (initial interactions are positive)

Study by Perdue et al, 1990

• Lexical decision Task experiment
• Faster to positive words after an ingroup prime (eg ‘we’, ‘us’ etc)

Question 4

Effects of social categorisation
Others become ‘they’
3 points

Answer 4

-Perceptions of outgroup members (processing depth)
Outgroup homogeneity effect (part familiarity, not as familiar processing outgroup info, and part motivational, work harder to process ingroup info)
Encoding and memory biases (cross-race identification bias, less familiar more stereotyping)

-Behaviour toward outgroup members
Maximising ingroup-outgroup differences (think of ingroup as being more similar than they are, thing out outgroup as being more different than they are)

-Emotions
Intensity varies with perceived threat eg resentment vs hate

Question 5

Contingencies of self-worth

Egosystem orientation

Answer 5

Egosystem orientation :focus on ones own needs
Focus on others when they can give or withhold social goods such as approval, inclusion or validation
Relying on others for validation makes self-esteem very unstable

Self is seen as part of a larger context, and the needs of the self are as important as the needs of others

Question 6

Effects of Stigma

Self-esteem and stereotype threat study

Answer 6

Well-being
-Self Esteem : stigmatised groups’ self-esteem is not as low as would be expected

Anxiety and performance
-Stereotype threat, study at Stanford, Women/minorities doing maths tests with your photo on the top (race known)
Stereotype relevant situation –> Stereotype activation –> Stereotype threat–> Anxiety –> Restricted capacity –> Underperformance

Don’t want to prove that the negative stereotype is true, worry about results so you handicap yourself

Question 7

Coping with Stigma when group boundaries are open (permeable)
Buffering and Individual mobility

Answer 7

Buffering
-Self-protective attributions: blaming negative outcomes on prejudice and discrimination
-Intragroup comparisons: Downward comparison within group (someone did worse than you)
Upward comparison, someone else did well, BIRGing

Individual mobility

• Disidentification : distancing yourself from poorly performing group (criticise and devalue)
• Dissociation: Concealing group membership

Question 8

Coping with stigma when group boundaries are closed
Social change, re-categorisation, social creativity
Social identity complexity study

Answer 8

Social Change
-changing the situation causing the problem eg protests, policy change

Re-categorisation

• changing the ingroup eg immigrants
• Cross- categorisation: Acknowledging non-shared group memberships, BUT emphasising shared group memberships (common links)

Social Identity complexity
- study by Brewer and Pierce 2005, Identity complexity -
and tolerance
- More group memberships = more complex social identity = more tolerant
- protects self-esteem from group stigma

Social Creativity
- Redefining group characteristics in positive terms eg ‘you’re not smart’ but ‘we’re family orientated’