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Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper no.7: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Module No and Title Module no.14: SOCIAL IDENTITY

Module Tag PSY_P7_M14

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Learning Outcomes
2. Introduction
3. Social Identity Theory
4. Social and Self Categorization
5. Outcomes in Social Identity Theory

6. Schism

7. Why social categorization?

8. Social identity approach: Strengths and Limitations

9. Summary

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1. Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, you shall be able to

 Know about the various aspects of social identity

 Learn about social identity, social categorization and their implications
 Understand the strengths and limitations of social identity theory

2. Introduction
Identity refers to how a person views him/herself and expresses his/her individuality or group
affiliations. Identities are based on individual as well as group level characteristics.

2.1 Identities: Individual-Level Characteristics

Personal identity

Personal identities involve attributes and meanings which an individual assigns to him/ herself. The
theory of personal identity is based on the work of Mead (1934) and the general principles of
symbolic interactionism. It has four premises:

1. People are actors and reactors.

2. Human actions and interactions emerge from the definitions the actors draw from the situation.
The shared meanings which are created when people interact with one another lead to these
definitions.
3. People’s self-concepts and the meanings they attribute to themselves influence the process that
creates their interactions and actions.
4. The self-conception changes during the course of interaction. To a large extent it is the outcome
of others’ responses to the individual.

2.2 Identities: Group-Level Characteristics

Social Identity
An individual not only develops a personal identity but also a social identity as a consequence of
being a member of various social groups. Social identity can be defined as the “part of an individual’s
self-concept which derives from his/her membership in a social group(s) together with the value and
emotional significance attached to that membership” (Tajfel, 1981; Turner et al., 1994). Some
important social groups are family, religion and community group.

3. Social identity theory

Social identity perspective holds that individuals define and evaluate themselves in terms of the groups of
which they are members. Ethnocentrism, stereotyping, in-group favoritism etc. occur when social identity
is the main basis of self-conceptualization. Social identity perspective subsumes the self-categorization
theory (Turner et al., 1987) and social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) and focuses on
discrimination, prejudice, cooperation, conflict, social change.

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The ideas of social identity theory were framed in the ‘minimal

group paradigm’. In the early 1970s, Henri Tajfel and
colleagues conducted a series of studies in which they divided participants into groups using an arbitrary
criterion (Tajfel, Billig, Bundy, & Flament, 1971). When they were told about their group membership,
they had to allocate points to members of their ingroup and to members of the outgroup. Even though the
groups were formed on the basis of a trivial criterion, it was observed that participants gave more points
to members of their own group than to members of the outgroup!

Therefore, social identity is used as a cognitive tool by people to categorize and order their social
environment. Basically, social identity theory was developed to explain conflicts and prejudice among
groups.

According to Tajfel and Turner a purely interpersonal interaction is one in which people relate as
individuals, without being aware of social categories whereas a purely intergroup interaction involves
people relating entirely as representatives of their groups, and one’s unique qualities are overshadowed.
Self-concept includes one’s ‘social identity’. Social identity involves dimensions of self-image derived
from the social categories to which they belong.

4. Social and self categorization

Social categorization lies at the center of the social identity approach. Social categorization has been
studied in relation to perceptual accentuation, prejudice, and discrimination.

Tajfel concluded that just by making ‘us and them’ distinctions prominent, changes the way individuals
perceive each other. Individuals enhance the similarities within the group as well as enhance differences
among groups. Social identity process is also generated by socially categorizing self and others.
Individuals represent groups as prototypes which describe as well as prescribe their perceptions, feelings,
thoughts and actions. This also defines the in-group and distinguishes it from out-groups. It is responsible
for normative behavior, conformity and other intergroup behaviors.

According to Turner et al. (1987), self-categorizations can be of three types:

personal self-categorizations (subordinate level); in-group and out-group
categorizations (intermediate level) and self-categorizations based upon the
perceiving human beings versus other life forms (superordinate level).

Social identity therefore encompasses group-level as well as the individual-level characteristics. Findings
from experiments on minimal groups show that when categorized people favor their in-group and show
in-group bias.

Self-categorization theory focuses on how the basic social cognitive processes influence how individuals
construe themselves and others in terms of group membership. This theory is also central in the
understanding other components like leadership, group polarization, social influence and group
cohesiveness. The contemporary nature of the social identity approach is influenced more by cognitive
constructs as compared to the original social identity theory.

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Figure 1 depicting the social identity theory

4.1 Social categorization and norms

Norms prescribe the acceptable and unacceptable behavior of in-group members.

4.2 Social identity salience

Identity salience refers to the chances of a particular identity being activated across various social
situations.

4.3 Social Identity and Group Commitment

The level of commitment to a particular group will influence how the norms of the group will influence
the responses of the group members.

4.4 Depersonalization
Depersonalization is considered as the central process in social identity theory. Depersonalisation is a
cognitive process where the self is viewed just as a representative of the ingroup prototype and not as a
unique individual (Turner, 1985, 1987).

Activating social identity is enough to result in depersonalization. It underlies ethnocentrism,

stereotyping, altruism, group cohesiveness etc. Thus, according to this theory, when an identity is
activated, it leads to the self-verification process that further influences behavioral consequences such as
role-making, role-taking, group formation and conflict.

When categorized, individuals are viewed in terms of the group prototype and judged on how well they fit
the prototype. This way, social categorization depersonalizes our perception of individuals since they are
not viewed as unique people but only as members of a group. Group prototypes state how individuals
perceive, think, feel and behave, it can be said that social categorization generates stereotypical
expectations.

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People categorize others and themselves too. This self-

categorization too depersonalizes in terms of the in-group
prototype. Even though this generates identification with the group, it also changes how people behave to
conform to the group prototype.

5. Outcomes in social identity theory

Many outcomes in social identity theory are cognitive which result from the depersonalization process. If
people positively value the ingroup, depersonalization increases mutual attraction between members and
enhances self-esteem for the members.

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Some of the outcomes of social categorization are:

1. In-group favoritism effect: According to Tajfel, Billig, Bundy & Flament (1971), people
generally evaluate members of the in-group more positively and make more favorable attributions
for their behavior. Tajfel’s (1969) experiments on minimal groups demonstrated this
phenomenon. Many systematic biases arise due to in-group favoritism:

i. Group-serving biases- people make internal attributions for in-groups’ successes

and external attributions for its failures while the opposite is done for the out-group.
ii. Assumed similarity effect- in-group members tend to perceive other in-group
members as more similar to themselves than to out-group members.
iii. Out-group homogeneity effect – people tend to see the members of the out-group as
quite homogenous in many aspects but perceive the members of the in-group as
diverse individuals. The out-group homogeneity effect is based partly on ignorance
about the qualities of the out-group.

2. Automatic Schema Activation

Due to categorization whenever we come across a member of an outgroup it leads to automatic schema
activation in terms of stereotypes relevant to that outgroup which inturn influence our behavior.

3. Accentuation
Due to social categorization, we tend to highlight similarities among members of in-group and view out-
groups as more homogenous. It happens because there is more familiarity with the in-group and hence we
have more information about the members of the in-group as compared to out-group (Linville, Fischer &
Salovey, 1989).
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4. Illusory Correlation Effects

In the illusory correlation effect, individuals link distinctive behaviors with certain categories. As a result,
individuals wrongly correlate negative attributes with minority groups.

5. Ethnocentrism
Depersonalization process also causes ethnocentrism. In depersonalisation, individual sees him/herself as
similar to ingroup members and different from outgroup members which may lead to ethnocentrism.

6. Descriptive and prescriptive group norms

There is a distinction between prescriptive/injunctive and descriptive group norms. Injunctive norms are
perceived social sanctions and individuals comply with such norms because other individuals may
disagree if they don’t. In-group prototype describes behavior and also prescribes it. Out-group norms also
affect behavior since they have a significant impact on how people construct in-group norms. People
construct in-group norms that are quite distinct from the out-group and then conform to their in-group
norms. They also show counter-conformity to out-group norms.

6. Schism
Often groups consist of minority subgroups which deviate from the group norms. In such situations, either
members try to reestablish the group’s original identity or may split into a separate subgroup. A schism
usually occurs if members start to feel that the group does not embrace diverse views and marginalizes
dissenting individuals. As a result of schism, one group breaks into two separate groups that are often
engaged in intergroup conflict. The split happens due to a serious social identity threat and it leads to a
powerful drive to reduce the self-conceptual uncertainty. Schisms sometimes can also be very destructive.

Cross-cultural studies show that there is a universal tendency to view one’s own group as morally
superior and more worthy of trust (Brewer, 1986). Ethnocentric views also lead to biased explanations for
actions of the in-group. According to Pettigrew, group members commit the ultimate attribution error.
They attribute their own desirable behaviors to internal and stable factors and attribute transitory factors
to explain the desirable behaviors of the out-group. The pattern is reversed in terms of undesirable
behaviors.

In intergroup relations, issues of power also play an important role. Very often the group with lesser
power is more aware of the differences in power and status. Usually, the members of the underprivileged
group are more hampered by their group belongingness. Researches have shown that status differences
between two groups will increase the tendency in both the groups toward in-group bias especially if the
difference in status is perceived as unreasonable or illegitimate (Tajfel, 1982).

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SOCIAL IDENTITY: INDIAN VIEWS

Indian researchers such as Sudhir Kakar and M.N.Srinivas have contributed to the
understanding of social identity. According to Kakar, “group identity is an extended
part of individual self experience, although the intensity of this experience varies
across individuals and with time. It can range from feelings of nominal affiliation with
the group to a deep identification or even feelings of fusion, where any perceived
harm to the group’s interests or threats to its ‘honour’ is reacted to as strongly as
damage to one’s own self” (Kakar, 1995).

To study the development of Muslim and Hindu psyches, Kakar explored religious
clashes, cultural stereotypes and intergroup violence. According to him, in early
childhood the social identity of every Indian develops by identifying with his/her
religion and community. This is a cause of anxieties and enmities towards the other.
Thus, for these groups violence is perceived as being communally sanctioned. As
groups strive for power, ethnic-religious conflicts ignite. Therefore, stereotyping
leads to the dehumanisation of the out-group members and is the antecedent to
violence.

Srinivas drew attention to the importance of caste in the electoral processes in India.
He proposed ideas regarding equality, justice and eradication of poverty. Using terms
like "dominant caste", "sanskritisation", "vertical (inter-caste) & horizontal (intra-
caste) solidarities", he attempted to capture the essence of caste as a social institution.

7. Why social categorization?

Why does merely categorizing people into an in-group and an out-group produce in-group favoritism
effect?

Positive self-concept: Tajfel & Turner have argued that the main reason for competitive behaviour
between groups is the desire to have a positive and self-concept. As a result, individuals are motivated to
think of their groups in positive terms. According to Festinger’s work on social comparison, people
evaluate their group with reference to relevant outgroups. To have a positive social identity, members of a
group attempt to maintain distinctiveness between one’s own group and outgroups. According to social
identity theory, intergroup behavior is motivated by a struggle between groups to protect and promote a
favorable social identity.

Self-esteem maintenance and enhancement: For enhancing their self-esteem, individuals positively
evaluate the ingroup relative to the outgroup and also positively evaluate themselves as a group member.
Other motives include self knowledge motive, collective self-esteem motive, self-consistency motive,
self-regulation motive etc.

Evolutionary Explanation: According to the evolutionary perspective, the inbuilt tendency for
individuals to try to reproduce their genes, led to hunter-gatherer tribes to favor relatives and engage in
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intertribal hostilities. In-group favoritism and out-group

antagonism can help protect limited resources and increase
survival of one’s own family (Fishbein, 1996).

Making sense of our subjective environment: Another important motive for social categorization is a
need to reduce uncertainty and making sense of our subjective environment. Individuals often identify
with groups when they are uncertain about their self-concept. When uncertainty is too high, individuals
look out for highly orthodox groups, charismatic leaders and also engage in extreme intergroup behavior.
Individuals use most readily available categories to make sense of their social environment.

8. The Social Identity Approach: Strengths and Limitations

The social identity perspective throws light on many aspects: it focuses on how self and identity are
structured, self-enhancement motive, social comparison, social categorization and intergroup relations.
The perspective highlights the importance of social identity and its implications.

The social identity approach has been criticized on many grounds. According to many critics, it is over-
simplified and rigid. Too much focus on reducing uncertainty and depersonalization downplays the extent
to which members of the ingroup tolerate diversity and voices of dissent within the group. Some criticize
that this theory is so broad that it fails to be falsifiable.

Since it focuses on individual processes and social cognition, social identity theory also suffers from
being too individualistic and reductionistic. This approach thus focuses more on ingroup favouritism than
on derogatory behaviors towards the outgroup and intergroup hostility.

In spite of criticisms, social identity is very powerful since it emphasizes upon group-level motives and
highlights the importance of the social context to examine group behaviour. It is a meta-theory which
rests on simple and testable principles.

9. Summary
 Social identity is part of an individual’s self-concept which derives from their membership in
social groups.
 Social identity is used by individuals to divide, categorize, and order their social environment.
 Social categorization lies at the center of the social identity approach.
 Norms describe and prescribe the behavior of in-group members.

 A social categorization produces normative behavior only when it is psychologically salient.

 The central process in social identity theory is depersonalization wherein the self is viewed as an
embodiment of the ingroup prototype and not as a unique individual.

 The outcomes of the social identity approach are in-group favoritism effect, automatic schema
activation, accentuation, illusory correlation effects, ethnocentrism, descriptive and injunctive
group norms, etc.

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 A schism in a group occurs if members feel that the

group does not embrace diverse views, and
marginalizes dissenting individuals.

 The main explanations for social identity and categorization include the desire for a positive self-
concept, self-esteem maintenance and enhancement, evolutionary explanation and making sense
of the subjective environment.

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