Social Identity

The theory investigates how social identity takes precedence over individual identity. It also discusses the various ways in which social identity affects group behaviour. An individual has a personal self and many identities associated with the various organisations to which they belong. Based on the group to which one belongs, a person may act differently in different social situations. Membership in a sports team, family in another nation with a diverse cultural background, a person’s neighbourhood, and various other factors are all possibilities. Let’s discuss more social identity in detail. 

Cognitive Processes Related to Social Identity

According to the Social Identity Theory, when people identify their in-group or out-group, they go through three conceptual processes. The three steps are described below.

Social Categorization

The categorisation is the first mental process that takes place. The process by which individuals classify themselves into social groupings is known as categorisation. They do this to gain a better understanding of the social world.

That perspective of the social environment encompasses oneself and is shaped by the groups they participate in. People, on average, identify themselves quite often based on their social categories rather than on personal and individual attributes.

The emphasis on the similarity amongst persons in the same group and the contrasts between people in different groups is often the result of social categorisation. People can belong to various social groups, maybe one or more will be more important than the others. It is dependent on a person’s social situation. Person X, for instance, can identify as a businessman, sports lover, and loving father, but these identities appear once they are appropriate to the social situation.

Social Identification

The social identification process is the next step. It is the procedure for identifying oneself as a member of a group. People start to behave as they believe members of that specific group must act when they socially identify with such a group. For example, a person may identify as an environmental activist and demonstrate this by keeping water consumption, recycling, and attending climate change awareness activities. People get deeply attached to their group membership due to their actions. As a result of this phenomenon, their self-esteem is likewise influenced by their group’s position. 

Social Comparison

Social comparison is the third mental process. It is the process by which people compare their private group’s reputation and social status to other groupings.

People must believe that their in-group has a higher social status than the out-group to keep their self-esteem. A movie celebrity, for instance, regards himself as belonging to a higher social class than a Shakespearean actor who had classical training. A member of a group is unlikely to compare themself to a member of the out-group. The comparison must apply to the scenario.

Maintaining a Positive Social Identity

Individuals are often motivated to retain their self-esteem and feel good within themselves. People’s self-esteem is linked to the social status of their particular in-groups because of the emotional investments they make in their memberships.

A positive social identity results from a favourable opinion of a person’s in-groups by important outside groups. People will generally use one of three tactics if a positive evaluation is not possible:

Individual mobility

If a person does not like their current group, they may want to leave and join a group with a higher social rank. Naturally, this has little bearing on the group’s overall identity, but it might significantly impact an individual’s status.

Social creativity

Members of a social group may improve their group’s overall status simply by attempting to influence one aspect of comparing the two groups.

It is obtained by contrasting the groups from various angles. Another alternative is to compare the group to someone from a lower social status group.

Social competitiveness

Members of social groupings can also work together to improve their condition to increase their group’s status. In this scenario, one group competes directly towards another, intending to change the groups’ social status on one or even more aspects.

Favouritism and discrimination

Favouritism or prejudice often are perceived as two sides of the same coin within those social groups. Nevertheless, research indicates that this isn’t always the case. The favourable perception of a person’s group and the negative perception of an out-group have no direct connection.

In-group bias is another term for favouritism. It is the impact in which people treat others differently because they belong to the same social group.

Prejudice and preconceptions, racism, and sexism are adverse effects of favouritism within a social group. However, it does not always result in hostility towards out-groups. According to research, favouritism and bias are two distinct phenomena that don’t always do with one another.

Conclusion

Social identity theory discusses the situations in which social identity is much more significant than individual identity and the various ways in which social identity can impact group behaviour. According to social identity theory, when people classify their in-groups and out-groups, they can get through three different mental processes. The categorisation is the initial step. People organise themselves into groups through the process of categorisation. They do it mostly to gain a better understanding of the social world. Working together to address the issue can increase the group’s position. In this situation, one group directly competes with another to change the social order.