Social Identity Theory

• According to the introductory text, what kind of questions might an exam ask about Social Identity Theory?

  General or specific questions about the theory
• According to the introductory text, what should you be able to explain about Social Identity Theory?

  Strengths and weaknesses
• Who developed Social Identity Theory?

  Tajfel & Turner
• In what year was Social Identity Theory developed?

  1979
• What was Henri Tajfel's nationality?

  Polish
• What event in Tajfel's life led him to research prejudice and discrimination?

  His family was killed in Nazi death camps
• What does Social Identity Theory say we get our self-esteem from?

  The groups we belong to
• What type of theories does Social Identity Theory oppose?

  Realist theories
• What does Social Identity Theory suggest is sufficient to create prejudice?

  Group membership by itself
• What other theory does Social Identity Theory oppose?

  Realistic Conflict Theory
• What does Realistic Conflict Theory suggest conflict is based on?

  Irrational needs for identity
• What does Social Identity Theory propose people might sacrifice to defeat out-groups?

  What they need
• What does Social Identity Theory illustrate about people's decisions?

  Expressions of group identity and needs
• What key question in social psychology does Social Identity Theory help explain?

  Prejudice and how to reduce it
• What do people tend to do with their groups?

  Identify with them
• What do people tend to have about outgroups?

  Negative views
• According to Tajfel, why did the Nazis want to destroy the Polish Jews?

  Not realistic conflict; a different explanation
• What are the three stages of group formation in Social Identity Theory?

  Categorization, identification, and comparison
• What is social categorization?

  Seeing yourself as part of a group
• According to Social Identity Theory, what two identities does everyone have?

  Personal and social
• What might social identity involve?

  Groups based on gender, class, or religion
• What is social identification?

  Perceiving others as ingroup or outgroup
• What do you pay particular attention to once you have a social identity?

  Ingroup members
• What do you adopt from ingroup members?

  Values, attitudes, appearance, and behavior
• What is social comparison?

  Viewing your ingroup as superior
• According to Social Identity Theory, where does prejudice stem from?

  Regarding ingroup products as better
• What is at the core of social identity, according to Tajfel & Turner?

  Self-esteem
• What does prejudice lead to if you have the power to influence the outgroup?

  Discrimination
• Why do we need to feel good about the groups we belong to?

  To feel good about ourselves
• According to Social Identity Theory, what may influence how much someone identifies with their ingroup?

  Personality
• Whose Authoritarian Personality Type relates to getting self-esteem from social identity?

  Adorno's
• According to Social Identity Theory, when does social comparison not happen?

  With irrelevant outgroups
• What type of groups do football fans tend to compare themselves to?

  Supporters of a rival club
• Who carried out the most famous research into Social Identity Theory?

  Tajfel et al. (1970)
• What were Tajfel's experiments known as?

  Minimal Groups studies
• Why were Tajfel's experiments called "Minimal Groups" studies?

  Minimal reason to feel loyal
• Who were the participants in Tajfel's minimal groups studies?

  Bristol schoolboys aged 14-15
• How were the boys divided into minimal groups in one study?

  Over or under-estimating dots
• How were the boys divided into minimal groups in another study?

  Preference for Klee or Kandinsky
• Were the boys actually assigned to groups randomly?

  Yes, but they were not told