Tajfel

• Social identity theory


  based on the assumption that the most important feature of people in the social world is by classifying social groups into 'us' and 'them'.
• what are the four components of the SIT?


  -social categorization: process by which we identify the groups we belong to and the group we do not ( in-group and out-group)

  -social identification: once categorized, the individual will start to identify with the group and adopts its values and norms

  -social comparison: start to compare their own groups to other to justify their group membership, often biased in their own favor, leading to in-group favouritism (may lead to prejudice_

  -An individual reaches salience when they gain a keen awareness of their group identity and thus the group is more likely to influence their behaviour
• aim


  investigate wether intergroup discrimination would take place based on being put into different groups
• Sample


  48 boys aged 14-15 yrs
• procedure

  -boys were asked to rate 12 paintings by abstract artists klee and kandinsky and were not aware of who painted what during the experiment.

  -randomly allocated to 1 of 2 grps and were told they had preferred either klee or kandinsky

  -each boy was then given task to award points to two other boys: one from his group and one from the other group

  -the only information they were given was their code numbers and their group names

  -point allocation system 1: sum of both scores must add up to 15

  -ponit allocation system 2 was manipulated by tajfel: he made it to that if a klee member chose high points for another, it would give higher points to the out-group. if they chose a medium number, each grp would get the same points and if they chose a low number the other grp would only get one point
• results

  -first allocation system: the boys generally higher points to their own group, showing in group favouritism

  -second system, boys were willing to give their own grp lower points w the goal of maximising the difference btwn their in-grp and out-grp.

  -surpising as boys were willing to walk away w fewer points in hopes of helping their won teams
• conclusion

  -natural tendency for individuals to favour their ingroup
• link backs

  -despite the allocation of being random, the prtcpst were able to identify w their respective grps and create a positive social identity through giving their own group minimal points

  -therefore, this study demonstrated that a "minimal group" is all that is necessary for individuals to dicriminate against another group.