Describe SIT using one study Flashcards
(5 cards)
Theory
Social identity theory assumes that people do not have only one “personal self”, but rather a number of selves that correspond to their group membership, because SIT assumes that we categorize ourselves based on group membership. The theory was proposed by Tajfel in 1979 where he identified 3 psychological processes involved in the creation of SIT.social categorization (classifying people into groups), social identification (adopting the norms of the group), and social comparison (comparing the in-group with out-groups to maintain self-esteem). All 3 steps are fueled by positive distinctiveness – motivation individuals have to show that their in-group is better than out-groups.
Aim
One study that investigated SIT is Tajfel et al. study. The aim was to investigate if intergroup discrimination would take place based on being put into different groups by meaningless criteria.
Procedure
Sample consisted of 48 British schoolboys aged from 14 to 15. They were asked to rate 12 paintings by Klee and Kandinsky. They were not aware which painting was painted by who. They were then randomly allocated to one of two conditions and told that they preferred either Klee or Kandinsky. Furthermore they were asked to award points to two boys – one from their and one from another group. There were two point awarding system: first one where points were linked to the sum of both scores of 15 – if one gave their group member an 8, 7 points were automatically awarded to the other group; in the second system researchers manipulated the points awarded – if one gave a high number of points to their group, a higher profit goes to the other group; if one gave mid range amount of points same amount goes to the other group; and if one gave small amount of points to their group one point goes to other group.
Results
Results showed that in the 1st system boys allocated more points to their in-group showing in-group favoritism. In the second condition the boys rather gave fewer points to their group, just to maximize the difference in scores between the groups. Those results showed that there is a natural tendency of members of a group to favor their in-group. Additionally, despite meaningless criteria boys were able to identify with their respective group and create a positive social identity by giving more points to their in-group members.
Link
This study supports Social Identity Theory by showing that simply categorizing individuals into groups, even when the groups are meaningless, is enough to trigger in-group favoritism and discrimination. Despite the lack of real connection between participants, they consistently allocated more points to their in-group members. This demonstrates that social categorization alone can shape group identity and behavior, providing clear evidence for the core ideas of SIT.
