Categorization and Social Identity

Linguistic Intergroup Bias

• Tendency to describe positive ingroup behaviors more abstractly and negative ingroup behaviors more concretely
• Tendency to describe positive outgroup behaviors more concretely and negative outgroup behaviors more abstractly

Social Identity

• Depersonalization: taking on group characteristics as part of one's social identity
• Social categorization: individuals automatically classify people into groups
• Social identification: being part of a group is an important part of one's self-concept

Strategies for Maintaining a Positive Self-Concept

• Individual Upward Mobility: minority group members attempt to leave their group and join the higher-status majority group
• Select a New Comparison Outgroup: minority group members compare their group with another minority group
• Accepting Disadvantaged Position: accepting the high status of the majority group as legitimate and stable
• Social Creativity: focusing on unique superior traits of the minority group and forming new dimensions that value these traits more

Collective Social Protest

• Adopting militant attitudes and working together to achieve social change
• Perceiving the majority group's superiority as illegitimate and unstable
• Feeling that change is possible and motivated by social injustice and relative deprivation

Social Identity Theory

• Conceptual analysis of self-evaluation processes that theorizes self-esteem functions to monitor one's degree of inclusion and exclusion in social groups
• People fight over important group values, attitudes, beliefs, and normative practices (Social competition)

Other Theories

• Similarity differentiation hypothesis: intergroup similarity leads to more negative intergroup attitudes
• Sociometer theory: self-esteem provides individuals with feedback about their degree of inclusion in groups
• Brewer's Optimal distinctiveness theory: individuals strive to maintain an optimal balance between their personal and collective identities