Social Psychology Quizzes

Social Identity Theory: Understanding Intergroup Behaviour

• Social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group.

• Social identity theory explains intergroup behaviour and predicts certain intergroup behaviours based on perceived group status differences, the perceived legitimacy and stability of those status differences, and the perceived ability to move from one group to another.

• Social identity theory is not a general theory of social categorization, but a theory of how social identities predict intergroup behaviour.

• Social identity approach describes the joint contributions of both social identity theory and self-categorization theory.

• Social identity theory suggests that an organization can change individual behaviours if it can modify their self-identity or part of their self-concept that derives from the knowledge of and emotional attachment to the group.

• Social identity theory has its roots in early twentieth-century collectivist perspectives that disappeared from mainstream social psychology by the late 1920s.

• Behaviour varies along a continuum between interpersonal behaviour and intergroup behaviour, with behaviour being driven by a compromise between the two extremes.

• A key assumption in social identity theory is that individuals are intrinsically motivated to achieve positive distinctiveness, and social identity theory details a variety of strategies that may be invoked in order to achieve positive distinctiveness.

• Social identification can lead individuals to engage in prosocial behaviours towards others.

• Social identities are a valued aspect of the self, and people will sacrifice their pecuniary self-interest to maintain the self-perception that they belong to a given social group.

• Social identity theory has been criticised for having far greater explanatory power than predictive power, with the relationship between independent variables and resulting intergroup behaviour often not that which was predicted at the outset.

• Social identity theory is not a definitive answer to understanding intergroup relationships and must go hand in hand with sufficient understanding of the specific social context under consideration.The Minimal Group Paradigm: Understanding In-Group and Out-Group Bias

• The minimal group paradigm is a social psychology experiment that examines the formation of in-group and out-group bias.

• The experiment involves randomly assigning participants to groups based on arbitrary criteria, such as their preference for a particular painting.

• Even with such arbitrary criteria, participants tend to favor their own group over the other group in various ways, such as awarding more points to their group members.

• This bias is not limited to intergroup interactions, as participants also tend to allocate more resources to their own group when making individual decisions.

• The minimal group paradigm has been replicated in various contexts and populations, demonstrating the robustness of in-group and out-group bias.

• Researchers have also explored the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying this bias, such as the role of social identity and the activation of reward centers in the brain.

• The minimal group paradigm has implications for understanding real-world phenomena such as prejudice, discrimination, and conflict between groups.

• Criticisms of the minimal group paradigm include its limited ecological validity and the difficulty of generalizing findings to more complex and diverse groups.

• Researchers have attempted to address these issues by modifying the paradigm or using complementary methods, such as field studies and longitudinal designs.

• The minimal group paradigm also raises ethical concerns regarding the manipulation of social identity and potential harm to participants.

• Despite these challenges, the minimal group paradigm remains a valuable tool for studying intergroup relations and advancing our understanding of human social behavior.

• The paradigm has also inspired further research on related topics, such as social identity theory, social categorization, and intergroup contact.