Table of contents:
- Simple categorization into groups
- Social competition concept
- Safe and insecure social identity concept
The theory of social identity is situated at the group pole and halfway between the cognitive and the motivational. Research and theoretical developments. During the 70s: the debate was opened on whether only categorization in groups was enough to trigger intergroup behavior.
Later Rabbie and Horwitz worked on the theory of social identity based on the mere division of individuals into 2 classes (green and blue), it did not produce bias in favor of the group itself. It did occur when individuals shared the same luck (obtaining or not a prize).
You may also be interested in: Theory of the categorization of the I or self-categorization - Turner Index- Simple categorization into groups
- Social competition concept
- Safe and insecure social identity concept
Simple categorization into groups
TAJFEL: You tested whether simple categorization into groups provoked discriminatory behavior.
Conditions that the situation had to meet:
- Lack of interaction between groups.
- Decisions under conditions of anonymity (without knowing which specific individual they affect), with knowledge only of belonging to one or another group.
- Exclusion of the self-interest of the decision-maker (no material benefit).
- Possibility of comparing the choice of rational decision strategies with those that tend to discriminate against the outgroup, or that they earn less in order to differentiate themselves more.
- Bring into play responses that were important to the participants.
Adjusting to these conditions, experiments were carried out under the name of the "PARADIGM OF THE MINIMUM GROUP": The minimum conditions (the mere categorization) were given for a group behavior to appear.
THE CLASSIC EXPERIMENT: He divided a group of subjects into 2 groups, based on their aesthetic preferences.
- Initial task: Give aesthetic judgments regarding slides of paintings by 2 foreign painters (Klee and Kandinsky), the subjects not knowing to which artist the painting belonged.
- Second task: Make decisions regarding the distribution of money between 2 people at a time. The people were anonymous, but the name of the group to which they belonged came.
VI: The categorization.
VD: The type of decision made. The DV measure of the distribution of prizes among members of the outgroup or in-group was done through matrices.
- Basic strategies:
- Maximum Joint Profit (MGC): Obtain the maximum money from the experimenter for the members of both groups considered together.
- Maximum Endogroup Gain (MGE): Choose the numerical combination that guarantees the member of the group itself the maximum amount possible.
- Maximum Difference (MD): In favor of the in-group. It allows to obtain a greater distance between what the in-group member and the out-group member get.
- Justice Strategy (J): Distribution of the same amount for the in-group as for the out-group.
- Results:
- Importance of endogroup favoritism (MGE + DM) versus obtaining maximum joint benefit (MGC).
- The relative favoritism (MD) strategy was more powerful than MGE + MGC Þ MD> MGE + MGC.
- Relative favoritism (MD) was higher than absolute favoritism (MGE): MD> MGE.
- Justice (J) was an important determinant in decisions.
- * It is enough to separate the subjects into groups according to a trivial criterion, to produce intergroup differentiation effects.
Social competition concept
The Concept of Social Competition becomes important when it comes to accounting for the process that operates in the minimal group experiments. The category provided by the experimenter (dividing the subjects according to a trivial criterion), constitutes the only means for the individual to obtain a positive distinctiveness in said situation, using the comparison dimension available to him (money distribution). This leads you to look for differences in that dimension and allows you to maintain a positive self-esteem.
Later theoretical development: extension of the theory to the analysis of stratified societies.
According to Tajfel, social interaction can be situated on a continuum that goes from the interpersonal to the intergroup pole.
This continuum carries a PARALLEL BELIEF STRUCTURE that refers to the nature of intergroup relationships:
- Social mobility beliefs predominate in social situations in which subjects perceive the possibility of changing and improving their social position by freely selecting a group that allows them to have a positive social identity (flexible and permeable social system).
- The beliefs of social change are characterized by the difficulty of moving individually from one group to another, so that all possibility of change is conceived based on the change of the group as a whole.
Concept of INADEQUATE SOCIAL IDENTITY: When a group to which the individual belongs does not provide a positive social identity (the result of the comparison with other groups is negative).
STRATEGIES AVAILABLE TO USE:
- Individual mobility: Leave the group and try to "pass" to the most valued group. It is an individual strategy.
- Social creativity: Altering or redefining the terms of the comparative situation. 3 possible ways: Comparing with other groups in a new dimension of comparison (Lemaine's experiment). Changing the values associated with certain group attributes. Changing the outgroup with which the comparison is made. Social competition: It consists of overcoming the outgroup in the same dimension in which it was previously superior. These last 2 strategies are collective in nature.
Safe and insecure social identity concept
They are derived from safe or unsafe social comparisons:
- Safe: Occurs when cognitive alternatives to the status quo of the intergroup relationship are not perceived.
- Insecure: When that alternative is perceived. The perception of these alternatives is a consequence of the differences in the status quo between groups being considered unstable or illegitimate. The perception of illegitimacy and instability leads to an increase in group differentiation.
If you want to continue with Social and Organizational Psychology: Groups and the relationship between groups you can read about Theory of the categorization of the SELF or self-categorization - Turner.
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