The
Social Identity Theory
This study is
anchored on Social Identity Theory and was propounded by Tajfel in 1978. The Social Identity Theory asserts
that group membership can enhance ways individuals behave within the in-group,
but often at the expense of those considered as those in the out-group. The
theory is concerned with the existence of multiple identities, the variability
of the degree to which people identify with a social group and the role of the
social context in social identification. This theory does not only explain
one’s self concept, but it also addresses the ways in which people view others.
Tajfel and Turner (2014) added that as group members are motivated to maintain
their social identities, they tend to exhibit a favourable bias towards others
who appear to have similar characteristics. It is the quests for positive
distinctiveness which social identity theory proposes that underlies many of
the behavioural, evaluative and perceptual biases which are frequently observed
in inter group contexts.
Individuals tend to
develop a lot of identities as they move through the stages of their lives.
They tend to define themselves in terms of their gender, religion, ethnicity,
age, background or profession and “put on” different identities in different
circumstances. In line with this thinking, Bartel (2014) posits that by virtue
of its complex nature of the politically important identities and history of
chronic and seemingly intractable conflicts and instability, competing groups
tend to adopt exclusionary, winner-takes-it-all strategy, with persons having
crisscrossing and recursive identities. This made the ethnic, religious,
regional, and sub-ethnic (communal) appear to be the most salient. Thus,
members of a group can decide to identify themselves as ‘religious’ rather than
‘ethnic’, as individuals and groups may do from time to time, depending on the
level and scope of conflict or uncertainty. Strong group identification can
predict whether discriminatory behaviour will or will not occur within a work
setting particularly with regard to diversity. Ethno-linguistic and regional
identities remain strong in Nigeria as private sector bureaucracies in the
media, banks, the formal sector economy, and even civil society, continue to
manifest considerable ethnic bias. Explanations of prejudice and discrimination
focus on how being a member of a specific group helps to magnify one’s sense of
self esteem.
Furthermore, social
identity invokes a number of different areas of psychological competence:
knowledge, motivation, perception, memory, personality, and emotion, to name a
few. And yet one's social identity seems to stand a bit apart from any of these
psychological concepts singly. Cognitive psychology focuses on some aspects of
this mix; social psychology and personality psychology focuses on other
aspects; but there is no area of psychology that attempts to capture all of
"social identity" as a psychological real process or structure. This
means that in a workforce where social identity is relegated to the background,
the other ethnic are not considered in the working place, the personality and
perception of the employees might change thereby affecting the service delivery
of the employees.
Components of Social Identity Theory
Social Categorization:
- Definition: The process by which individuals classify themselves and others into different groups (e.g., race, nationality, occupation).
- Purpose: Helps to simplify and organize the social environment by creating distinct categories, making it easier to understand social dynamics.
Social Identification:
- Definition: The process by which individuals adopt the identity of the group they have categorized themselves into, seeing themselves as part of the group.
- Impact: This leads to an emotional attachment to the group and aligns individual behavior with group norms and values.
Social Comparison:
- Definition: The process of comparing one's in-group with out-groups to maintain or achieve positive distinctiveness.
- Outcome: Individuals strive to enhance the status of their in-group relative to out-groups, which can lead to in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination.
Psychological Mechanisms and Implications
In-group Favoritism:
- Explanation: The tendency to prefer and positively evaluate members of one's own group over those of out-groups.
- Result: This can result in biases, stereotyping, and discrimination against out-groups.
Out-group Homogeneity Effect:
- Explanation: The perception that members of out-groups are more similar to each other than they really are, while seeing in-group members as more diverse.
- Impact: This effect can reinforce stereotypes and reduce empathy towards out-group members.
Intergroup Conflict:
- Explanation: Competition and conflict can arise when groups seek to achieve or maintain a favorable comparison with other groups.
- Context: Often observed in situations where resources are scarce or where there is a perceived threat to the in-group's status.
Applications of Social Identity Theory
Intergroup Relations:
- SIT helps explain various forms of intergroup behavior, including prejudice, discrimination, and conflict. For instance, it can be used to understand racial tensions, nationalism, and organizational behavior.
Identity and Self-esteem:
- The theory suggests that a significant part of an individual’s self-esteem is derived from their group memberships. Positive social identity boosts self-esteem, whereas negative social identity can lead to strategies for improving group status or individual disidentification from the group.
Group Behavior:
- SIT informs how group norms develop, how leadership is perceived, and how collective action is mobilized. It is widely applied in organizational psychology to improve teamwork and manage diversity.
Criticisms and Further Development
While SIT has been influential, it has also faced criticism and prompted further research. Critics argue that it may overemphasize the role of social identity over individual identity and personal traits. Moreover, subsequent theories like Self-Categorization Theory (SCT), also by Turner, expanded on SIT by further detailing the cognitive processes behind group formation and identity.
In addition, the social identity of the employees such as their knowledge, motivation, perception, memory, personality, and emotion, to name a few would remain strong in helping workforce in a particular organization when ethnic diversity is given due attention. This would make the organization improve its service delivery because the workforce comes from diverse ethnicity which has helped in carrying service delivery efficiently. Nigerian Breweries Company Plc, Enugu will not be left out if they adopt workforce diversity as this would make them to improve on the service delivery of the organization.
+----------------+
| Group Membership |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Social Identity |
| (Ingroup favoritism) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Intergroup Comparison |
| (Comparison with |
| outgroup) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Social Categorization |
| (Categorization into |
| ingroup and outgroup) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Positive Distinctiveness |
| (Desire for positive |
| distinctiveness) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Social Change and |
| Competition for |
| Limited Resources |
+----------------+
| Group Membership |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Social Identity |
| (Ingroup favoritism) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Intergroup Comparison |
| (Comparison with |
| outgroup) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Social Categorization |
| (Categorization into |
| ingroup and outgroup) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Positive Distinctiveness |
| (Desire for positive |
| distinctiveness) |
+----------------+
|
|
v
+----------------+
| Social Change and |
| Competition for |
| Limited Resources |
+----------------+
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