Psychology2016

Social Psychology 485

SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY In social identity theory, three processes are responsible for
the formation of a person’s identity within a particular social group and the attitudes,
concepts, and behavior that go along with identification with that group (Tajfel &
Tu r n e r, 1 9 8 6 ; R i c h a rd e t a l. , 2 0 1 5 ). T h e f i r s t p ro c e s s i s social categorization, as discussed
earlier in this chapter. Just as people assign categories to others (such as black, white,
student, teacher, and so on) to help organize information about those others, people
also assign themselves to social categories to help determine how they should behave.
The second element of social identity theory is identification, or the formation of one’s
social identity. A social identity is the part of the self-concept that includes the view of
oneself as a member of a particular social group within the social category—typically,
the in-group. The third aspect of social identity theory is social comparison, Festing-
er ’s (1954) concept in which people compare themselves favorably to others to improve
their own self-esteem: “Well, at least I’m better off than that person.” Members of the
out-group make handy comparisons. All three aspects of social identity form, at least
in part, through interaction with a group, particularly a small group (Thomas et al.,
2016).
With respect to prejudice, social identity theory helps explain why people feel
the need to categorize or stereotype others, producing the in-group sense of “us versus
them” that people adopt toward out-groups. Prejudice may result, at least in part, from
the need to increase one’s own self-esteem by looking down on others.

STEREOTYPE VULNERABILITY As discussed previously, stereotypes are the widespread
beliefs a person has about members of another group. Not only do stereotypes affect
the way people perceive other people, but also stereotypes can affect the way people see
themselves and their performance (Snyder et al., 1977). Stereotype vulnerability refers

Although Elliot tried to be critical of the brown-eyed out-group, she soon found that

the blue-eyed children were also criticizing, belittling, and were quite vicious in their attacks

on the brown-eyed children. By the end of the day, the blue-eyed children felt and acted

superior, and the brown-eyed children were miserable. Even the lowered test scores of

the brown-eyed children reflected their misery. Two days later, the brown-eyed children

became the favored group, and the effects from the first two days appeared again but

in reverse this time: The blue-eyed children began to feel inferior, and their test scores

dropped.

The fact that test scores reflected the treatment received by the out-group is a stun-

ning one, raising questions about the effects of prejudice and discrimination on the edu-

cation of children who are members of stereotyped out-groups. That the children were so

willing to discriminate against their own classmates, some of whom were their close friends

before the experiment, is also telling. In his book about this classroom experiment, A Class

Divided, Peters (1971) reported that the students who were part of the original experiment,

when reunited 15 years later to talk about the experience, said that they believed that this

early experience with prejudice and discrimination helped them become less prejudiced as

young adults.

Questions for Further Discussion

1. Is there anything about this experiment that you find disturbing?


2. How do you think adults might react in a similar experiment?


3. Are there any ethical concerns with what Elliot did in her classroom?


4. What kinds of changes might have occurred in the personalities and performances
   of the children if the experiment had continued for more than 2 days with each
   group?

social identity

the part of the self-concept including

one’s view of self as a member of a

Rarticular social category.

social comparison

the comparison of oneself to others in

ways that raise oneos self-esteem.

social identity theory

theory in which the formation of a

person’s identity within a particular

social group is explained by social

categorization, social identity, and

social comRarison.

stereotype vulnerability

the effect that people’s awareness

of the stereotyRes associated with their

social grouR has on their Dehavior.