Social Identity Theory Essay

Yet, MacDonald and Leary (2005) reflected that social pain of exclusion are functional in responding to danger and guiding social groups from threats (p.223). Symbolic Interactionism by other scholars Blumer (1986) alleged that racial and ethnic exclusion is formed via interactions between the dominant groups. However, dominants would not hold racial and ethnic views without interactions. So, these interactions conduce to an imagery of the subordinates which allows the dominants to support its view of the subordinates, thus maintain the status quo.

As derived from social identity theory (SIT), secondhand embarrassment theory studies the effect a person’s social identity has on the level of secondhand embarrassment they experience, as a result of viewing a social media post. Social identity theory suggests that people are aware of their social groups and that these groups are important to how one thinks or feels about themselves as individuals (Tajfel & Turner, 197494). SIT also discusses that once people associate themselves with a group, they will strictly refer to their group as “us” and the other group as “they”. This will encourage individuals to act differently towards those not a part of their group (Kruglanski, Higgins, & Van Lange, 2012). SIT focuses more on the categorization of individuals into groups.

An example of such adaptation is the ways in which stigmatized individuals manage their identity to conform to the structural norms and expectations of society. Goffman’s concept of ‘information control’ as a means of ‘stigma management’ provides us with a scenario in which agency and structure work together as both the justification and reason for motivated action for a stigmatized individual. Goffman (1963) implies that individuals are responsible for their own actions as well as able to manage the interpretations of others in relation their actions. Thus, stigmatized actors can tactfully represent themselves in a more socially acceptable and positive light. This is done primarily to control the conduct of others, especially the potentially negative responsive treatment towards the stigmatized person.

The other consequence of social classification is that the individual makes the behaviors appropriate to the group prototype for the group (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). • Identity and Behavior As a result of social classification, the individual's recognition of himself as a member of certain groups affects the identity. According to SIT, there are two different types of identity, namely social and personal identity (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). The social identity includes the meanings and feelings of values that come from the groups in which the individual is included as a result of the social classification, while the physical attributes that distinguish the person from the other group members include characteristics such as individual experiences (Ashforth and Mael, 1989). The concept of social identity, which is at the core of the theory, includes self images from group

We can see this law hurt states by losing support because of acceptance to racial profiling. Having acceptance for racial profiling can cause outrage and boycotts, but more important it can... ... middle of paper ... ...Kruger. New York: Parson-Longman, 2011. 490-92. Print.

This study is another example of how SIT affects intergroup behavior. Although, some ethical considerations to take into a count Is that it may cause stress for the participants and make them feel insecure. Also, discrimination was evident so this links with issues related to the SIT. Despite the amount of studies that agree with the social identity theory, it suffers some weaknesses such as methodological considerations like having unrepresentative samples as well as the fact that this theory only favors situational factors. Also, stereotyping is a big factor that plays in the social identity theory as it is a big form of social categorization.

The importance of locating identity within the social arena is expressed as it is believed that people conform to expectations placed on them by various social forces (Stryker, 1968). The self is distributed across different social arenas and the notion of people playing roles can feel uncomfortable as it can be seen as autonomic and manipulating (Stryker, 1994). Although, the individual would still have a strong basis of sense of self, there are a variability in behaviour in which side of self the individual would show depending on what’s appropriate and adaptable to the situation or setting (Turner, 1987). This alternative view contributes a better understanding in the notion of competing roles, as it is useful for individuals to have competing traits where we change within different relationships or situations to suit the needs of different aspects in life. The CP approach see the self as de-centred, where identity is claimed to be more prominent and tied to social and cultural ideals (Freeman, 1993).

Here, the term ‘identity’ refers to the individual personality (behavioural and characteristic) of a person. It is what differentiates us from each other. The way we think about ourselves and the way we are viewed by others are things that shape our identities. Social constructionists believe that humans form identities through experiences, language (discourse) and learning and are particularly interested in the ways in which people behave in social settings. This use of language can be a great analytic tool and can give better understanding and meaning to more general behaviour through, for the most part, subjectivity and insider viewpoints.

And usually this status will lead to successful identity evolving Feeling similar to some make us feel sense of belonging to society, feeling difeerent make us feel unique. To know your identity, you must understand both how you differ from others and how you are similar.All this have strong impact on our self vision of ourselves,our identity.

Social perception is the process of interpreting information and making assumptions about others in order to attach meanings based on what we can observe. Social perception also refers to using social cues and available information to evaluate others. People rely on social context when judging others as it strongly influence how we label people and their behaviors. Social perceptions can also be flawed because observers can misinterpret others and come to the wrong conclusion. It is important to understand the concept of social perception because it allows individuals to recognize their own bias when forming impressions about others.