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Social IDENTITY Theory - Coggle Diagram
Social IDENTITY Theory
Competition and conflict are not necessary for prejudice to develop, the simple knowledge of an out group that we do not belong to is enough
social categorisation
placing yourself and others into particular groups
- in group: your group that you are a part of
- out group: groups you are not a part of
social identification
associating with your in group to emphasise membership. this may be in the form of wearing particular clothes that identify you with your group.
if your group does well you feel good
social comparison
to boost your mood/ self esteem you make your in group look better than the out group. people can deliberately make the out group look bad through prejudice towards them
Blue eyes Brown eyes study
a teacher told her (young) students that people with brown eyes are superior. instant prejudice was formed between the two groups, with no introduction of competition or conflict, supporting SIT
Tajfel
Aim
to test whether prejudice and discrimination can form between groups without the introduction of competition or conflict
Procedure
- asked 64 teenage schoolboys to choose between two paintings.
- at random, two groups were allocated, forming an in group and an out group
- participants were then asked to give or take points away from both groups
findings and conclusion
participants favoured the in group, and discriminated against the out group
this show that competition and conflict are not necessary to cause prejudice
Whetherell
in a replication of Tajfel's study, found that New Zealand Polynesian children favoured the out group more than the in group
CISAC
Issues and Debates
ethnocentric - ideas such as 'self esteem' and 'self concept' are a very western explanations, and may apply better to individualist cultures, not collectivist cultures
Studies
- Tajfel
- Blue eyes Brown eyes
- Wetherell (Tajfel replica)
Applications
can be applied to significant world events in which prejudice developed and had an effect despite no conflict or competition causing it e.g. genocide in Rwanda
Cannot Explain
it cannot account for why opposing groups may show differing levels of prejudice at different times assuming that their collective self-esteem has not altered.
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