week 23

social identity theory and stereotyping

9 March 2016

23.01 Social Identity Theory and Stereotyping

Beliefs held in common by the group help individuals make sense of the world, and improve
communication between group members
Stereoyping: the generalizations we make about individuals based upon the groups to which they
belong
Read pp. 106-110 of your Crane and Hannibal textbook, Section 4.1:
Sociocultural level of analysis: sociocultural cognition.
Read pp. 15-20 of the Pamoja Supplementary eText, The Sociocultural Level of
Analysis: Section 2, Sociocultural Cognition: C Social Identity theory & D.
Stereotyping.

4.1: sociocultural cognition

106-110
Social identity theory
o Henri Tajfels
o assumes that individuals strive to improve their self-image by trying to
enhance their self-esteem, based on either personal identity or various
social identities
boost their self-esteem through personal achievement or through
affiliation with successful groups
Social belonging
o based on the cognitive process of social categorization
Explains social phenomena such as ethnocentrism, in-group
favouritism, stereotyping, and conformity
can produce competitive intergroup behaviour
o automatically think of that group as their in-group (us) and all others as
an out-group (them)
o Favouritism vs. discrimination
o individuals self-esteem is maintained by social comparison
benefits of belonging to the in-group versus the out-group
o Cialdini et al. (1976)
Wear college clothing after successful football match
o our need for a positive self-concept will result in a bias in these intergroup
comparisons
o the establishment of positive distinctiveness
o Assigned to group - being similar in attitude and behaviour, and a bond is
formed among group members
o Tajfel et al. (1971)
observed that boys who were assigned randomly to a group,
based on their supposed preference for the art of either Kandinsky
or Klee, were more likely to identify with the boys in their group,
and were willing to give higher awards to members of their own
group
o Limitations of social identity theory

it describes but does not accurately predict human behaviour

it fails to address the environment that interacts with the self.
Cultural expectations also play a role
Social representations
Moscovici (1973)
He defined social representations as the shared beliefs and explanations
held by the society in which we live or the group to which we belong
Foundation of social cognition
Help to make sense of the world
cultural schemas that are fundamental to the identity of the group, and
they provide a common understanding for communication within the
group
a group may have its own social representation of success, beauty, or
intelligence.
Caroline Howarth (2002)
how social representations of Brixton affected the identity of
adolescent girls
Stereotyping
a social perception of an individual in terms of group membership or
physical attributes - generalization
form of social categorization that affects the behaviour of those who hold
the stereotype
result of schema processing
Stereotype threat: the effect of stereotypes on an individuals
performance
fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that
stereotype
Steele and Aronson (1995)
30-minute verbal test, made up of very difficult multiplechoice questions
genuine test of their verbal abilities
African American participants scored significantly
lower than European American participants
a laboratory task that was used to study how certain
problems are generally solved
African American students scored higher than the
first group, and their performance on the test rose
to match that of the European American students
stereotype threat can affect the members of just about any social
or cultural group, if the members believe in the stereotype
Steele (1997): spotlight anxiety (causes emotional distress and
pressure that may undermine performance) is turned on my
stereotype threat
Spencer et al. (1977)
women in the experiment significantly underperformed
compared with equally qualified men on the difficult
mathematics tests due to the stereotype threat
o The formation of stereotypes

o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o
o
o

Tajfel argues that this is a natural cognitive process of social

categorization
Campbell (1967) maintains that there are two key sources of
stereotypes: personal experience with individuals and groups, and
gatekeepersthe media, parents, and other members of our
culture
Stereotypes have a basis in some reality
grain of truth hypothesis argues that an experience with
an individual from a group will then be generalized to the
group
Criticized since errors in attribution are common
Hamilton and Gifford (1976)
Argue that stereotypes are the result of an illusory
correlation
people see a relationship between two variables
even when there is none
Cognitive bias
a persons tendency to make errors in
judgment based on cognitive factors
confirmation bias
people tend to overlook information that contradicts
what they already believe.
makes stereotypical thinking resistant to change
social desirability effect is a confounding variable in such
research

SCLOA
Section 2: sociocultural cognition
15-20
C: Social Identity Theory
a persons sense of who they are based on their group membership(s)
Groups to which people belong are an important source of pride and self-esteem
o Give sense of social identity
Enhance group status to feel better about self (we are inferior)
out-group (them) and in-group (us) through social categorization
o in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their own selfimage

Taijfels theory can be used to explain the process of stereotyping and the
development of prejudice
development of identification with the in-group
o Categorization
belong to many different groups and appropriate behaviour
o Social identification
adopt the identity of our group
Conform to norms of label, including emotionally with self-esteem
of membership
o Social comparison
To maintain self-esteem
Competing identities between hostile groups
Verkuyten (2005)
o members of ethnic minority groups were more likely than majority group
members to endorse multiculturalism
o Dutch and Turkish participants living in the Netherlands
o identify with their ethnic in-group and to show positive in-group evaluation
D: Stereotyping
Cardwell (1996) defines a stereotype as a fixed, overgeneralized belief about a
particular group of people
considered a schema, as we categorize people into a group and apply general
characteristics, forming a schema of how members of this group behave
do not add specific information for each person
develop biases against whole groups
Stereotypes can become an aid to misunderstanding
Formation of stereotypes
o Social identity theory
Tajfels (1979)
the process of categorization in to in-group and out-group and the
subsequent favouring of the in-group leads to a positive
stereotyping of the ingroup as (for example) cool, intelligent,
motivated etc. and a negative stereotyping of the out-group
members as losers, stupid, slow and so on
Necessary for self-esteem
Brigham (1986)
white people were more likely to stereotype African
Americans as criminals
o Illusory correlation
Hamilton & Gifford (1976)
distinguishes between stereotyping as the encoding of new
information and stereotyping as the application of existing
knowledge
cognitive factors alone can be sufficient to produce differential
perceptions of social groups
The cognitive process underlying the illusory correlation effect is
triggered by the co-occurrence of two fairly infrequent situations or
events. This automatically triggers the observers attention and

o
o

these events are better encoded and remembered. Therefore they

are more accessible to retrieval.
confirmation bias, or when one favours information that supports
ones preconceptions
used to explain a perceived relationship between minority groups
and negative behaviour
Hamilton and Gifford performed an experiment in which
participants read desirable and undesirable trait adjectives about
the members of one majority group and one minority group
Attribution error
Grain of truth hypothesis and gatekeeper theory
Campbell (1967)
stereotypes can be formed from two sources; from a
persons own experiences with that group of people or
through gatekeepers like the media, parents and friends
Grain of truth = evidence that is exaggerated and
generalized
An individual (cognitive) explanation
a persons stereotyping and prejudice is unlikely to be just directed
towards one particular group, but is more likely to be a feature of
the prejudiced persons personality.
Schaller et al. (1995)
conducted two studies that confirmed the existence of the
prejudiced personality
Risen et al. (2007)
conducted four studies to explore the phenomenon of one-shot
illusory correlations
a single instance of unusual behaviour by a member of a
rare group is sufficient to create an association between
group and behaviour
one-shot illusory correlations arise because unusual pairings of
behaviours and groups uniquely prompt people to consider group
membership as the explanation of the unusual behaviour
Effects of stereotypes
Stereotypes can lead to biases, distortion, generalization, and can
unconsciously affect our judgement and memory, which in turn can affect
our behaviour.
Memory
Cohen (1981) tested if stereotypes affect memory
Participants were shown a video, and half were told the
woman in the video was a waitress; half were told she was
a librarian
Recalled details of stereotypes of careers
stereotypes can affect the type of information we focus on and
what we remember
Stereotype threat
a situational predicament in which individuals suspect their
behaviors could be judged on the basis of negative stereotypes
about their group instead of personal merit

When people consider stereotypes that target their groups, their

performance tends to suffer in the stereotyped domain
self-fulfilling prophecy they then perform worse and thus
confirm the stereotype
Steele and Aronson (1995)
African Americans and European Americans participants
took a problem-solving test
When African Americans were told that the test would
represent their verbal skills, they performed worse than
European Americans. But when they were told that the test
was just for studying how problems are generally solved,
they performed as well as the European Americans.
can cause emotional distress and pressure that leads to
the self-fulfilling prophecy that the participants fear
Inzlicht and Kang (2010)
investigated how stereotype threat, which they identify as a
threat to ones social identity, affects aggression, eating,
decision making, and attention
coping with the stress of stereotype confirmation and this
results in a lack of self-control
four studies in which they had participants cope with
stereotype threat and then measured their performance in
domains in which stereotypes were not present
In Study 1 they examined whether taking a
threatening maths test could lead women to
respond aggressively.
In Study 2 they investigated whether coping with a
threatening maths test could lead women to indulge
themselves with unhealthy food later on and
examined the moderation of this effect by personal
characteristics.
In Study 3 they investigated whether vividly
remembering an experience of stereotype threat
results in risky decision-making.
In Study 4 they asked whether coping with threat
could directly influence attention to a task, as
assessed by EEG.
stereotype threat can spill over and impact self-control in a
diverse array of non-stereotyped areas

23.02 Stereotypes in Your Community and Culture

What types of stereotypes have you observed in your community or culture? If you
are comfortable doing so, you can write about your own experiences. Have you
been the victim of stereotyping? Have you stereotyped others, and how?
Drawing explicitly from your reading, identify at least two factors that may have
contributed to the formation of these stereotypes.

The first thing that came to mind was the gender stereotypes that I have seen. While
travelling around the world, I have noticed the cultural schemas and how each country
acknowledges gender roles. In Sweden, men and women were treated as equals under
the democratic state and the concept of being one of the first gender neutral countries
was something to be proud of. However, in countries such as Costa Rica and Ecuador,
they seem to hold more of a machismo mentality, in which men continue to be the head
of the household while the wives are expected to stay at home to clean, care for the
kids, and cook. Recently while in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I organized a football match
with a group of males staying at the same hotel as my school. The first thing I heard
when we arrived was something like, You even brought an audience. I saw the man
looking at me and the three other girls, and felt the obvious stereotyping the football is a
sport for only men and that girls should not be allowed to participate. These stereotypes
may have been formed by the social identity theory, in which the men see women as
weak and less athletic and themselves as stronger, in order to boost their self-esteem,
and the grain of truth hypothesis and gatekeeper theory, in which their experience and
emphasis from the media have encouraged the prejudice against women, in order to
generalize females as not being football players.

23.03 Social Identity Theory

Tajfels (1971) study of in-group and out-group behavior
After completing this activity, you should be able to evaluate social identity theory, and discuss
how the experimental method is used at the sociocultural level of analysis.

Why Groups and Prejudices Form So Easily: Social Identity Theory

Participants, who were 14 and 15 year-old boys, were brought into the lab
and shown slides of paintings by Klee and Kandinsky. They were told their
preferences for the paintings would determine which of two groups they
would join.
this was a lie designed to set up the idea of us and them in their minds.
asked to distribute virtual money to the other members of both groups.
The only information they had about who they were giving it to was a code
number for each boy and that boys group membership.
Did the boys distribute the money
o Fairly?
o To obtain maximum joint profit?
o For maximum ingroup (own group) profit?
o For maximum difference between groups?
o Using favouritism? This involves a combination of maximum
ingroup profit and maximum difference?
did indeed demonstrate the classic behavioural markers of group
membership: they favoured their own group over the other
boys had nothing whatsoever to gain from favouring their own group
Tajfel argued that people build their own identities from their group
memberships

only have that high status when compared to other groups

It is all about boosting their own identities through making their own group
look better
Criticism
o behaviour can be explained by simple economic self-interest, but
other studies used symbols
o demand characteristics - responding with what researchers wanted,
but wants were unclear as the two experiments were unrelated
Social identity theory states that our identities are formed through the
groups to which we belong. As a result we are motivated to improve the
image and status of our own group in comparison with others.

IB Psychology
Name: Natalie Cassello
2016

15 March

Teacher: Helen Loughran

Learning Outcome
Evaluate social identity theory making reference to specific studies.
Social Identity Theory (SIT)
Social identity is a persons sense of who they are based on their group
membership(s). Henri Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. ethnic group,
family, sports team etc.) to which people belong are an important source of pride
and self-esteem. Groups give us our sense of social identity, a sense of
belonging.
Evaluation

Any evaluation of SIT must begin with a description and evaluation of Tajfel
(1971). As more than one study is required you would need to describe and
evaluate at least one of the studies identified in the diagram above:
Level of Analysis

Investigator/s

Date

SCLOA

Tajfel

1971

Description (Aim, Type of study, Participants, Procedures, Findings

Conclusions):
This study aimed to investigate the effects of social categorization and the
social identity theory (SIT) on human behavior. Participants, which included
forty-eight 14 and 15 year-old boys from Bristol, United Kingdom, were asked
to choose their favorite painting by either artist, Klee or Kandinsky, and were
told that their preference would determine which group they would become a
member of. The second part of the experiment involved the distribution of
virtual money, knowing only the code number and membership of each boy.
Results showed that the boys favored their own group when distributing the
money because it increases the status of the group, which increase selfesteem for the individual. This created a maximum difference between the ingroup and the out-group and showed that even random categorization
enhances a situation of favoritism of in-group members and discrimination of
out-group members.
Evaluation
Methodology Considerations

Ethical Considerations

Gender/Cultural
Considerations

Simple economic self-interest

could have been the focus of
the IV, but similar studies
used symbols, which gave the
same result.
Categorization was
ecologically valid, as it was
similar to a school
experience.
Participants could have given
demand characteristics by
responding with what the
researcher wanted to hear,

Deception was used in

order to make the boys
think they had a
similarity with the other
boys in his group,
although this ethical
error was necessary
and explained
afterwards.

The results cannot

be generalized
because participants
only included 14 and
15 year-old English
males.

but it was unclear as to how

the two parts of the
experiment were related
making researcher bias more
difficult.
Results show favoritism of the
in-group, but not much
prejudice against the outgroup.
Study #2
Level of Analysis

Investigators

Date

SCLOA

Cialdini et al.

1976

Description (Aim, Type of study, Participants, Procedures, Finding,

Conclusions)
This laboratory experiment represents the social identity theory through social
categorization and comparison amongst college football supporters.
Participants in a large lecture hall at 7 different universities were observed on a
Monday, after a football match. Results of this method showed that there was a
tendency to wear more college insignia and clothing after a success than a
loss. These findings suggest that the intergroup comparisons create a positive
self-bias, so one can relate more positively with what their group represents.
The second part of this experiment involved researchers calling participants to
interview them about their schools performance during the previous game.
Results shows that most participants used the pronoun we after a win and
they after a loss. This experiment supports the social identity theory that
people strive for a positive self-image and that their social identity is impacted
by their group, which affects the behavior of the individual member.

Evaluation
Methodology
Considerations

Ethical Considerations

Gender/Cultural
Considerations

Ecologically valid, as
the experiment is
observing and

There may have been

slight deception of
feelings during interviews

Participants only included

students at American
universities regarding

interviewing in a
natural setting

by having distraction
tasks or providing
feedback

football, which means the

results cannot be
generalized

23.04 Formative ERQ: Social Identity Theory

Write an essay responding to the following ERQ:

o Evaluate social identity theory with reference to relevant studies. [22
marks]
Submit your essay of about 800-1000 words here.

http://ibguides.com/psychology/notes/evaluate-social-identity-theory-making-reference-torelevant-studies

The social identity theory is a concept proposed by Tajfel in order to

better understand group processes and intergroup relations. Both a
persons personal and social identities formed increase ones selfesteem and self-image. This theory is based on three main concepts,
including social categorization, social identification, and social
comparison/ positive distinctiveness, which develop the identification
within the in-group. Categorization is attaching labels to people and
things to better understand and organize thinking. Social norms of
specific groups also shape the expected behavior of the corresponding
members. Social identification is accepted your labels, adopting the
group identity, and conforming to the appropriate behavior. Social
comparison is then used to promote self-esteem and positive behavior
by competing for identities and resources between rival groups. Two
studies which investigated this theory were Tajfels study of 1971 and
Cialdini et al. of 1976.
In 1971, Tajfel aimed to investigate the effects of social categorization
and the social identity theory (SIT) on human behavior at the SCLOA.
Participants, which included forty-eight 14 and 15 year-old boys from
Bristol, United Kingdom, were asked to choose their favorite painting
by either artist, Klee or Kandinsky, and were told that their preference
would determine which group they would become a member of. The
second part of the experiment involved the distribution of virtual
money, knowing only the code number and membership of each boy.
Results showed that the boys favored their own group when
distributing the money because it increases the status of the group,
which increase self-esteem for the individual. This created a maximum
difference between the in-group and the out-group and showed that
even random categorization enhances a situation of favoritism of ingroup members and discrimination of out-group members.

There were many methodological considerations of this experiment.

First, simple economic self-interest could have been the focus of the IV,
but similar studies used symbols, which gave the same result.
Categorization was ecologically valid, as it was similar to a school
experience. Participants could have given demand characteristics by
responding with what the researcher wanted to hear, but it was unclear
as to how the two parts of the experiment were related making
researcher bias more difficult. Results show favoritism of the in-group,
but not much prejudice against the out-group. Ethically, deception was
used in order to make the boys think they had a similarity with the
other boys in his group, although this ethical error was necessary and
explained afterwards. Also, the results cannot be generalized because
participants only included 14 and 15 year-old English males.
In 1976, Cialdini et al. conducted an study which represents the social
identity theory through social categorization and comparison amongst
college football supporters. Participants were observed to wear more
college insignia and clothing after a success than a loss. These findings
suggest that the intergroup comparisons create a positive self-bias, so
one can relate more positively with what their group represents. Tajfel
referred to this concept as the establishment of positive
distinctiveness in 1978. The second part of this experiment involved
researchers calling participants to interview them about their schools
performance during the previous game. Results shows that most
participants used the pronoun we after a win and they after a loss.
This experiment supports the social identity theory that people strive
for a positive self-image and that their social identity is impacted by
their group, which affects the behavior of the individual member.
One positive consideration was that the experiment was ecologically
valid, as the it involved observing and interviewing in a natural setting.
However, it may not have been completely ethical because there may
have been slight deception of feelings during interviews by having
distraction tasks or providing feedback. These concerns should have
been explained to all participants at the end of the experiment. Also,
participants only included students at American universities regarding
football, which means the results cannot be generalized.
Its interesting to think that being randomly assigned to a group causes
members to relate to having similar attitudes and behavior, which
forms a bond amongst the group members. These in-groups are shown
favouritism while the out-group is discriminated against in order to
promote and maintain the individuals self-esteem in social
comparison. There are thought to be benefits of belonging to the ingroup rather than the out-group. These intergroup behaviors are based

on the social identities which are explain social phenomenon, such as

ethnocentrism, favouritism, stereotyping, and conforming.
The social identity theory also has its limitations. First, there is no way
it can predict human behavior, but it is able to simply describe it in
certain circumstances of different groups and the social norms showing
the appropriate behavior of the members of that group. The theory
also disregards the environment which is interacting with the
individual. SIT suggests that group identity controls behavior, but there
is also a role of cultural expectations, as this research was done at the
SCLOA, which stands for sociocultural, including both social and
cultural explanations.
However, the SIT is restricted by the methodological limitations,
unrepresentative samples, and hypothesis about self-esteem which
void this theory as a whole, as personal identity does not change
according to group superiority and the short-term effects increased
self-esteem has on that personal identity. Also, there is little evidence
using dispositional factors in empirical studies.
In conclusion, the social identity theory states that the in-group will
compare themselves to the out-group by showing favoritism and
discrimination in order to increase their own self-esteem and enhance
their own self-image. Social categorization, social identity, and social
comparison are the main concepts supporting the SIT. Two studies
which investigated this theory are Tajfels study of 1971 and Cialdini et
al. of 1976. These experiments help to show that the SIT explains
group and individual identities, in relation to the in-groups and outgroups, as wells as a reasoning as to why it is human nature to show
prejudice.