Identity Theory (identity + theory)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Psychology

Kinds of Identity Theory

  • social identity theory


  • Selected Abstracts


    Identity Theories of Truth and the Tractatus

    PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS, Issue 1 2005
    Peter M. Sullivan
    The paper is concerned with the idea that the world is the totality of facts, not of things , with what is involved in thinking of the world in that way, and why one might do so. It approaches this issue through a comparison between Wittgenstein's Tractatus and the identity theory of truth proposed by Hornsby and McDowell. The paper's positive conclusion is that there is a genuine affinity between these two. A negative contention is that the modern identity theory is vulnerable to a complaint of idealism that the Tractatus can deflect. [source]


    Leadership in R&D Projects

    CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007
    Diana Grosse
    This article describes the results of an empirical study regarding a suitable style of R&D project leadership, especially what tasks project leaders should perform by themselves and what tasks they should delegate, what personal characteristics they should be endowed with and what kind of relationships they should have with their team. Fifty interviews were held in German institutions short-listed for an award for their innovative products by the Saxon government. In contrast to the assumption of the Social Identity Theory, in these institutions good R&D project leaders are not the ,prototype' of their team, but successfully balance the interests of the company and the R&D project team. [source]


    Education-based group identity and consciousness in the authoritarian-libertarian value conflict

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
    RUNE STUBAGER
    The increasing importance of New Politics or authoritarian-libertarian values to electoral behaviour in advanced Western industrial democracies and the previously documented strong link between such values and educational attainment indicates that, contrary to the claims of some New Politics theorists, the ideological conflict is anchored in the social structure , in particular in educational groups. For this interpretation to be warranted, however, it should be possible to document the existence of education-based group identity and group consciousness related to the value conflict. The article develops indicators of the core variables out of Social Identity Theory. Based on a unique survey from Denmark, which includes the new set of indicators, the analyses show that members of the high and low education groups have developed both group identity and consciousness reflecting a conflict between the groups and that these factors are related to authoritarian-libertarian values. The results are interpreted as reflecting a relationship of dominance, which supports the view that the ideological conflict is structurally anchored. [source]


    Critical Junctures and Social Identity Theory: Explaining the Gap between Danish Mass and Elite Attitudes to Europeanization

    JCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 2 2005
    TRINE FLOCKHART
    By applying a combination of a social constructivist perspective on ideational change with theories of social learning and social identity, the article explains the gap in the Danish discourse on Europe between mass and elite. The Danish population is conceptualized as two differently constructed ,social groups' consisting of a nation people and a state-elite group. Each ,social group' has experienced different processes of ideational change and socialization and has developed different conceptions of interests and political preferences. [source]


    Mental health and identity: the evaluation of a drop-in centre

    JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002
    Sarah Hall
    Abstract This paper is based on interviews with users of a drop-in centre run by a voluntary group. Using a grounded theory approach the paper argues that individuals' use of the drop-in is linked to the discursive strategies that they have developed to cope with stigma. Tajfel's Social Identity Theory is employed as a framework to examine how users manage the threat to their identity posed by the diagnosis and experience of mental illness. The implications of this research are examined within the context of the empowerment paradigm of mental health. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Using Identity Theory to Develop a Midrange Model of Parental Gatekeeping and Parenting Behavior

    JOURNAL OF FAMILY THEORY & REVIEW, Issue 2 2010
    Kari Adamsons
    Given the socially constructed nature of parenthood, frameworks such as identity theory can help explain mothering and fathering behaviors and, particularly, parents' influence on one another's behaviors (referred to here as parental gatekeeping). Burke's (1991, 1997) identity verification model suggests that others encourage or inhibit identity-relevant behaviors via identity-behavior-feedback loops. This article proposes that such dyadic processes can explain parental gatekeeping; by combining empirical literature and propositions from identity theory and adding gender and power as moderating constructs, a midrange model of parental gatekeeping and parental behavior is derived. [source]


    Identity Theory and Personality Theory: Mutual Relevance

    JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 6 2007
    Sheldon Stryker
    ABSTRACT Some personality psychologists have found a structural symbolic interactionist frame and identity theory relevant to their work. This frame and theory, developed in sociology, are first reviewed. Emphasized in the review are a multiple identity conception of self, identities as internalized expectations derived from roles embedded in organized networks of social interaction, and a view of social structures as facilitators in bringing people into networks or constraints in keeping them out, subsequently, attention turns to a discussion of the mutual relevance of structural symbolic interactionism/identity theory and personality theory, looking to extensions of the current literature on these topics. [source]


    Do Strong Group Identities Fuel Intolerance?

    POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2006
    Evidence From the South African Case
    One conventional explanation of intergroup conflict is Social Identity Theory. That theory asserts that strong ingroup sympathies can give rise to outgroup antipathies which in turn fuel intolerance and conflict. While embraced by both macro- and microlevel analysts, this theory actually has not been widely investigated outside a laboratory environment. In this article, I test hypotheses linking group identities with intolerance, based on a 2001 survey in South Africa, a country where group identities have long been politicized. My empirical findings indicate that group identities are not useful predictors of South African intolerance. Indeed, for neither the black majority nor the white minority do ingroup identities activate very much outgroup intolerance. Moreover, group identities are positively, not negatively, correlated with holding a South African national identity. These findings, based on unusually broad indicators of both identity and tolerance, suggest that the causes of group conflict lie elsewhere than in group attachments. [source]


    An Identity Theory of Truth.

    THE HEYTHROP JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009
    By Julian Dodd
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Impact of Relative Size and Language on the Attitudes between Nations and Linguistic Groups: The Case of Switzerland

    APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
    Carine Matser
    This study explores the impact of relative size on the intra- and intergroup attitudes of groups who either share a language or have a different language. For that purpose, we examined international attitudes, comparing a small nation, Switzerland, and two larger nations, Germany and France. We found support for the assumption that large neighbouring nations pose a threat to the smaller nation's identity, especially when they are linguistically similar. Consequently, in line with Tajfel's Social Identity Theory (1978), the smaller nation's inhabitants evaluate those of the larger nation less positively, liking them less and perceiving them to be more arrogant than vice versa. By investigating the special case of the French-speaking and the German-speaking Swiss as linguistic groups within their own nation we were able to demonstrate that these groups seek support with the larger,linguistically,similar nation to defend themselves against the more direct in-country threat to their identity. They acknowledge the similarity with the larger nation, yet keep defending their social identity by expressing a dislike for this perceived similarity. Cette étude analyse l'impact de la taille relative de groupes partageant ou non un même langage sur les attitudes intra et inter groupes. Pour ce faire, nous avons étudié des attitudes internationales en comparant une petite nation, la Suisse, à deux grandes nations, l'Allemagne et la France. Nous avons confirmé l'hypothèse selon laquelle les grandes nations constituent une menace pour l'identité des plus petites nations voisines, particulièrement quand elles partagent une même langue. En conséquence, dans la lignée de la théorie de l'identité sociale de Tajfel (1978), les habitants de petites nations évaluent leurs homologues des plus grandes nations moins positivement, les apprécient moins et les percoivent comme étant plus arrogants que l'inverse. En enquêtant sur le cas particulier des Suisses francophones et germanophones comme groupes linguisitiques au sein de leur propre nation, nous démontrons qu'ils recherchent l'appui d'une plus grande nation similaire à eux linguistiquement pour se défendre d'une menace intérieure plus directe envers leur identité. Cependant, s'ils reconnaissent la similitude avec des plus grandes nations, ils n'en continuent pas moins à défendre leur identité sociale en exprimant une aversion pour cette similitude perçue. [source]


    Networking to develop a professional identity: A look at the first-semester experience of doctoral students in business

    NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING & LEARNING, Issue 113 2008
    Vicki L. Sweitzer
    Bringing together mentoring, social networks, and professional identity theories, this chapter explores how messages received from network partners influenced the professional identity development of business doctoral students in their first semester of study. [source]


    Ideological beliefs as determinants of discrimination in positive and negative outcome distributions

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 5 2005
    Catherine E. Amiot
    Social identity theory proposes that discrimination contributes favourably to group members' social identity. In minimal group paradigm (MGP) studies involving positive outcome distributions (e.g. money), discrimination is associated with a more positive social identity. But studies on the positive-negative asymmetry effect show that categorization leads to less discrimination when negative (salary cuts) than when positive outcomes (salary increases) are distributed. Using structural equation modelling, this study (N,=,279) tested whether discrimination involving negative outcome distributions could contribute as much to group members' positive social identity as discrimination on positive outcomes. The study also tested if ideological beliefs (i.e. social dominance orientation, authoritarianism), measured one month before the MGP experiment, could predict positive and negative outcome discrimination. While the fit of the hypothesized model was adequate, only social dominance orientation predicted both positive and negative outcome discrimination. Also, discrimination on positive outcomes but not on negative ones contributed to positive social identity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Individualist and collectivist norms: when it's ok to go your own way

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2003
    Brendan J. McAuliffe
    We conducted two studies to investigate the influence of group norms endorsing individualism and collectivism on the evaluations of group members who display individualist or collectivist behaviour. It was reasoned that, overall, collectivist behaviour benefits the group and would be evaluated more positively than would individualist behaviour. However, it was further predicted that this preference would be attenuated by the specific content of the group norm. Namely, when norms prescribed individualism, we expected that preferences for collectivist behaviour over individualist behaviour would be attenuated, as individualist behaviour would, paradoxically, represent normative behaviour. These predictions were supported across two studies in which we manipulated norms of individualism and collectivism in an organizational role-play. Furthermore, in Study 2, we found evidence for the role of group identification in moderating the effects of norms. The results are discussed with reference to social identity theory and cross-cultural work on individualism and collectivism. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Similarity as a source of differentiation: the role of group identification

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2001
    Jolanda Jetten
    The present research examines the relation between perceived intergroup distinctiveness and positive intergroup differentiation. It was hypothesised that the distinctiveness,differentiation relation is a function of group identification. In two studies group distinctiveness was varied and level of identification was either measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Study 2). Results support the prediction that low group distinctiveness leads to more positive differentiation for high identifiers, although we found less support for the prediction that increased group distinctiveness leads to enhanced positive differentiation for low identifiers. The difference in emphasis between social identity theory and self-categorisation theory concerning the distinctiveness,differentiation relation is discussed and the importance of group identification as a critical factor of this relationship is stressed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Compensatory biases after ingroup threat: ,yeah, but we have a good personality'

    EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
    Maria Rosaria Cadinu
    It was hypothesized that participants who strongly identify with the ingroup and receive unfavorable feedback about their group in one domain would compensate on alternative dimensions. A group of emergency medical service volunteers received negative, positive or no feedback on their volunteer organization and were asked to rate the ingroup and an outgroup on dimensions alternative to the feedback. As predicted, high identifiers showed an increase in ingroup favoritism after negative feedback (i.e. compensation) and a decrease after positive feedback (i.e. modesty effect). In contrast, low identifiers distanced themselves from the ingroup after negative feedback and accentuated self-ingroup similarity after positive feedback. Results are discussed in relation to a schema-maintenance model through compensation (Seta & Seta, 1993) and social identity theory. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Ethnic In-Group Favoritism Among Minority and Majority Groups: Testing the Self-Esteem Hypothesis Among Preadolescents

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
    Maykel Verkuyten
    The self-esteem hypothesis in intergroup relations, as proposed by social identity theory (SIT), states that successful intergroup discrimination enhances momentary collective self-esteem. This hypothesis is a source of continuing controversy. Furthermore, although SIT is increasingly used to account for children's group attitudes, few studies have examined the hypothesis among children. In addition, the hypothesis's generality makes it important to study among children from different ethnic groups. The present study, conducted among Dutch and Turkish preadolescents, examined momentary collective self-feelings as a consequence of ethnic group evaluations. The results tended to support the self-esteem hypothesis. In-group favoritism was found to have a self-enhancing effect among participants high in ethnic identification. This result was found for ethnic majority (Dutch) and minority (Turkish) participants. [source]


    Mergers and group status: the impact of high, low and equal group status on identification and satisfaction with a company merger, experienced controllability, group identity and group cohesion

    JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
    Peter Fischer
    Abstract Although mergers are seen as tools to enhance business in today's global marketplace, they have had a low success rate, possibly because the focus has been on financial and legal issues rather than on the human factors involved. In this respect, focusing on the social psychological variables, social identity theory can provide an explanation for the failure of most mergers. An experiment based on this theory involving mergers between two workgroups was conducted to investigate the effects of merger-related status on participants' psychological responses to the mergers. Thirty-six small groups were assigned to three different status groups (high, low and equal status groups) using the minimal group paradigm. Most negative responses to the merger,in terms of identification with the merger group, satisfaction with the merger, common in-group identity, group cohesion and controllability,were given by the members of the low status groups. Contrary to expectations, status was not related to the performance of the groups. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Using Identity Theory to Develop a Midrange Model of Parental Gatekeeping and Parenting Behavior

    JOURNAL OF FAMILY THEORY & REVIEW, Issue 2 2010
    Kari Adamsons
    Given the socially constructed nature of parenthood, frameworks such as identity theory can help explain mothering and fathering behaviors and, particularly, parents' influence on one another's behaviors (referred to here as parental gatekeeping). Burke's (1991, 1997) identity verification model suggests that others encourage or inhibit identity-relevant behaviors via identity-behavior-feedback loops. This article proposes that such dyadic processes can explain parental gatekeeping; by combining empirical literature and propositions from identity theory and adding gender and power as moderating constructs, a midrange model of parental gatekeeping and parental behavior is derived. [source]


    Looking at the future and seeing the past: the challenge of the middle years of parenting a child with intellectual disabilities

    JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 6 2005
    S. Todd
    Abstract Background This paper seeks to understand and conceptualize the experience of mothers of adolescents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) at a time in their lives which others have characterized as ,mid-life' or the ,middle years of parenting'. The concerns of the paper are the lifecourse concerns in mothers' own lives and with biographical elements of becoming and being such a parent. Methods Qualitative interviews were conducted with mothers of adolescents with IDs. The average age of mothers was 48 years. Typically parents were interviewed on two to three occasions. Results The data suggest that despite the difficulties they faced, these parents had constructed a ,life-as-ordinary' in the early phase of their parental careers. They saw themselves as ,ordinary mothers'. However, the social content and events of the middle years of parenting prompt a realization that their lives and, for some, their sense of ,self', are undergoing considerable change. Mothers are forced to look over their lives to find the meaning and significance of these events. For some, there is biographical reinforcement. For others, there is only disruption. Discussion The overall picture of these years is one of considerable changes and challenges, and underlines the need for a focus on the lifecourse concerns of parents as well as their children. The implications of the data for further research and service development are discussed in the context of identity theory. [source]


    Effects of Commitment and Psychological Centrality on Fathering

    JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2002
    Kay Pasley
    Propositions from identity theory suggest that interactional and affective commitment to a role identity affects the psychological centrality of that role identity. In turn, the centrality of one's role identity translates into role performance (Stryker & Serpe, 1994). This conceptual model was tested with a sample of 186 fathers in first marriages with at least one child 18 years or younger. The results showed that fathers who perceived their wives as evaluating them positively as fathers were more likely to report higher levels of involvement in child-related activities and place greater importance on the father role identity. This prominence, in turn, was associated with higher levels of involvement. [source]


    Long work hours: a social identity perspective on meta-analysis data

    JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 7 2008
    Thomas W. H. Ng
    The current study utilizes social identity theory to investigate employees' work hours. Specifically, we use meta-analysis to examine the relationships between hours worked and indicators of organizational identity (e.g., organizational support and tenure), occupational identity (e.g., human capital investments and work centrality), and family identity (e.g., family responsibilities and family satisfaction). The meta-analysis also allowed us to explore other important correlates of hours worked (e.g., situational demands, job performance, mental health, and physical health), moderating variables (e.g., age, gender, and job complexity), and curvilinear relationships of work hours to social identity indicators. Overall, we found that occupational factors and situational demands had the strongest relationships with hours worked, hours worked were negatively associated with measures of employee well-being, gender had several significant moderating effects, and there were curvilinear relationships between hours worked and well-being and work,family conflict variables. The article concludes with directions for future theoretical and empirical research. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Host country nationals as socializing agents: a social identity approach

    JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2007
    Soo Min Toh
    A major challenge facing Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) is finding ways to increase the success rates of managers assigned overseas. Our paper draws upon social identity theory to develop a model that focuses on the role of host country nationals (HCNs) in determining the adjustment of expatriate managers. Specifically, our model proposes attributes of the expatriate and the HCN that can increase the salience of national identity and outgroup categorization of expatriates by the HCNs. We also suggest how outgroup categorization interacts with a number of situational factors to influence the role of HCNs as socializing agents for expatriate newcomers. Finally, we propose that the socializing behaviors HCNs may display or withhold from the expatriate will affect the adjustment of the expatriate. Our model highlights the often-overlooked partners in the expatriate adjustment process and emphasizes the need for MNEs to be cognizant of the social dynamics between HCNs and expatriates in the host location. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Can dissimilarity lead to positive outcomes?

    JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, Issue 3 2003
    The influence of open versus closed minds
    Social identity theory and self-categorization theory have usually been interpreted to suggest that demographic dissimilarity will negatively influence employee outcomes. However, inconsistent with this interpretation, positive and neutral relationships between demographic dissimilarity and employee outcomes have also been documented in some instances for women and minority employees. It is argued here that the influence of demographic dissimilarity on the attitudes of women and minority employees is moderated by their level of dogmatism, which influences whether they view sex- and race-based status hierarchies in organizations as legitimate. Data from a survey shows that the influence of demographic dissimilarity on the organization-based self-esteem of employees, their level of trust in their peers and their attraction towards their peers is positive for individuals with higher level of dogmatism and negative for individuals with lower level of dogmatism. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The black,white "achievement gap" as a perennial challenge of urban science education: A sociocultural and historical overview with implications for research and practice,

    JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 10 2001
    Obed Norman
    A perennial challenge for urban education in the United States is finding effective ways to address the academic achievement gap between African American and White students. There is widespread and justified concern about the persistence of this achievement gap. In fact, historical evidence suggests that this achievement gap has existed at various times for groups other than African Americans. What conditions prevailed when this achievement gap existed for these other groups? Conversely, under what conditions did the gap diminish and eventually disappear for these groups? This article explores how sociocultural factors involved in the manifestation and eventual disappearance of the gap for these groups may shed some light on how to address the achievement gap for African American students in urban science classrooms. Our conclusion is that the sociocultural position of groups is crucial to understanding and interpreting the scholastic performance of students from various backgrounds. We argue for a research framework and the exploration of research questions incorporating insights from Ogbu's cultural, ecological theory, as well as goal theory, and identity theory. We present these as theories that essentially focus on student responses to societal disparities. Our ultimate goal is to define the problem more clearly and contribute to the development of research-based classroom practices that will be effective in reducing and eventually eliminating the achievement gap. We identify the many gaps in society and the schools that need to be addressed in order to find effective solutions to the problem of the achievement gap. Finally, we propose that by understanding the genesis of the gap and developing strategies to harness the students' responses to societal disparities, learning can be maximized and the achievement gap can be significantly reduced, if not eliminated entirely, in urban science classrooms. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 1101,1114, 2001 [source]


    Gender Differences in Perceived Work Demands, Family Demands, and Life Stress among Married Chinese Employees

    MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2006
    Jaepil Choi
    abstract Although gender-based division of labour and the identity theory of stress suggest that the relationship between work and family demands and life stress may vary as a function of gender, it is largely unknown whether these arguments are also valid in China. To address this gap in the existing literature, the current study investigates the gender differences in perceived work and family demands, and the effects of these perceived demands on the life stress of Chinese male and female employees. The study of 153 married Chinese employees found that Chinese women perceived a higher level of family demands than did Chinese men, whereas there was no significant gender difference in the perception of work demands. In addition, while perceived family demands were similarly related to life stress differently for men and women, perceived work demands were associated more strongly with the life stress of men than that of women. [source]


    Racial Identity and Asian Americans: Support and Challenges

    NEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 97 2002
    Alvin N. Alvarez
    Racial identity is an important but often overlooked aspect of working with Asian American college students. An understanding of racial identity theory can provide insight into the ways students experience and deal with the college environment, peers, and their identity. [source]


    Professional and organizational commitment in paediatric occupational therapists: the influence of practice setting

    OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2010
    Francine M Seruya
    Abstract The professional and organizational commitment of paediatric occupational therapists working in two distinct practice settings, schools and medically based settings, was investigated. A web-based survey program was used to administer a questionnaire to occupational therapists employed in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The study employed social identity theory as a guiding perspective in understanding therapists' professional and organizational commitment. One hundred and fifty-seven paediatric therapists responded to the Professional Commitment Questionnaire and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire to gauge their commitment to both the profession and their employing organizations. Results indicated that paediatric therapists, regardless of employment setting, have high professional commitment. Paediatric occupational therapists employed in medically based settings indicated statistically significant higher organizational commitment than their school-based counterparts. For therapists that work in school settings, the presence of a professional cohort did not influence professional commitment scores. As the study employed a web-based survey methodology, only individuals who were members of associations and had access to a computer and the Internet were able to participate. Further study might include widening the participant pool as well as adding additional instruments to explore both professional and organizational commitment on a more national scale. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Identity Theories of Truth and the Tractatus

    PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS, Issue 1 2005
    Peter M. Sullivan
    The paper is concerned with the idea that the world is the totality of facts, not of things , with what is involved in thinking of the world in that way, and why one might do so. It approaches this issue through a comparison between Wittgenstein's Tractatus and the identity theory of truth proposed by Hornsby and McDowell. The paper's positive conclusion is that there is a genuine affinity between these two. A negative contention is that the modern identity theory is vulnerable to a complaint of idealism that the Tractatus can deflect. [source]


    A Disparity of Esteem: Relative Group Status in Northern Ireland after the Belfast Agreement

    POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
    Roger Mac Ginty
    Using the case of a deeply divided society (Northern Ireland) in the aftermath of a major peace accord, this article combines two methodological approaches to assess the public reception of the peace accord and its impact on intergroup competition. The social psychological concept of esteem (central to social identity theory) and time-series data are used to assess intergroup relations between Protestant-unionists and Catholic-nationalists in Northern Ireland in the wake of the 1998 peace accord. By illustrating the disparity of esteem between the two main politico-religious groups, the article indicates early settlement weakness. Moreover, it suggests a conceptual approach that may be applicable to the study of intergroup competitions in other divided societies. [source]


    Social Identity, System Justification, and Social Dominance: Commentary on Reicher, Jost et al., and Sidanius et al.

    POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2004
    Mark Rubin
    The articles by Reicher (2004), Jost, Banaji, and Nosek (2004), and Sidanius, Pratto, van Laar, and Levin (2004) discuss the strengths and weaknesses of social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), system justification theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994), and social dominance theory (Sidanius, 1993). The latter two theories grew out of a critique of social identity theory, but this critique relates more to deficiencies in social identity research than to deficiencies in the theory itself. More balanced and comprehensive social identity research is required in order to allow a fair assessment of the theory's limitations. In addition, Reicher (2004) and Huddy (2004) are correct that only social identity theory offers the potential for explaining social change and social stability. [source]