8. What is SOCIALIDENTITY THEORY?
• Social Identity Theory explains how prejudice can
result from intergroup relations that involve
identification with the in-group and negative attitudes
towards the out-group
• Mechanism –
– Identity is derived primarily from group memberships
– People strive to achieve or maintain a positive social
identity.
– This positive identity derives largely from favorable
comparisons that can be made between the in-group and
relevant out-groups
9. What is SOCIALIDENTITY THEORY?
• History - Social Identity Theory was developed by
Tajfel and Turner in 1979.
– The theory was originally developed to understand the
psychological basis of intergroup discrimination.
• Tajfel attempted to identify minimal conditions that
would lead members of one group to discriminate in
favor of the in-group to which they belonged and
against another out-group.
10. • In the event of an unsatisfactory identity people may
seek to leave their group or find ways of achieving
more positive distinctiveness for it.
• Key Assumptions –
– People must be subjectively identified with their in-group;
– The situation should permit evaluative intergroup
comparisons
– The out-group must be sufficiently comparable (e.g. similar
or proximal) and that pressures for distinctiveness should
increase with comparability
What is SOCIALIDENTITY THEORY?
11. • Key problems solved - Conflicting roles of ‘identity’ in
research
– Personal identity which refers to self-knowledge that
derives from the individual’s unique attributes
• I like Lady Gaga, I am a wacky person, I am prone to major episodes
of dress-to-impress!
– Individual-based perception of what defines the “us”
associated with any internalized group membership.
• I am a Singaporean, I am female, I am Christian
• Defines the ‘social’ self based on group, in-group bias,
status inequality, stereotyping, etc
WhY is IT IMPORTANT?
12. • Media ownership & content are important elements of
intergroup environment
– American media propagates the dominant class’s hegemonic ideology
in order to gain the consent of the subordinate classes to a system that
perpetuates their subordination
– Advertising depicts American Indians in stereotypical ways
• Individuals’ group identification levels influence their
relationship with media
– Social creativity demonstrates that individuals prefer shows featuring
in-group members, even when the content is controlled
– Women read romance novel to support their gender identities, despite
what might be construed as demeaning portrayals of women in books.
WhERE IS IT APPLICABLE?
13. • Media content influences intergroup cognitions
– Identification: Nationalistic appeals in advertising can protect the
collective self-esteem of individuals who identify strongly with their
nation
– US coverage of Gulf War in ways that encouraged support for the war
and discourage dissent
– In ROCKY IV, Rocky loses to a Russian boxer and this resulted in high
level of derogation of Russians as a group
• Group process driven by identification influences media
environment
– Dominant groups use this strategy when their identity is threatened
– As women power in society grows, violent pornography proliferates as
a response to feminism
WhERE IS IT APPLICABLE?
14. • Tajfel and Turner (1979) identify three variables whose
contribution to the emergence of in-group favoritism is
particularly important.
– Self-identification with group constructs self-concept
– Prevailing context fuels group comparison
– Perceived relevance of the comparison group (shaped by the relative
and absolute status of the in-group)
• Individuals are likely to display favoritism when an in-group is
central to their self-definition and a given comparison is
meaningful or the outcome is contestable.
WHENIS IT APPLICABLE?
19. VIA SIT: WORSHIPPING IMAGINATION
Media
Defined
Groups
Traits/Utopia
based Social
Identification
No
space/time
constraints
Fan fiction,
symbols,
language
fuel group
identity
20. My Brand GroupMy Recognition
VIA SIT :UNDERSTANDINGONLINE BRAND
RELATIONSHIPS
21. VIA SIT :UNDERSTANDINGONLINE BRAND
RELATIONSHIPS
PROSUMERS
(ELITE)
LOYALS
PROSUMERS
(COMMON)
CONSUMERS
SKILL INVOLVED IN SOCIAL IDENTITY
BRAND’SRECOGNITIONINGROUP
HIGH LOW
LOWHIGH
OUT GROUP
INVASION
22. PROSUMERS
(ELITE)
DIVERGE – LESS
RESIST – LESS
LOYALS
DIVERGE – LESS
RESIST - MORE
PROSUMERS
(COMMON)
DIVERGE – MORE
RESIST - MORE
CONSUMERS
DIVERGE – LESS
RESIST - LESS
SKILL INVOLVED IN SOCIAL IDENTITY
BRAND’SRECOGNITIONINGROUP
HIGH LOW
LOWHIGH
VIA SIT :UNDERSTANDINGONLINE BRAND
RELATIONSHIPS
23. VIA SIT :UNDERSTANDINGknowledge gaps
Vs.
SAME KNOWLEDGE - COPY RIGHTS
DIFFERENT APPROACHES FOR SEEKING IT BASED ON SOCIAL
IDENTITY – FREEDOM Vs. HEGEMONY
SELF CONCEPT (In-group vs. Out-group)
BASED KNOWLEDGE GAPS!
24. GROUP WAR AS STRUGGLE FOR POWER STILL EXIST
REVOLUTIONARY WAR - 1775
25. JUST THAT … IT’S FOUGHT ONLINE NOW!!
WIKIPEDIAN ACTIVITY - 2010
26. THEN IT WAS SIZE (DEMOGRAPHICS), SWORDS & PROXIMITY…
GULLIVER TRAVELS - 1894
27. NOW IT’S ABOUT BELIEFS (HEROES/BRANDS), WORDS & ANONYMITY!
STREET FIGHTER 4 - 2010
