- Subject index
Representing both traditional and emerging perspectives, this multi-disiplinary and truly international volume will serve as a seminal resource for students and scholars.
Chapter 11: Social Identity and Self-Categorization
Social Identity and Self-Categorization
Social identity theory is one of the most influential and far reaching theories of intergroup relations and group processes. The theory addresses both group and intergroup processes and behavior, embodied in a variety of specific sub-theories, including self-categorization theory. These share a common meta-theoretical framework that links social structure and context with categorization and identity processes. The core process is transformation from categorizing and viewing the self and others as individuals to seeing the self and others in terms of their representativeness of contrasting social groups and categories. We first outline the theoretical background and history of social identity theory. We then describe (a) the nature of the transformation from individual to collective representations; (b) how social identity ...