Understanding prejudice
– Social Identity Theory
– Realistic Group Conflict Theory & Integrated Threat Theory
– Contact Theory
– Social Dominance Orientation
– Right-Wing Authoritarianism
– Moral Foundations Theory
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Social identity theory
Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) explains how people’s sense of who they are
(their identity) is shaped by the groups they belong to. It’s about how we categorize
ourselves and others into in-groups (“us”) and out-groups (“them”), and how this affects our
thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
SIT experiments
1. line experiment
2. minimal group experiment
- goal: manipulate social categorization as an independent variable
- step 1: generate social categorization on basis of trivial criterion
- let participants give rewards to members of their own and the other group
● rewards: fairness (both get the same amount), maximum joint profit (maximum payoff
for both), maximum ingroup profit and maximum difference in favor of in-group
● → ingroup favoritism
intergroup bias: discrimination in favor of the own group
outgroup homogeneity: the tendency to see people from another group as all the same,
while your own group is diverse.
Four central concepts:
1. Social categorization
the categorization of people into groups (including ourselves)
the categorization is a central component of SIT
- evolutionary perspective: necessary to distinguish friend and enemy
- cognitive perspective: necessary to process large amount of information
People simplify processing information by ignoring certain differences and emphasizing (or
even exaggerating) certain similarities of that information.
2. Social identity
Social identity is based on the realization that one belongs to a social category and the
positive or negative evaluation associated with this membership.
, - ascribed identities: An ascribed identity is an identity that is given to you by others,
often based on visible or socially recognized characteristics. not something you
choose yourself.
- self-identification: This is how you define your own identity. how you see yourself and
choose to belong or not belong to certain groups. a self chosen label.
3. Social comparison
Through social comparison with other groups, people try to evaluate their group’s relative
status. People strive for a positive social identity.
- social identification: it’s when you internalize membership of a group as part of who
you are. It’s not just seeing yourself as part of a group. It's a feeling of belonging and
aligning your behavior with it.
- contra-identification: defining yourself in opposition to a certain group or identity. You
consciously distance yourself from a label, category, or group that others might
associate you with.
4. Psychological group distinctiveness
Need for belonging to a positively evaluated group but also need to be distinct from others.
People thus try to achieve a position of their group that is distinct and positive.
understanding behavior
, - individual mobility: moving within the social hierarchy
- intragroup comparison: comparing within one’s own group
- absorption: taking something in (melting pot)
- social competition: challenging the status quo, social movements
- change meaning of group traits: something negative redefining
- compare on other dimension: comparing with positive traits of ones group
- compare downwards to other group: comparing to more bad group
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pete situation
Minority strategy: social competition → Minority groups challenge dominant
position of majority on cultural dimension
Majority strategy: Attempt to retain superiority → People react negatively to threats to their
positive social identity
reaction: the Dutch react harshly to accusations that one of their traditions is racist.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outgroup homogeneity: The bias of perceiving outgroup members as more similar to each
other than ingroup members.
- other race effect: People recognize faces of their own race more accurately than
those of other races.
- → this happens because of familiarity, evaluation on stereotypical traits for that group
and people think of themselves as complex and nuanced and others as simplistic
and one-dimensional.
othering: a process where one group of people defines another group as fundamentally
different, inferior or alien, often reinforcing their own sense of identity power or superiority.
group distinctiveness threat: people prefer bright boundaries between groups. when a
group's identity is being eroded, the ingroup identity is no longer meaningful and positively
distinct from relevant outgroups. → rejection, dislike and aggression.
obama effect: The Obama effect refers to the temporary reduction in openly expressed
racial prejudice following the election of Barack Obama, due to changing social norms rather
than the disappearance of racism itself
→ subtyping (weber and crocker): the process by which people explain away individuals
who contradict a stereotype by placing them into a special subgroup, so the original
stereotype does not have to change. ‘it is just an exception’
common ingroup identity model: The Common Ingroup Identity Model states that
prejudice between groups decreases when people redefine themselves as members of one
shared group instead of separate “us” and “them” groups
– Social Identity Theory
– Realistic Group Conflict Theory & Integrated Threat Theory
– Contact Theory
– Social Dominance Orientation
– Right-Wing Authoritarianism
– Moral Foundations Theory
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Social identity theory
Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979) explains how people’s sense of who they are
(their identity) is shaped by the groups they belong to. It’s about how we categorize
ourselves and others into in-groups (“us”) and out-groups (“them”), and how this affects our
thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
SIT experiments
1. line experiment
2. minimal group experiment
- goal: manipulate social categorization as an independent variable
- step 1: generate social categorization on basis of trivial criterion
- let participants give rewards to members of their own and the other group
● rewards: fairness (both get the same amount), maximum joint profit (maximum payoff
for both), maximum ingroup profit and maximum difference in favor of in-group
● → ingroup favoritism
intergroup bias: discrimination in favor of the own group
outgroup homogeneity: the tendency to see people from another group as all the same,
while your own group is diverse.
Four central concepts:
1. Social categorization
the categorization of people into groups (including ourselves)
the categorization is a central component of SIT
- evolutionary perspective: necessary to distinguish friend and enemy
- cognitive perspective: necessary to process large amount of information
People simplify processing information by ignoring certain differences and emphasizing (or
even exaggerating) certain similarities of that information.
2. Social identity
Social identity is based on the realization that one belongs to a social category and the
positive or negative evaluation associated with this membership.
, - ascribed identities: An ascribed identity is an identity that is given to you by others,
often based on visible or socially recognized characteristics. not something you
choose yourself.
- self-identification: This is how you define your own identity. how you see yourself and
choose to belong or not belong to certain groups. a self chosen label.
3. Social comparison
Through social comparison with other groups, people try to evaluate their group’s relative
status. People strive for a positive social identity.
- social identification: it’s when you internalize membership of a group as part of who
you are. It’s not just seeing yourself as part of a group. It's a feeling of belonging and
aligning your behavior with it.
- contra-identification: defining yourself in opposition to a certain group or identity. You
consciously distance yourself from a label, category, or group that others might
associate you with.
4. Psychological group distinctiveness
Need for belonging to a positively evaluated group but also need to be distinct from others.
People thus try to achieve a position of their group that is distinct and positive.
understanding behavior
, - individual mobility: moving within the social hierarchy
- intragroup comparison: comparing within one’s own group
- absorption: taking something in (melting pot)
- social competition: challenging the status quo, social movements
- change meaning of group traits: something negative redefining
- compare on other dimension: comparing with positive traits of ones group
- compare downwards to other group: comparing to more bad group
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
pete situation
Minority strategy: social competition → Minority groups challenge dominant
position of majority on cultural dimension
Majority strategy: Attempt to retain superiority → People react negatively to threats to their
positive social identity
reaction: the Dutch react harshly to accusations that one of their traditions is racist.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Outgroup homogeneity: The bias of perceiving outgroup members as more similar to each
other than ingroup members.
- other race effect: People recognize faces of their own race more accurately than
those of other races.
- → this happens because of familiarity, evaluation on stereotypical traits for that group
and people think of themselves as complex and nuanced and others as simplistic
and one-dimensional.
othering: a process where one group of people defines another group as fundamentally
different, inferior or alien, often reinforcing their own sense of identity power or superiority.
group distinctiveness threat: people prefer bright boundaries between groups. when a
group's identity is being eroded, the ingroup identity is no longer meaningful and positively
distinct from relevant outgroups. → rejection, dislike and aggression.
obama effect: The Obama effect refers to the temporary reduction in openly expressed
racial prejudice following the election of Barack Obama, due to changing social norms rather
than the disappearance of racism itself
→ subtyping (weber and crocker): the process by which people explain away individuals
who contradict a stereotype by placing them into a special subgroup, so the original
stereotype does not have to change. ‘it is just an exception’
common ingroup identity model: The Common Ingroup Identity Model states that
prejudice between groups decreases when people redefine themselves as members of one
shared group instead of separate “us” and “them” groups
