Social Identity Theory: Chen 2005 (also used for cultural dimensions) and Tajfel 1971

Terms: SIT, social identification, social categorization, social comparison, positive distincteveness, in-group, out-group

Chen et al 2005

Aim+Procedure

Aim: investigated how cultural dimensions influence social identity and in-group behavior on an individual’s buying habits

Procedure

• 149 bicultural patients from Singaporean uni

• Conducted online, participants were RANDOMLY ALLOCATED

• Participants were primed with either Western or Asian cultural values and then shown a series of photos and asked to recall as many items from the photos shown previously

• Shopping Scenario: Participants were put in a shopping scenario when buying a novel online

• The standard delivery fee was 2.99 USD and were told the book would arrive in 5 days. HOWEVER, they were given the option of paying and extra fee for the book to arrive sooner.

• They were then asked to list 3 politicians

Chen et al 2005

Results

Results:

People primed to western culture:placed a higher importance to immediate consumption therefore paying the additional delivery fee.

People primed to eastern culture: more patient and waited 5 days as they only payed for the standard delivery fee

Confucian Work Dynamism played a role in participants online shopping behavior

In both groups, participants named politicians relevant to the culture they were primed to

Conclusion: the study indicates that priming remained evident throughout and discounts individual differences within both groups.

Chen et al 2005

Evaluation

Evaluation:

• The final politician test allowed researchers to confirm the priming was successful

• The study took place in Singapore, this may lead to confounding variables and affect decisions of participants primed to western culture

• The study was naturalistic

• The study was done online, external variables may be hard to control (e.g. help from others)

• Study is Highly Standarized and replicable, meaning its validity can be established and reliability of the results confirmed.

Tajfel 1971

Aim+Procedure

Aim: Investigate if in-group discrimination would take place based on being in different groups

Context: Tajfel hypothesized that categorization and discrimination operate automatically, even if prior prejudice is not evident

Procedure

• 48 boys from 14-15 years old

• Asked to rate 12 painting by painters Paul Klee and Kandinsky

• They were unaware of which artist had painted which painting

• ALLOCATED RANDOMLY into a group and were told that they either preferred Paul Klee or Kandinsky

• Each participant was given the task of awarding points to one of 2 boys; one of their same group and one of the opposite group. This was done using different reward systems

  Profit awarding Systems

• Maximum Joint Profit: giving the largest reward to members of BOTH groups/same amount

• Maximum in-group profit:Giving largest reward to the member of their in-group

• Maximum differences: Giving a higher profit to the out-group member if an initial high value was given to the in-group member

Tajfel 1971

Results + Conclusion

Results

• Maximum joint profit had little affect on the participants choices

• Participants preferred to maximize their in-group profit rather than maximizing profit for all

• When given the choice of Maximizing the difference, they were willing to give their group fewer points to maximize the difference between in-group and out-group.

Conclusion

• Out group discrimination is easily triggered

• People tend to follow norms that encourage discriminating out-group members

• Even a “minimal group” is enough to trigger individuals into favoring in-group members

Tajfel 1971

Evaluation

Evaluation

• Highly controlled

• Highly Standarized

• Lacks ecological validity as the task was highly artificial

• Participants interpreted the task as competitive creating demand characteristics

• Cannot be generalized as the study was made-up of only British schoolboys

• Can be replicated

Definition: Social Identity Theory

Argues a person does not have one “personal self”, but rather several social selves that correspond to different social groups

Definition: Social Identification

The process of adopting the norms and taking on the characteristics of a group

Definition: Social Categorization

Process by which we identify which groups we belong to and which groups we do not

Definition: Social comparison

A means of justifying an individual’s group membership once they have identified their in-group

Definition: Positive Distinctiveness

The comparison of positively comparing one’s in-group to an out-group to achieve positive self-esteem

Definition: in-group and out-group

In-group: Social groups an individual belongs to or has a membership in

Out-group: Social groups an individual does not belong to

Definition: Cultural Dimensions

Dimensions are how the values of a society affect behavior.

A dimension describes the trends of behavior in a given culture