IB Psychology HL - Identity

Social Identity theory

It states that individuals define themselves based on their group memberships, leading to in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination.

Tajfel and Turner (1971) aim

To investigate the minimal conditions under which discrimination between social groups could be brought about. Tajfel hypothesised that categorization and discrimination operate automatically.

Tajfel and Turner (1971) procedure

A sample of 64 boys (14-15 years old)from the same school who knew each other were asked to rate 12 abstract expressionist paintings by either Paul Klee or Wassily Kadinisky. They did not know which was which. They were randomly allocated to groups and told that they had preferred the same artist. Each participant had to award points to 2 boys based on one system (1. Maximum joint profit, 2. Largest possible reward to ingroup or 3. Maximum difference).

Tajfel and Turner (1971) conclusion

The boys always choose to maximise their group over joint profit. They were more concerned about creating a large difference in favour of their group than in gaining a greater amount for everybody. This is evidence of blatant discrimination and supports the notion of social identity as the boys felt a sense of belonging to their group. It also supports in-group favouritism and positive distinctiveness. Tajfel found that a ‘minimal group’ is all that's needed for individuals to exhibit discrimination against an out-group.