Big Question Explained: What Makes Up Our Social Identity?

In the previous blog, we reviewed "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" to understand the nature of human beings as social animals, and thus we can conclude that human beings live in a collective.

So, how is the concept of collective formed? How do we get identity from the collective? How does this affect self-cognition?

In this blog, we will go into social identity theory with everyone and try to find answers to the above questions.

What is social identity

Social identity is a component of self-concept. Self-concept refers to the cognition of oneself: how to assess self-worth, what characteristics one has, etc. Social identity focuses on the individual's view of the collective in which he or she is, exploring how the individual judges his or her role and identity in the collective, and how such an identity helps to form self-cognition.

Social identity is a very important component of self-cognition. It is often not perceived at the first time, but it is the first step for people to gain self-cognition in the subconscious.

Social identity theory

The social identity theory proposed by Henry Tafel, John Turner and others has three components: classification, identification and comparison.

Classification

Classification is essentially the formation of the concepts of in-group and out-group. We will classify ourselves with some people according to our characteristics, that is, the in-group, and distinguish ourselves from another group of people, that is, the out-group.

There are many standards for the division of in-groups and out-groups, which can be based on some innate physiological characteristics, such as gender, race, age, etc. It can also be based on some personal characteristics discovered in subsequent life experiences, such as hobbies, specialties, occupations, classes, etc. Therefore, some in-groups are destined to be members of us from the moment we are born, and other in-groups are gradually discovered in subsequent life experiences.

For these in-groups that join later, such as friends with the same interests and hobbies as oneself, colleagues in the same company, etc., in the process of self-classification, it is necessary to observe and judge some of the characteristics of the self, and compare with the people around, so as to complete the judgment of similarity or difference. The process of classification is the process of self-awareness being gradually perceived.

Identification

Identification is the process of perceiving and learning the collective behavior patterns, ideas and attitudes after incorporating oneself into a specific group. Although it is called identification, in connection with Kelman's stage theory of attitude change, this stage actually includes three links: obedience, identification, and internalization.

Obedience is a stage of passively accepting the collective behavior patterns or attitudes and ideas. This stage is often accompanied by imitating some behavior patterns that are very different from past experiences, and often brings some uncomfortable experiences.

Identification is the subjective acceptance and recognition of the collective behavior patterns and attitudes. This stage bids farewell to the discomfort of obedience and the subversion of past ideas, and actively accepts the role in the group.

Internalization is based on full recognition, developing behavior patterns into a normal state and habit, and incorporating them into one's own value system. With the completion of this step, the collective identity concept is also established.

Comparison

Comparison is to compare one's own in-group with other out-groups, so as to strengthen one's social identity. Comparison is generally not an individual behavior, but a consensus reached in a group through interaction and communication among members of the group. This is also a very important manifestation of socialization.

In this process, it is easy to form a preference for the in-group and a rejection of the out-group. People tend to evaluate members of the out-group as more similar and members of their own in-group as more diverse. The thin and convergent cognition of the outside world often contributes to the formation of stereotypes, resulting in incomplete cognition, and in serious cases, it will develop into prejudice and xenophobia against specific groups. Nationalism and the plight of immigrants are two modern issues that stem from this trend.

Although people tend to evaluate in-groups as more diverse, homogenization may also occur in in-groups. Groups with similar social identities may be more similar, and organizers may even use some external means such as regulations and treaties to strengthen this similarity. The increasing unity of social identity may also lead to the loss of individual uniqueness. We will also discuss this topic in more detail in subsequent blogs.