Social Identity Theory And Social Interaction Theory Essay

Social Identity Theory In 1979, Tajfel and Turner are recognized for the development of social identity theory (SIT) (Tajfel Turner, 1979). Through earlier studies, Tajfel attempted to understand mechanisms that lead to group members to discriminate against non-group members, which lead to evolution of SIT (Hogg, van Knippenberg, Rast, 2012). The Tajfel and Turner developed SIT with the purpose of understanding social group discrimination (Tajfel Turner, 1979). SIT is based on three concepts: Social categorization; social identity, and social comparison (Tajfel Turner, 1979; Hogg, van Knippenberg, Rast, 2012; Mols, Weber, 2013). SIT has been used in psychological research for many of years, but has also provided a theoretical framework for research in many disciplines including human services to understand social changes of groups (Hogg, van Knippenberg, Rast, 2012). Key Constructs Social categorization. Social categorization is how individuals sees or put themselves andr others into categories (Mols, Weber, 2013). Typical categories often used to label self are interest, race, gender, profession, and other factors (Mols, Weber, 2013). Individuals who categorize themselves and other members with similar characteristics, form a group the members are consider an in-group (Tajfel Turner, 1979; Hogg, van Knippenberg, Rast, 2012; Mols, Weber, 2013).An out-group is any that does not identify or observed the same characteristics as the in-group which oftenShow MoreRelatedSymbolic Interaction: My Favorite Sociological Theory1235 Words   |  5 PagesMy Favorite Sociological Theory Authors name Authors institutional affiliation Authors note My Favorite Sociological Theory There were several theories that I found interesting as a part of the course, yet the theory that I connected with most personally was Symbolic Interaction. 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