What is The Social Identity Theory?

The Social Identity theory holds that humans are put into and identify with social groups. An example of this would be someone being sorted into the Gryffindor house in one of the Harry Potter books and, either consciously or not, taking on the traits of that house and boosting that own house's reputation whilst also lowering the reputation of other houses, such as Slytherin. The Social Identity Theory has three steps. The first is social categorisation, where someone is put into a group. For instance, a female, when born, is automatically in the female social group. This is social categorisation. The second step is social identification. This is where an individual takes on the traits of their group to better fit in and align with their group. For instance, a girl may like the colour pink or use makeup. The third step is social comparison, where the individual compares their group to others, pushing their own group up whilst pushing other groups down. For instance, arguing that boys are less organised or intelligent than girls, which boosts the female social group and diminishes the male social group. Evidence for this: Tajfel et al (1971)Evidence relating to this: Sherif et al (1966)