What is social identity and how does it influence us?

Each person is different, even if they have a shared social identity. We all have different experiences, which combined with specific genetics, constitute what is understood as mind. By having a different mind, each person develops their own identity.

However, people are social beings., and as such we are in continuous interaction with other people. In these interactions, social networks are formed that give rise to social groups. Social groups are diverse and varied and we generally belong to several. Some we cannot choose, while membership in others is voluntary.

Membership in these groups will determine, in part, how we are and how we behave. Well, When we belong to a group, we tend to internalize its norms and values. Thus, through different social processes we develop what are called social identities.

What is social identity and how does it flow?

According to Scandroglio, López and San José, a social identity will emerge from belonging to these social groups, one from each group with which we will identify to a greater or lesser degree. Each group will influence us in one way or another and will condition to a certain extent our way of thinking and acting. It is important to recognize what aspects of our behavior may be conditioned by these social groups.

Thus, we are going to have a personal identity and several social ones. The different social identities will converge in us and make a single personal identity. For example: Spanish, Andalusian, Malaga, fan of Málaga and Barcelona, ​​fan of Pink Floyd and authors like Bukowski and Kerouac.

If we identify with this description, we will tend to look for social environments that are in tune with our tastes and in this way we will be more or less being influenced.

The salience of each identity will make one or the other more important at different times. Thus, if our national identity becomes more salient due to some event, our thoughts, feelings and behaviors will be more conditioned by that identity.

A group member’s adoption of a social identity will trump his or her personal identity as he or she becomes an extension of the collective. Social identity is the aspects of one’s self-image that are derived from social categories to which we believe we belong.. Thus, when we define ourselves as men or women we appeal to our social gender identity and, by doing so, the attitudes, norms and behaviors of our social group become part of our personal identity.

Difference between social and personal identity

Personal identity refers to the set of characteristics, typical of a person, that allow them to recognize themselves as an individual different from others. Likewise, personal identity includes the concept that each individual has of himself and that develops as he understands who he is, as an individual and unique being.

Some characteristic features of personal identity, which allow the individual to differentiate himself from others, are: character, temperament, virtues and shortcomings, personal values, etc.

Instead, In social identity, the individual assumes a set of traits or attributes typical of a communitywhich helps him forge or define the concept he has of himself and his place in society.

Functions of social identity

Social identities have advantages that make them beneficial. Thus, as described in an article published in 2017 by the REDIECH Educational Research Magazine, They fulfill basic psychological functions such as belonging, distinctiveness, respect, understanding or meaning, and agency. For example, social identity confirms that one belongs to a particular place in the social world.

At the same time, It also tells us which places we don’t belong to.. It tells us that we are similar to other people who will show us respect, but different from others. Furthermore, social identity provides a shared vision of the world from which it can be interpreted and understood.

Finally, social identity tells us that we are not alone since we have the support and solidarity of other members of the group.

What role does self-categorization have in the development of social identity?

The brain tends to categorize ourselves as a member who belongs to a group. In this way, our own perception is altered to accentuate similarities with others and increase differences with people who belong to other different groups.

These changes that are generated are what are responsible for creating a new identity in us: the social identity, in which we stop being a single individual, and begin to be part of a group. Thus, Behaviors that lacked coherence with our personal identity can now be generated by our social identity.

An example of this would be a soldier who is capable of killing and dying for his country. It may be that on a personal level they are against hurting anyone and of course they want to live, but within the military context they put aside their personal identity to share the same social identity.

Prejudices, stereotypes and discrimination

Another function of social identity is to boost self-esteem. So, arise attitudes that favor one’s own group. These attitudes will have three components that lead members to see their group from a positive perspective, compared to relevant external groups, and to ensure a privileged position for their group.

Due, These processes strengthen members’ sense of belonging to a different social group., cohesive and superior; which provides them with mutual respect, a meaningful understanding of the social world, and the collective strength to act effectively.

One of these components is the cognitive, composed of a set of beliefs about the traits of group members. These beliefs will form the stereotype, which is built on a mechanism of group overgeneralization, as Fiske maintains in the APA Handbook of Personality and Social Psychology (2015).

The degree of veracity of these beliefs is usually reducedbut stereotypical images develop and persist over time because they satisfy certain needs, such as justifying actions and behaviors towards members of the stereotyped group, according to an article published by the British Psychological Society.

For his part, the evaluative-emotional component or affective consists of an evaluation of the group and its members. These evaluations have an emotional charge that can vary along two axes: pleasure-displeasure and relaxation-excitation, as described in a study developed by several researchers from the Autonomous University of Mexico.

Finally, The behavioral component is made up of a set of negative responses that generate marginalization towards members of the stereotyped group, causing discrimination (Ahmed, 2007).

Social identity processes

For social identity to emerge and the previously mentioned attitudes to appear, several processes must take place. These are:

1. Categorization

To simplify the world and understand it better, we categorize. In the same way, we also categorize other people within social groups while becoming aware of the categories to which we belong.

The consequence is that we adopt the attitudes typical of those categories. The general tendency is to favor one’s own group, emphasizing the similarities with the members of their group and the differences with other groups, as the following article endorsed by the American Psychological Society maintains.

2. Comparison

Usually We compare ourselves to other people to see similarities and differences.. In the same way, we also compare our group with the other groups, as described in research developed by the European Journal of Social Psychology. From these comparisons, an image of our group will be formed that will determine our relationships with other groups.

3. Identification

We tend to identify with our social groups. Part of who we are is going to depend on the group we belong to, so that, sometimes, we think of ourselves as members of a group instead of as unique individuals, as a study of the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

This social identity that comes from categorization and comparison, therefore, It will determine our behaviors.

Factors

exist three factors that will determine group mobility and the degree of identification with a group, these are: permeability, stability and legitimacy.

Regarding the first factor, permeability, Group boundaries can be perceived as permeable or impermeable, as well supported by work carried out at the University of Oviedo. If a group is impermeable, such as gender, members will not be able to move to another group; while, if the group is permeable, think of the political group, the members will be able to change groups.

Stability is the extent to which status positions are stable or variable. If status is perceived as variable, group members may try to take actions to improve or maintain it if they perceive threats. When status is not perceived as variable, members may try to leave the group and join another with higher status if it is low.

For its part, legitimacy refers to the perception of injustice of the social situation of a given group. We may perceive that a group has a better social position because it deserves it or because its members have worked hard. On the contrary, we may perceive that the status of that group is undeserved and illegitimate.

Strategies

By comparing with other groups we will obtain an assessment of what our social identity is like.. This can be satisfactory or unsatisfactory. When it is unsatisfactory we will look for a change to improve it.

In the latter case, different psychological mechanisms come into play that will determine what this change will be like, depending on the perception of the aforementioned factors. (Haslam, 2001).

If we do not perceive alternatives because we consider the situation of our group stable and legitimate, we will carry out individual strategies. When the borders are permeable, we will change groups. On the contrary, when they are impermeable, we will try to compare our group with other less advantaged groups.

In the case in which we understand that there are alternatives for change for the group because it is unstable and illegitimate, we will opt for individual strategies, such as social mobility, when the borders are permeable. Instead, If the borders are impermeable, group strategies will be carried out.

These may be the redefinition of the group’s characteristics, competition with other groups or social creativity; that is, change…