Can anyone make Tajfels 1970 Social Identity Theory any clearer for me?
Wikipedia says it better than I ever could “Subsequently, Tajfel and his student John Turner developed the theory of social identity. They proposed that people have an inbuilt tendency to categorize themselves into one or more in groups, building a part of their identity on the basis of membership of that group and enforcing boundaries with other groups. Social identity theory suggests that people identify with groups in such a way as to maximize positive distinctiveness; groups offer both identity (they tell us who we are) and self-esteem (they make us feel good about ourselves). The theory of social identity has had a very substantial impact on many areas of social psychology, including group dynamics, intergroup relations, prejudice and stereotyping, and organizational psychology” Basically what I’m getting from this is that people will categorize themselves in order to find their place in the world. They identify with people who are like them and stick with them to feel security.
