Реферат на тему Social identity theory

Содержание:

Introduction 3

1. Social identity theory concept 4

2. Static and dynamic identity in social identity theory 8

3. Individual and collective identity 9

Conclusion 12

Bibliography 13

Введение:

Identity is a concept that is widely used today among both ordinary people and specialists in various fields, and therefore it is not surprising that it takes on many different meanings. Even if we assume that we are limited to the purely field of sociological theory, we certainly do not need any single definition.

If the sociologist has to answer the question: «What lies behind the concept of identity?» «, he will not escape the study of many ways of conceptualizing this phenomenon and will also face many disputes related to its conceptualization.

A person’s identity is not limited to his belonging to social categories, but is expanded by such personality characteristics that form the basis of his self-esteem. However, the basis of self-esteem is largely associated with the social world and social categories because recognition comes from there.

The purpose of the paper is to offer a basic orientation between sociological approaches to the concept of identity through the two most important dilemmas associated with this phenomenon — static and dynamic and individual and collective identity. In accordance with the goal, two tasks are implemented:

1. Consider the concept of identity in sociology,

2. Identify types of identity in science.

The object of the work is identity in sociology. The subject is the features of identity in science.

The two central dimensions of the concept of identity are static and dynamic, individual versus collective. The interpretation of selected schools of thought is built along these selected axes, which has its justification. In my opinion, the two chosen dimensions are at the center of the debate about the way in which the issue can be understood by which separate conceptions of identity can be placed on the imaginary axis of both chosen dimensions.

 

Заключение:

The concept of identity has indeed found wide application in the social sciences, especially in recent decades. The intense interest in this concept may be due to its ability to function as a general catch-all term, but at the expense of its unity of meaning. Thus, the concept of identity has broken down into several ways of understanding this phenomenon. Therefore, its study is accompanied by a significant definitional diversity, not only in the field of various social sciences, but also within individual disciplines, such as sociology.

The purpose of this text was to fix some basic guidelines that could clarify the field of various sociological conceptions of identity. Given the voluminous possibilities of the text, special attention has been paid to three lines of thought that I consider essential in this discussion. These are symbolic interactionism, social constructivism, and a «postmodern» approach to the concept of identity.

The two central dimensions of the concept of identity served here as a tool for orientation. The first imaginary axis refers to the dilemma of the static and dynamic nature of identity. The discussion that accompanied this controversy led to the predominance of an inclination toward a dynamically understood notion of identity. The turn towards the concept of identity as a dynamic, constructed, unstable and changing entity was initiated in the field of sociological theory mainly by the approach of symbolic interactionism.

In my opinion, social constructivism and the current of «postmodern» conceptions of identity have continued to follow this line of approach. With a certain degree of simplification, the analyzed approaches were placed on an imaginary axis of emphasis on the individual or collective essence of identity. Symbolic interactionism deals with identity primarily as an individual phenomenon. Social constructivism, with its emphasis on the inextricable link between individual and collective components of identity, can, in my opinion, be placed at the imaginary center of the proposed axis.

 

Фрагмент текста работы:

1. Social identity theory concept

The original meaning of the term «identity» comes from the Latin word idem, which implies sameness and temporal continuity. The term understood in this way has a long tradition in the history of Western thought, for example in the field of formal logic, algebra or philosophy, it was generally used to denote the identical nature of entities, i.e. in opposition to otherness and randomness.

In social sciences, such as sociology, psychology, etc., interest in the concept of identity has appeared relatively recently, but in a more massive form. According to research, the concept of identity has become the starting point for the study of anthropologically, socioculturally, psychologically, or historically fixed mechanisms and models of self-projection of groups and individuals. Thus, today the question of identity is reflected in several areas of the social sciences, where almost every such discipline approaches the concept of this phenomenon in its own way and the concept as such is of greater importance. or less have departed from their original meaning [1].

In the field of social sciences, the works of Sigmund Freud and his followers, who used the term «identification» to describe the subjective socialization of individuals, can be considered as certain foundations for the concept of identity. After World War II, especially in the United States, the concept of identity began to expand more significantly when it was used predominantly in political discourse with issues related to the relationship between the individual and the collective, in connection with topics such as collective guilt, immigration, loyalty, etc. (

The work of Eric H. Erickson is predominantly psychoanalytic in nature, but nevertheless it is associated with the beginning of the great conjuncture of the concept of identity, i.e. concept, which made it possible to conceptually capture the conceptual connection and interconnection of categories and processes that had previously functioned as separate discursive units [3].

The theory of social identity (in other words, the theory of social identity of intergroup behavior) was developed by G. Tajfel from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. The stimulating factor in the creation of this concept was the desire of its author to rethink the American paradigm based on methodological individualism. It turned out to be untenable for explaining social processes in the countries of Western Europe, such as economic, political and ethnic conflicts between social groups. Indeed, is it possible with the help of, for example, the theory of interdependence to explain intergroup relations?

According to G. Tejfel, the main subject of the social process is the group, the object of study of social psychology is the reflection of social reality (primarily intergroup relations) in the minds of people, and the main problem is the relationship between the individual and social change (“changing himself, a person changes the environment, and by changing it, he changes himself.

The essence of the social is the complicity of people in the perception of the world and the impact on it. The main characteristic of participation is that in different situations in which a person finds himself, he thinks, experiences and acts primarily in accordance with the key parameters (norms, values, etc.) of the group to which he belongs.

This is clearly manifested in the interaction of a person with representatives of other groups. Therefore, G. Tejfel’s main attention was directed to intergroup relations, and not to intragroup processes. Moreover, the emphasis was on large groups to the detriment of small ones.

Key concepts of the theory: social categorization, social comparison and social identity, which are the perceptual processes of the individual. Social categorization is the ordering of a social environment by a person, that is, the distribution of people into groups, which helps him to understand his environment in a more structured way. In other words, this is the process of distributing other subjects into groups in terms of their significance in the system of intentions and attitudes of a person. This provides the individual with guidelines for self-assessment and determining his place in society or a group.

Social categorization in intergroup relations is a special case of the concept of «categorization», which has been widely used in cognitive psychology. Social comparison is closely related to social categorization. The latter is possible only when a person compares (according to certain characteristics) the group with which he identifies himself with other groups. If in the theory of L. Festinger interpersonal comparison (by similarity) is considered, then in the theory of social identity the emphasis is on intergroup comparison (by difference).

Almost any person tends to evaluate himself positively, and as soon as belonging to a group becomes important for his self-determination, the individual has a motivation to positively evaluate the group, that is, he strives for a positive social identity.

It is based on comparisons of one’s own group with other groups, when the ingroup (one’s own group) is perceived as positively different from outgroups (foreign groups) in some way. Since a positive assessment of one’s group is possible only when compared with other groups, a person seeks to differentiate the ingroup from others. This is most relevant in cases where the group is not formally defined. Social identity is an individual’s feeling that he belongs to a certain social group, along with some emotional and value significance of this belonging. Social identity is manifested on the basis of social categorization and social comparison. It is part of the “I-concept” of a person, and its main function is to reinforce a person’s desire for positive self-esteem, a positive image of the “I”.

The term «social identity» is private in relation to the concept of «identification», which is widespread in personality psychology. In this theory, the concept of social identity is used to highlight the aspect of social identification, which is associated with the self-determination of a person as a member of a group in the context of intergroup relations.

It follows that a person’s idea of himself, his place in the world around him is determined by belonging to a particular social category (group). Thus, in order for an individual to have a sense of group belonging, there must be a value comparison of his group with others. In this case, the social category is internalized into the «I-concept» of a person, which is the basis of his group behavior, i.e. behavior in terms of important attributes of the ingroup.