Social Identity Theory And Theories Surrounding Intergroup...

Abstract There is a range of views expressed as to the reactions people have to criticisms from either the in-group or the out-group; the majority of such opinions suggest that people prefer to hear criticisms from people within their group than outside their group. Participants were given a vignette based on a criticism which they were either led to believe came from a member of the in-group or a member of the out-group. The results showed that participants responded with a lower sensitivity to negative emotions if the criticism originated from a member of the in-group compared to from the out-group. The mean results from the out-group totals to 4.46 compared to the mean results from the in-group which totals to 3.784.†¦show more content†¦The concept of Social Identity theory considers the extent to which social identity affects a person’s identity as well as how people can identify themselves as part of an in-group. There is a belief that a person’s social identity c an be directly related to the perceived group membership (Social Psychology: Traditional and Critical Perspectives, by Paul Dickerson). The current theory for social identity focuses solely on one group identity when people can be part of more than one social group. The intergroup relations relates to how the group interacts within the â€Å"in-group†, this leads on from the social identity theory, such that it is the relationship between the group which directly affects a person’s self-identity. Becker, Wagner and Christ, 2011, discussed how intergroup attributions tend to be characterised by the belief that the group the individual belongs to are the ones that have positive contributions and the other groups not related to them have negative beliefs. There has been research which suggests that if people have contact with the out-group then they are more likely to become less prejudiced (Social Psychology, by Robbie Sutton and Karen Douglas). The inter-group sensitivity effect describes the likeliness of people preferring criticism to originate from the in-group than any criticism coming from the out-group. Hornsey et al in 2002 showed that people find it easier to