{"id":1392,"date":"2016-10-24T23:51:01","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T23:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/101psych.com\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2021-03-04T11:29:33","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T02:29:33","slug":"what-is-social-identity-theory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2016\/10\/24\/what-is-social-identity-theory\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Social Identity Theory?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a brief description of Tajfel and Turner’s SIT.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Updated March, 2021<\/em><\/p>\n

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What is Social Identity Theory?<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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After being imprisoned by the Nazis, Tajfel moved to the UK from Poland to study social psychology. (Image from Wikipedia)<\/p><\/div>\n

Social Identity Theory (SIT) is a theory proposed by Tajfel and Turner that attempts to explain intergroup behaviour, and in particular, conflict, prejudice and discrimination. The theory was an elaboration on Sherif\u2019s Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)<\/strong>. RCT\u2019s major claim was that conflict between groups exists when there is direct competition for resources. SIT, however, posits that intergroup conflict can exist even when there is no direct competition for resources. The theory emerged after numerous research studies using the minimal group paradigm were conducted. <\/span><\/p>\n

SIT is comprised of four interrelated concepts: <\/span><\/p>\n