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Psychology vocabulary · Social Psychology

Social identity

Meaning in psychology, with examples

nounCommon term

In psychology, social identity means: The part of a person's self-concept that comes from belonging to social groups, such as a nation, profession, team or religion, and from the value attached to that membership.

In Turkish: sosyal kimlik

How it is used

Central to Henri Tajfel and John Turner's social identity theory, which explains in-group favouritism and conflict between groups. Researchers talk about in-groups and out-groups, group identification and minimal group studies.

Example sentences

  1. In minimal group studies, even randomly formed groups developed a social identity and favoured their own members.

  2. For many fans, their football club is an important part of their social identity.

Common collocations

  • social identity theory
  • in-group and out-group
  • group identification
  • in-group favouritism
  • prejudiceA negative attitude or feeling towards people because they belong to a particular group, formed without enough knowledge or experience of them as individuals.
  • stereotypeA simplified, widely shared belief about the characteristics of people in a particular group, applied to individuals regardless of who they really are.
  • conformityChanging one's behaviour or beliefs to match those of a group because of real or imagined pressure from others.
  • self-esteemA person's overall judgement of their own worth, that is, how much they value, accept and respect themselves.

More terms: Social Psychology

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