Social Identity: Comparing White English-Speaking South African Students in 1975 and 1994

Abstract

Afrikaans

White English-speaking South Africans have historically exhibited a weak attachment to South Africa and to their own ethnic group. An explanation for this may be that such social categories have previously brought about a negative social identity, and have thus necessitated a decrease in social category salience. The present study, constituting a repetition and extension of a study by Morse, Mann and Nel (1977), explored the possibility that this situation might be changing as a result of this country's social transformation. It thus investigated whether social identity salience was increasing for this particular group. A questionnaire, based in part upon that used by Morse et al., was administered to 119 English-speaking students from the University of Cape Town and to 67 Afrikaans-speaking students from the University of Stellenbosch. Comparisons were conducted between both these samples, and between the current English sample and that of Morse et al. The interpretative framework underlying the study was that of Social Identity Theory, which was explored as a conceptual basis from which to examine the English-speaking group's social identity. Results indicated that English-speaking subjects experienced greater salience of their national and ethnic identities than was found to be the case in the previous study.

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