For many years, social psychological research has tried to explain the social dynamics of intergroup conflict and individual and group differences in engagement in intergroup conflict. We argue here that, for this work to progress, a broader interpretation is required. Focusing on individual and collective identity management strategies to cope with social change, social identity theory (SIT) is reviewed and limitations of the theory are pointed out. To overcome these weaknesses in SIT, an integration of SIT with relative deprivation theory and the authoritarian personality theory is suggested. The main achievements of such an integration, we believe, would be the inclusion of a broader range of identity management strategies, clarification in relation to predictor variables and the application of identity management strategies for minority as well as majority groups.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adorno, T.W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J., & Sanford, R.N. (1950). The authoritarian personality. New York: Harper .
2.
Altemeyer, B. (1981). Right-wing authoritarianism. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press .
3.
Altemeyer, B. (1996). The authoritarian specter. London: Harvard University Press .
4.
Altemeyer, B. (1998). The other `authoritarian personality' . Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 47-92 .
5.
Bettencourt, B.A., Dorr, N., Charlton, K., & Hume, D.L. (2001). Status differences and in-group bias: A meta-analytic examination of the effects of status stability, status legitimacy, and group permeability . Psychological Bulletin, 127(4), 520-542 .
6.
Blanz, M., Mummendey, A., Mielke, R., & Klink, A. (1998). Wechselseitige Differenzierung zwischen sozialen Gruppen: Ein Vorhersagemodell der Theorie der sozialen Identitäat [Mutual differentiation between social groups: A predictive model from social identity theory] . Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 29(3), 239-259 .
7.
Brown, R. (1995). Prejudice. Oxford: Blackwell .
8.
Brown, R. (2000). Social identity theory: Past achievements, current problems and future challenges . European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 745-778 .
9.
Cairns, E. (1982). Intergroup conflict in Northern Ireland. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Social identity and intergroup relations (pp. 277-297). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
10.
Duckitt, J. (1989). Authoritarianism and group identification: A new view of an old construct . Political Psychology, 10(1), 63-84 .
11.
Duckitt, J. (1992). The social psychology of prejudice. Westport, CT: Praeger .
12.
Duckitt, J. (2001). A dual-process cognitive-motivational theory of ideology and prejudice . Advances in Experimental Psychology, 33, 41-113 .
13.
Ellemers, N., Barreto, M., & Spears, R. (1999). Commitment and strategic responses to social context. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, & B. Doosje (Eds.), Social identity, context, commitment, content (pp. 127-146). Oxford: Blackwell .
14.
Ellemers, N., & Bos, A.E.R. (1998). Social identity, relative deprivation, and coping with the threat of position loss: A field study among native shopkeepers in Amsterdam . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(21), 1987-2006 .
15.
Ellemers, N., van Knippenberg, A., de Vries, N., & Wilke, H. (1988). Social identification and permeability of group boundaries . European Journal of Social Psychology, 18, 497-513 .
16.
Ellemers, N., & van Rijswijk, W. (1997). Identity needs versus social opportunities: The use of group-level and individual-level identity management strategies . Social Psychology Quarterly, 60(1), 52-65 .
17.
Ellemers, N., Wilke, H., & van Knippenberg, A. (1993). Effects of the legitimacy of low group or individual status on individual and collective status enhancement strategies . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(5), 766-778 .
18.
Folger, R. (1984). Perceived injustice, referent cognitions, and the concept of comparison level . Representative Research in Social Psychology, 14, 88-108 .
19.
Folger, R. (1987). Reformulating the preconditions of resentment: A referent cognitions model. In J.C. Master & W.P. Smith (Eds.), Social comparison, social justice, and relative deprivation (pp. 183-215). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
20.
Gallagher, A.M. (1982). Intergroup relations and political attitudes in Northern Ireland. Unpublished Master's thesis, Queen's University of Belfast.
21.
Grant, P.R., & Brown, R. (1995). From ethnocentrism to collective protest: Responses to relative deprivation and threats to social identity . Social Psychology Quarterly, 58(3), 195-211 .
22.
Graziano, W.G. (1987). Lost in thought at the choice point: Cognition, context, and equity. In J.C. Master & W.P. Smith (Eds.), Social comparison, social justice, and relative deprivation (pp. 265-294). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
23.
Gurr, T.R. (1970). Why men rebel. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
24.
Hinkle, S., Fox-Cardamone, L., Haseleu, J.A., Brown, R., & Irwin, L.M. (1996). Grassroots political action as an intergroup phenomenon . Journal of Social Issues, 52(1), 39-51 .
25.
Hinkle, S., Taylor, L.A., Fox-Cardamone, L., & Ely, P.G. (1998). Social identity and aspects of social creativity: Shifting to new dimensions of intergroup comparison. In S. Worchel, J.F. Morales, D. Paez, & C. Deschamps (Eds.), Social identity: International perspectives (pp. 166-179). London: Sage .
26.
Jackson, T.A. (1971). Ireland her own: An outline history of the Irish struggle, national freedom and independence. London: Lawrence & Wishart .
27.
Jost, J.T., & Banaji, M.R. (1994). The role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness . Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1-27 .
28.
Kawakami, K., & Dion, K.L. (1995). Social identity and affect as determinants of collective action: Toward an integration of relative deprivation and social identity theories . Theory & Psychology, 5, 551-577 .
29.
Kessler, T., & Mummendey, A. (2001). Is there any scapegoat around? Determinants of intergroup conflict at different categorization levels . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(6), 1090-1102 .
30.
Klink, A., Mummendey, A., & Mielke, R. (1998). Stability and change in intergroup relations: A longitudinal field study in East Germany. Forschungsberichte des Lehrstuhls Sozialpsychologie. Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena .
31.
Mark, M.M., & Folger, R. (1984). Responses to relative deprivation: A conceptual framework . Review of Personality & Social Psychology, 5, 192-218 .
32.
Masters, J.C., & Keil, L.J. (1987). Generic comparison processes in human judgement and behavior. In J.C. Master & W.P. Smith (Eds.), Social comparison, social justice, and relative deprivation (pp. 11-54). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
33.
Mummendey, A., Kessler, T., Klink, A., & Mielke, R. (1999). Strategies to cope with negative social identity: Predictions by social identity theory and relative deprivation theory . Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 76(2), 229-245 .
34.
Mummendey, A., Klink, A., Mielke, R., Wenzel, M., & Blanz, M. (1999). Socio-structural characteristics of intergroup relations and identity management strategies: Results from a field study in East Germany . European Journal of Social Psychology, 29(2-3), 259-285 .
35.
Mummendey, A., Mielke, R., Wenzel, M., & Kanning, U. (1996). Social identity of East Germans: The process of unification between East and West Germany as a challenge to cope with `negative social identity'. In G.M. Breakwell & E. Lyons (Eds.), Changing European identities (pp. 405-428). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann .
36.
Niens, U. (2001). Identity management strategies in Northern Ireland. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Ulster.
37.
Niens, U., & Cairns, E. (2002). Identity management strategies in Northern Ireland . Journal of Social Psychology, 142(3), 371-380 .
38.
Rokeach, M. (1956). Political and religious dogmatism: An alternate to the authoritarian personality . Psychological Monographs, 70(18) (whole number).
39.
Runciman, W.G. (1966). Relative deprivation and social justice. Berkeley: University of California Press .
40.
Stouffer, S.A. (1955). Communism, conformity, and civil liberties. New York: Doubleday .
41.
Tajfel, H. (1969). Cognitive aspects of prejudice . Journal of Social Issues, 25, 79-97 .
42.
Tajfel, H. (Ed.). (1978). Differentiation between social groups. London: Academic Press .
43.
Tajfel, H. (Ed.). (1981). Human groups and social categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
44.
Tajfel, H., Flament, C., Billig, M.G., & Bundy, R.P. (1971). Social categorization and intergroup behaviour . European Journal of Social Psychology, 1, 149-178 .
45.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J.C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W.G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-53). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole .
46.
Trew, K. (1992). Minorities in Northern Ireland . Paper presented to the Annual Conference of the Developmental Section of the British Psychological Society, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
47.
Turner, J.C., & Brown, R. (1978). Social status, cognitive alternatives and intergroup relations. In H. Tajfel (Ed.), Differentiation between social groups (pp. 201-234). London: Academic Press .
48.
Turner, J.C., Brown, R., & Tajfel, H. (1979). Social comparison and group interest in intergroup favoritism . European Journal of Social Psychology, 9, 187-204 .
49.
Verkuyten, M., & Hagendoorn, L. (1998). Prejudice and self-categorization: The variable role of authoritarianism and in-group stereotypes . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(1), 99-110 .
50.
Walker, I., & Pettigrew, T.F. (1984). Relative deprivation theory: An overview and conceptual critique . British Journal of Social Psychology, 23(4), 301-310 .
