The current study examined longitudinal reactions to subjective perceptions of being categorized by others, termed reflected categorization, during the transition to college. Reactions were examined across 85 social categories relevant to the US college culture (e.g. jock, partier, brain). Initial reflected categorization predicted changes over time in self-categorization, suggesting internalization of the social categories ascribed by peers in the new context. Initial self-categorization also predicted changes in reflected categorization, suggesting self-verification of category memberships. Both effects were moderated by category valence and membership importance. Internalization and verification effects were somewhat stronger when these processes entailed acquiring or verifying positive category memberships. Internalization effects were stronger and verification effects were weaker when membership was important to self-definition. The findings suggest that perceived categorizations from others are both cause and consequence of self-categorization during a major life transition, although investment in membership and self-esteem motives partially determine the relative strength of these effects.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
2.
Ashmore, R. D., Del Boca, F. K., & Beebe, M. (2002). ‘Alkie,’ ‘Frat Brother,’ and ‘Jock’: Perceived types of college students and stereotypes about drinking . Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 885–907 .
3.
Barreto, M., & Ellemers, N. (2002). The impact of respect versus neglect of self-identities on identification and group loyalty . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 629–639 .
4.
Branscombe, N., Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1999). The context and content of social identity threat. In N. Ellemers, R. Spears, & B. Doosje (Eds.), Social identity: Context, commitment, content. Oxford, UK: Blackwell .
5.
Breakwell, G. M. (1986). Coping with threatened identities. New York: Methuen .
6.
Brewer, M. B., & Gardner, W. (1996). Who is this ‘we’? Levels of collective identity and self representations . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 83–93 .
7.
Brown, B. B. (1989). Social types ratings interview manual. Unpublished manuscript, University of Wisconsin at Madison.
8.
Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models. Newbury Park, CA: Sage .
9.
Bryk, A. S., Raudenbush, S. W., & Congdon, R. (1998). HLM. Chicago: Scientific Software .
10.
Cole, D. A. (1991). Change in self-perceived competence as a function of peer and teacher evaluation . Developmental Psychology, 27, 682–688 .
11.
Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and the social order. New York: Scribners .
12.
Crocker, J., Voelkl, K., Testa, M., & Major, B. (1991). Social stigma: The affective consequences of attributional ambiguity . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 218–228 .
13.
Deaux, K. (1996). Social identification. In E. T. Higgins & A. W. Kruglanski (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (pp. 777–798). New York: Guilford .
14.
Deaux, K., & Ethier, K. A. (1998). Negotiating social identity. In J. K. Swim & C. Stangor (Eds.), Prejudice: The target’s perspective (pp. 301–323). San Diego, CA: Academic Press .
15.
Doosje, B., Ellemers, N., & Spears, R. (1995). Perceived intragroup variability as a function of group status and identification . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 31, 410–436 .
16.
Doosje, B., Spears, R., & Ellemers, N. (2002). Social identity as both cause and effect: The development of group identification in response to anticipated and actual changes in the intergroup status hierarchy . British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 57–76 .
17.
Ellemers, N. (1993). The influence of sociostructural variables on identity management strategies . European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 27–57 .
18.
Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (1997). Sticking together or falling apart: In-group identification as a psychological determinant of group commitment versus individual mobility . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 617–626 .
19.
Ellemers, N., Spears, R., & Doosje, B. (2002). Self and social identity . Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 161–186 .
20.
Ethier, K. A., & Deaux, K. (1994). Negotiating social identity when contexts change: Maintaining identification and responding to threat . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 243–251 .
21.
Felson, R. B. (1985). Reflected appraisal and the development of self . Social Psychology Quarterly, 48, 71–78 .
22.
Felson, R. B. (1989). Parents and the reflected appraisals process: A longitudinal analysis . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 965–971 .
23.
Hormuth, S. E. (1990). The ecology of the self: Relocation and self-concept change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press .
24.
Kinch, J. W. (1963). A formalized theory of the self-concept . American Journal of Sociology, 68, 481–486 .
25.
Madon, S., Smith, A., Jussim, L., Russell, D. W., Eccles, J., Palumbo, P., et al., (2001). Am I as you see me or do you see me as I am? Self-fulfilling prophecies and self-verification . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 1214–1224 .
26.
McNulty, S. E., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (1994). Identity negotiation in roommate relationships: The self as architect and consequence of social reality . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 1012–1023 .
27.
Mead, G. H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press .
28.
Nezlek, J. B. (2001). Multilevel random coefficient analyses of event- and interval-contingent data in social and personality psychology research . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 771–785 .
29.
Pelham, B. W. (1991). On confidence and consequence: The certainty and importance of self-knowledge . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 518–530 .
30.
Pelham, B. W., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (1989). From self-conceptions to self-worth: On the sources and structure of global self-esteem . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 672–680 .
31.
Pelham, B. W., & Swann, W. B., Jr. (1994). The juncture of intrapersonal and interpersonal knowledge: Self-certainty and interpersonal congruence . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 349–357 .
32.
Schmitt, M. T., Spears, R., & Branscombe, N. R. (2003). Constructing a minority group identity out of shared rejection: The case of international students . European Journal of Social Psychology, 33, 1–12 .
33.
Shrauger, J. S., & Schoeneman, T. J. (1979). Symbolic interactionist view of self-concept: Through the looking glass darkly . Psychological Bulletin, 86, 549–573 .
34.
Spears, R., Doosje, B., & Ellemers, N. (1997). Self-stereotyping in the face of threats to group status and distinctiveness: The role of group identification . Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 538–553 .
35.
Swann, W. B., Jr. (1983). Self-verification: Bringing social reality into harmony with the self. In J. Suls & A. G. Greenwald (Eds.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 2, pp. 33–66). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum .
36.
Swann, W. B., Jr. (1987). Identity negotiation: Where two roads meet . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1038–1051 .
37.
Swann, W. B., Jr., & Ely, R. J. (1984). A battle of wills: Self-verification versus behavioral confirmation . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1287–1302 .
38.
Swann, W. B., Jr., Milton, L. P., & Polzer, J. T. (2000). Should we create a niche or fall in line? Identity negotiation and small group effectiveness . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 238–250 .
39.
Swann, W. B., Jr., & Pelham, B. W. (2002). Who wants out when the going gets good? Psychological investment and preference for self-verifying college roommates . Journal of Self and Identity, 1, 219–233 .
40.
Swann, W. B., Jr., & Read, S. J. (1981a). Acquiring self-knowledge: The search for feedback that fits . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 41, 1119–1128 .
41.
Swann, W. B., Jr., & Read, S. J. (1981b). Self-verification processes: How we sustain our self-conceptions . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 17, 351–372 .
42.
Swann, W. B., Jr., Stein-Seroussi, A., & Giesler, B. (1992). Why people self-verify . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 392–401 .
43.
Tajfel, H. (1978). The social psychology of minorities. London: Minority Rights Group .
44.
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. 33–47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole .
45.
Turner, J. C. (1987). A self-categorization theory. In J. C. Turner, M. A. Hogg, P. J. Oakes, S. D. Reicher, & M. S. Wetherell (Eds.), Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell .
46.
Wann, D. L., & Branscombe, N. R. (1990). Die-hard and fair-weather fans: Effects of identification on BIRGing and CORFing tendencies . Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 14, 103–117 .
47.
Yzerbyt, V., Leyens, J. P., & Bellour, F. (1995). The ingroup overexclusion effect: Identity concerns in decisions about group membership . European Journal of Social Psychology, 25, 1–16 .
