Search results

Social identity theory proposes that much of our identity, attitudes, beliefs, and even our behaviors are grounded in groups that we affiliate with, or groups that are important to us. The groups (e.g. class, sports team, religion, family) which we belong to are an important source of pride, self-esteem, and identity. Additionally, the groups that we are a part of gives us a sense of social identity - a sense of belonging to the social world. This book provides and discusses new developments in social identity research

"Social Identity in Decisions to Protest" published on by Oxford University Press.

In a laboratory experiment, we explore the effects of group identities on the principal-agent relationship between voters and representatives. In an adverse selection framework with observable effort, voters can choose to condition their reelection choices on representatives' effort alone, beliefs about representatives' competence, or both of those jointly. We show that inducing social identities increases the weight of representatives' effort in voters' reelection decisions. Further, when voters and representatives share a social identity, representatives tend to invest less effort and their effort is independent of their competence. In contrast, 'out-group' representatives compensate for lower competence with higher effort and reduce effort when voters are likely to perceive them as competent. Voters often adopt laxer retention standards for representatives who are fellow group members and are responsive to evidence of other-regardingness from out-group representatives, but some voters actively resist treating representatives with shared identity more favorably and 'overcorrect' as a consequence. Adapted from the source document.

This paper uses the unique social structure of Arab communities to examine the effect of social identity on voter turnout. We first show that voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who shares their social group (signified by last name) as compared to other candidates. Using last name as a measure of group affiliation, an inverted U-shaped relationship between group size and voter turnout has been found (borderline significant) which is consistent with theoretical models that reconcile the paradox of voting by incorporating group behavior. Adapted from the source document.

Social identity is a concept od increasing importance in the social sciences. Here, the concept is applied to the often atheoretical realm of medieval studies. Each contributor focuses on a particular topic of early medieval identity - ethnicity, national identity, social location, subjectivity/personhood, political organization, kiship, the body, gender, age, proximity/regionality, memory and ideological systems. The result is a pioneering vision of medieval social identity and a challenge to some of the received general wisdoms about this period

Social identity is a key construct to understand online community life. While existing online identity studies present a relatively static conception of identity, grounded in user profiles and other personal information, in this paper the authors investigate more dynamic aspects of identity, grounded in patterns of social interaction in Facebook community life, drawing on social science research on identity theory and social identity theory. The authors examine the tensions experienced by people between assimilation and differentiation with respect to group identities and role identities. The study provides a framework for understanding how users construct self-presentations in different online social interactions, actively managing identity, rather than merely declaring it in a relatively static profile. The authors speculate on how social computing environments could more effectively support identity presentation.