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The problem of collective identity can be delineated through a brief historical account of the evolution of societies. There are 4 stages of social evolution which trace the relation of ego & group identity: (1) the archaic stage with its kinship ties & mythical world images, (2) the stage of the city-state with centralization, the formation of self-identity, & the rise of community, making group identity possible, (3) the rise of a class society with an emphasis on the community of believers, & (4) the modern era with the demand for strong universalistic commitments & individualistic ego structures. According to Hegel, the last stage reflects the alienation of the subject from society & from nature. This separation of the 'I' from society signifies the modern problem of identity, which can only be solved if it is rendered incomprehensible. For Hegel it is the modern state which embodies rational identity, but there are 4 arguments against this thesis: (A) the bourgeois state is not 'real', (B) for Hegel, rational identity develops in a sovereign state, but the sovereignty of the modern state has become an anachronism-- society is global in nature operating within the worldwide network of communications, (C) it is questionable whether a society can formulate its identity when social integration gets substituted for systems integration, & (D) the historical development of the state in the 19th century reveals that the identity of a society no longer fits an organizational framework, be it a nation or a parastate party. Some aspects of a new identity which is possible in a complex society can only be grounded in a consciousness of universal & equal chance to participate in the kinds of communication processes by which identity formation becomes a continuous learning process. There must be counterarguments & revisions of values & norms; tradition must be appropriated critically. A. Karmen.

In an attempt to explore the importance of various religious ethnic and political social identities in Northern Ireland, 991 young people (60% Protestants, 40% Catholics) were asked to choose among various bipolar adjectives and then to rank order the terms chosen. The results indicated that the Catholic-Protestant dimension was the most frequently chosen and most highly rated ethnopolitical category but that some cross-cutting occurred on all categories. Further, it was suggested that while the term Catholic may carry surplus meaning from the religious domain, the label Protestant may be rather more clearly thought of as a purely ethnopolitical term.

SummaryThe paper presents the results of five polymorphic systems in a sample of 999 individuals from Nottinghamshire. The results are classified by the socio-economic grouping of parents and self.The results show that social class differences for the genetic attributes exist and are almost linear when aggregated distances are computed. There are differences, however, between parental and offspring results. These differences may be the result of changes in social class over the last generation. This social mobility is investigated and it is shown that an upward movement in social class is associated with characteristic genotype groupings.

Data & concepts relative to the national integration & identity-building processes in Brazil are discussed. The present situation in Brazil is one of dualism between the modern & affluent sector & the large poor majority, rather than one moving in the direction of a homogenous & integrated society. Social & geographical mobility patterns are examined with reference to migration statistics. The introduction of market mechanisms to the countryside is studied as well as the social consequences of mobility at its point of origin & point of destination. General remarks on the kind of society which is evolving & emerging social identity patterns are presented. The chances of bringing the whole country up to the production, technology, & consumption levels of its rich centers are viewed as remote in the foreseeable future. Redistributive policies are discussed & problems encountered in the US War on Poverty relative to allocating resources to groups having no chances of joining the labor force are noted. 6 Tables. A. Rubins

Drawing on the work of the Survey Research Center of the U of Michigan on party identification (A. Campbell, G. Gurin, & W. Mitter, THE VOTER DECIDES, Evanston, Ill: Row, Peterson, 1954, & A. Campbell, P. Converse, W. Miller, & D. Stokes, THE AMERICAN VOTER, New York, NY: Wiley, 1964) & the Likert approach to attitude measurement, a procedure is developed for measuring the concept of social identity among a number of individuals with a single instrument. Results of the Twenty Statements Test research were used to compile a wide-ranging sample of 40 stimulus groups (H. Mulford & W. Salisbury, II, "Self-conceptions in a General Population," in SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONS; A READER IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, J. G. Manis & B. N. Meltzer, Eds, Boston, Mass: Allyn & Bacon, 1967). A sample group of 146 Uc & graduate students at Temple U, Philadelphia were given the questionnaire during a class period. The sexual, racial, & religious make-up of the sample was calculated. Pearson product-moment correlations were measured from the raw data matrix. To extimate the N of meaningful factors present, the Cattell eigen value technique was used. The r matrix was factored & refactored with an iteractive principal axis routine to determine the 7 factors: 'Jewish' identity, 'black M' identity, 'sex' identity, 'respectable member of the community' identity, 'upper status' identity, 'blue-collar Roman Catholic' identity, & 'white race' identity. All proved reliable under Cronbach's alpha test for measurement equivalence, except the 'blue-collar Roman Catholic' identity. Applications of the instrument to the study of policy compliance & group support are suggested. 3 Tables. Modified HA.

Maasai women and men are compared with respect to their classifications of personality descriptors modifying social identity terms. Substantial sex differences are found and are interpreted in terms of Maasai culture and social organization. These findings are integrated with a theory of cognitive variability based on notions of markedness. [psychological anthropology, personality, sex differences, perception, Maasai]

This paper examines the relationship between expressive symbols and the identity transformations implicit in adolescent initiation rituals. Previous work views these rites as a means of insuring role commitment; they enable a society to motivate its members to willingly accept adult role obligations essential to its survival. On the other hand, our analysis of high school sorority initiation rites in an urban community suggests that they confirm the initiate's new social identity in a way that strengthens the moral categories that define the local status system. In contrast to those who argue that these sorts of rituals promote community solidarity, we maintain that they support the ideology of the dominant groups in a local status hierarchy.

This paper examines the social identity of Arabs and Jews in Israel and its relationship to the readiness for establishing and maintaining intergroup contact. Social identity is defined in terms of self-esteem and the national, civic, religious, familial, residential, and vocational subidentities. The structural coherence of the indentity system was demonstrated for both Jews and Arabs, but while subidentities among Jewish subjects tend to be positively interrelated, there is strain within the Arab system, revealed by a negative correlation between the national and civic subidentities, among others. Readiness for relations with members of the other group is higher for Arabs than for Jews and also more clearly related to several subidentities. Jewish readiness for social relations with Arabs is weakly related to the identity system. Identity variables may be promising mediators between situational antecedents and intergroup attitudes, but mainly for members of the minority.