A person’s identity is shaped by various elements, including social circles, developed and innate patterns, and behavioral tendencies (McLeod, 2008). This essay explores how membership in a social group contributes to the definition of an individual’s sense of oneself and others, as defined by social identity theory. It also shares my own experience with this idea. According to psychologist Henry Tajfel, social identity is a person’s sense of self derived from their affiliations with particular groups. According to Tajfel’s 1978 proposal, a person’s family, socioeconomic class, or ethnic community is all significant sources of their pride and self-worth (Tajfel, 1978).
Individuals who join social groups feel more connected to society and have a more robust social identity. We often elevate the prestige of the collective to which we identify (the “in-group”), denigrate the social standing of other social groups (the “out-groups”), and harbor prejudices against them to improve our sense of self-worth and self-image. Thus, by social classification, we have split the universe into “them” and “us” (Tajfel, 1978). Group members often behave in unison, show empathy for one another, and see more good characteristics (positive uniqueness) in their particular group than in others. A few elements, including social rank, economic standing, acceptability in the culture, and a general degree of respect and acknowledgment, provide the foundation for social identity development. A person’s social identity and in-group are integral components of their self-perception.
The group with which a person identifies is known as the in-group; those who do not belong to this group are referred to as the “other” or outgroup. Being part of the in-group fosters social cohesiveness, mutual support, and a shared experience of happiness and sorrow. Any facet of a person’s identification, such as gender, age, racial or ethnic origins, education, occupation, etc., can be the basis of a social identity group (McLeod, 2008). The black community would be considered the in-group in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, while non-black people, or “Whites,” would be considered the out-group. The racial identification of the individuals forms the basis of the in-group structure.
For generations, the African American population has endured injustices from well-off white Europeans. As a result, the collective effort has fostered emotional ties among community members. The actors’ activists and athletes were among the many people who took a knee during the so-called ‘Take the Knee’ campaign to demonstrate their opposition to the systemic racism that permeates every aspect of American society (Lebron, 2023). Their skin tone was the only thing they had in common, but because they belonged to the same in-group, that was sufficient for demonstrations to spread throughout the state.
The majority of the acts of discrimination that have confined Black people to one area have shaped their identity. They are discriminated against unfairly in terms of job, education, and pay; they are regularly called out as second-class citizens, and their looks are made fun of and copied to dehumanize them (Lebron, 2023). According to this idea, the significant Black Lives Matter movement was sparked by the collective behavioral, cultural, electoral, and economic actions of the African American ethnic group. The strain hypothesis adds to and elaborates upon the social identity of the “black” people.
Due to discrimination resulting from variations in Social Identity groups, Black individuals often have lower self-esteem than White people. This is because we elevate the status of the group to which we belong to improve our self-image. Additionally, due to their poor self-esteem, other people treat them like animals while playing with them. The unlawful deaths of Black individuals by vigilantes and the police are a prime illustration of this (Tillery, 2019). The founders of the Black Lives Matter movement have a strong sense of social identity; they stand up for their rights and let everyone know that they are just like individuals of all other races. The deaths and prejudice against them challenge their social identity; therefore, it becomes essential for them to feel strongly that they are protecting it.
Social Identity Theory brought about the BLM Movement that originated in the U.S. and has now expanded globally to reduce racism and acts of violence against Black people. Most of the violence is brought by police brutality. The senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer led to protest actions in 2020 all across the globe, including ones in the UK, London, Bristol, and Manchester (Hill et al., 2020). The movement serves as a social attempt by a group of individuals to criticize the unexplained killing of Black people and pursue the philosophy that Black people, like everyone else, should be treated with respect (Parker et al., 2020). Therefore, salvaging the social identity theory provides the most direct explanation for the BLM movement.
Social identity theory highlights how social groupings have been crucial in combating racism as the public’s response to Black Lives Matter has changed over time. Prior to the commencement of the Trump administration, previous research indicated that around 43% of Americans favored BLM, and 22% rejected it (Zulli, 2020). According to public opinion surveys, many Americans declared more significant support for the BLM movement by June 2020 and changed their devotion to it. Over 60% of Americans claimed to support Black Lives Matter at the height of the George Floyd demonstrations (Hill et al., 2020). According to some surveys, 38% of respondents strongly supported the movement, while 29% supported it moderately (Parker et al., 2020). According to the Social Identity Theory, by utilizing social media, especially Twitter, to promote the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, African Americans and most Americans below thirty have banded together against police brutality. The modern human race’s quest for equality and fairness for everyone has led to the emergence of anti-prejudice social groups. The campaign is expected to have a bright future because of the increased awareness of police violence and support for it.
One starting point for analyzing the social identity relationship between the BLM movement and the police is to assume that both groups have been placed under the subordinated group and that they represent two fundamentally opposed groupings. Based on this idea, we investigate if social identification among these two distinct groups contributed to part of the statistical impact of superordinate identification on sentiments toward privatizing the police and whether it had differing statistical consequences on the collective behavior of the police. An example is individuals who recognize themselves as belonging to the group of law-abiding U.S. citizens, who are likely to affiliate with the police as the embodiment of law-abidingness and fighting crime. Consequently, they may tend to resist a collective effort (BLM) that poses a fundamental risk to the police as well as the identity-relevant social groups that the police constitute.
Given that individuals who identify with particular groups may hold differing opinions about whether the police are generally fair (in terms of procedure fairness, equity in distribution, and valuing the boundaries of their legitimate power) as well as if they are equitable when policing Black communities, social identity may play a significant role in describing different opinions toward police reform. One of the main objectives of defunding is to lessen some of the brutal excesses committed by the police, particularly against Black communities (Zulli, 2020). Consequently, if people think that the police are fair (both generally and specifically toward Black communities), they will be more likely to vote against the movement and interpret defunding as abolition as opposed to reform. They will probably reject the notion that the police ought to be reformed in the manners that proponents of the Black Lives Matter movement have suggested, and they will probably regard the movement as a danger to their understanding of the police and their reputation as law-abiding citizens of the United States who respect and stand in support with the police.
Social identity theory attempts to explain how individuals are primarily characterized by their shared collective connection and desire to achieve comparable goals. This idea, developed by Alberto Melucci, explains how groups strive to realize specific goals, such as combating racism and upholding the humanity of Black people who live domestically and overseas (McCoy, 2020). The BLM Movement’s relationship to the present and subsequent phases of social issues, as well as the social problem of police brutality, is therefore thoroughly analyzed by the concept of Social Identity Theory.
The central tenet of the social identity theory is that members of one in-group would look for weaknesses or characteristics in an outgroup to enhance their perception of themselves. Nevertheless, racism is frequently the product of these biased beliefs about individuals and societies that are distinct, and racism in its most extreme forms can culminate in genocide (Eriksen, 2011). According to Tajfel, stereotyping or classification stems from standard cognitive processes in which individuals emphasize the distinctions between groups while downplaying the similarities among items in the same category. Some social phenomena are described as intergroup behaviors based on the social identity hypothesis. Discrimination, tribalism, adherence, and in-group bias are some examples of these behaviors.
Social Identity Theory (SIT) has profound implications outside of the concept of social psychology. We may create plans to lessen social prejudice, foster unity, and affect social change by comprehending the psychological and social processes that underlie collective behavior (Haslam, 2004).
Social equity and intergroup interactions are two areas where SIT’s practical implications are most apparent. We can create treatments that combat in-group prejudice and prejudice against outgroups and advance more egalitarian social structures by better understanding these processes (McLeod, 2008). To comprehend and overcome social disparity in matters like racism against black identity, for example, the idea of social mobility strategy in SIT can be applied. In this tactic, people attempt to elevate their social standing by transferring from a lower-status in-group to a higher-status outgroup. Nevertheless, since the social advancement strategy is predicated on the idea that the current social order is fair and unchangeable, it frequently strengthens existing social inequalities.
However, another idea that sprang from SIT is collective behavior, which is when members of a marginalized group band together to oppose and alter the status quo (Turner, 1975). One example of this is the Black Lives Matter Movement. This strategy could enhance society and solve structural problems with social discrimination. “Social identities offer an ethical framework directing and regulating behavior and act as a reflection of the broader society,” according to social psychologist John Turner. Thus, we may strive toward a more equitable and welcoming society by comprehending and utilizing SIT while recognizing the causes of social prejudice and discrimination.
In summary, according to social identity theory, intergroup participants may discriminate against the outgroup to improve their perception of themselves. The hypothesis is based on four significant notions backed up by several investigations. The theory’s strengths include being well-supported by research and illuminating the roles played by social classification in intergroup behaviors (Haslam, 2004). Its limitations include the need for more evidence supporting the theory’s preference for situational factors over personality traits and the concept of social identity, which is now centered on the degree of argument confidence. Consequently, the concepts of “in” and “out” groups may be utilized to explain how we get our private and public identities from social identity theory. The reason bias persists in all human civilizations can also be explained by it. The Black Lives Matter movement has demonstrated social identity’s relevance and ensured equality among people from different races and ethnicities (McCoy, 2020). In order to end police violence against Black people, there have been reforms as a result of group efforts.
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Hill, E., Tiefenthäler, A., Triebert, C., Jordan, D., Willis, H., & Stein, R. (2020, June 1). How George Floyd was killed in police custody. The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007159353/george-floyd-arrestdeath-video.html
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