SIT and cross-cultural psychology

1. Social Identification Theories
SPECIFIC DIMENSIONS OF
ACCULTURATIVE CHANGES,
PARTICULARLY CULTURAL IDENTITY
AND INTERGROUP RELATIONS
DRAWS UPON LITERATURE IN
SOCIAL, ETHNIC AND CROSS-
CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO
STUDIES OF IMMIGRANTS,
SOJOURNERS AND REFUGEES

2. Evolves from theories of social cognition
 Deals with the ways people perceive/think about
themselves and others
 How people process information about their own
group (in-group) and other groups (out-groups)
 Ethnic and cultural identity forms the core of the
conceptual frameworks, links self-definition to
group membership
 Intergroup processes/dynamics also considered

3. Guided by cognitive influence in modern psychology
 Theories focus on internal mental processes
(rather than external, observable behaviors)
 Focus on how groups see each other; how
prejudice arises; why people leave certain
groups and not others; how group
membership affects self-esteem
 Special attention is given to perceptions,
attributions, expectations, attitudes and
values held and expressed at the group level

4. Acculturating individuals must consider:
 “Who am I?”
-references shifting ethnic, cultural
and/or national identities
 “How do members of my group relate
to other groups?”
-concerns emergent intergroup attitudes
and perceptions.

5. Theoretical Perspectives
 Acculturation models and measurements
-influenced by personality theory and focuses on the
structure and content of cognitions about self.
 Social Identity Theory (SIT)
-emerged from contemporary social psychology
highlighting significance of group membership for
individual identity, and the role of social
categorization and social comparison in relation to
self-esteem.

6. Acculturation and Identity
 Cultural identification involves the
recognition, categorization or self-
identification of oneself as a member of an
ethnocultural group, and includes a sense of
pride and a positive evaluation of one‟s
group
 Broad concept of identification in
acculturation literature includes study of
attitudes, values and even behaviors

7. Acculturation and Identity (cont.)
 Focuses specifically on broad identity changes that
occur as a result of intercultural contact between
individuals from different societies
 In balance model of acculturation, biculturalism is
seen as middle-ground between assimilation and
separatism (has replaced unidirectional model
where immigrants/refugees were regarded as
having to choose between identification with either
heritage or contact cultures); many measurements
rely on this approach despite some weaknesses

8. More sophisticated models
 Conceptualize home and host culture identity as
independent (rather than interdependent)
 Categorical Approach (such as Berry‟s model,
which is guided by questions concerning
maintenance of heritage culture/relations with
other groups and the four acculturation
attitudes/strategies that arise in connection with
these questions (pg 102, Ward)

9. Core research on identity and acculturation
 Relates to components of identity and how identity is
changed over time
 Conditions associated with identity and identity
change
 Characteristics of the individual such as age, gender
and education
 Characteristics of migrant group such as push/pull
motivations and cultural similarity
 Characteristics of receiving society such as mono or
multiculturalism, loose/tight systems

10. Social Identity theory
 Tajfel points to three major defining
features:
 It is part of the self concept
 It requires awareness of membership in a
group
 It has evaluative and emotional
significance

11. SIT (cont.)
 At the process level, social identification involves
social categorization and social comparison, or the
recognition that various in/out groups exist, that
they may be compared, and that
favorable/unfavorable comparisons have
consequences for self-esteem.
 A relationship between ethnic identity and self-
esteem occurs only in cases when an individual
consciously perceives ethnicity or culture as a
central, salient feature of identity.

12. Intergroup Bias and Attributions
 In naturally occurring groups (as well as in
laboratory conditions), in-group favoritism is
common
 individuals are more likely to make internal
attributions for positive behaviors by in-groups
(kindness, honesty and intelligence) and external
attributions for the same behaviors by out-
groups (circumstances)
 out-group derogation increases when identity in
under threat

13. SIT also considers responses to out-group
devaluation
 Migrants and minorities are often subjected
to negative stereotyping and prejudicial
attitudes by members of the majority. If
perceived as threatening, individual‟s may
adopt a variety of responses to change their
social identities and restore self-esteem.
Table 5.1, pg 105 (Ward et al.)

14. Identity, Acculturation and Intercultural Contact
 Identity involves complex processes by individuals
define, redefine and construct their own and others‟
ethnicity (research looks at intrapersonal,
interpersonal and intergroup variables that affect
social identity)
 When acculturation starts early it proceeds more
smoothly
 It appears that assimilation proceeds more rapidly in
boys than girls, men than women, and women have
more negative attitudes toward assimilation

15. Cultural Identity Across Generations
 Cultural transmission exerts a strong influence on
the development and maintenance of cultural
identity in successive generations.
 First generation is often separatist, retaining a strong
identity with heritage culture; the second generation
more easily identifies with host culture; third
generation often emerge as reaffirmationists with a
renewed interest in ethnic customs, values and
behaviors

16. Distinction between cognitive and behavioral
aspects of acculturation
 Inter-related but exhibit different patterns of
change over time
 Immigrants/refugees more willing to learn
new behaviors and skills than change their
attitudes and values thus success in new
environment involves skills acquisition that
may be independent of changes in self-
concept and core values

17. Quality and Quantity of Contact
 Greater exposure to the host culture is associated
with stronger assimilative responses. Increased
length of residence strengthens host culture identity
and weakens home culture identity.
 Conditions under which contact occurs (perceived
attitudes by hosts), intracultural contact and
communication similarly influence social identity.
 Membership in intra-ethnic organizations and
language choice affect assimilative responses

18. Acculturation and Adaptation
 Findings are inconsistent
 Home-culture and host-culture identification make
independent contributions to cross-cultural
adjustment and influence different adjustment
domains
 Identification with culture of origin is associated
with better psychological adjustment
 Identification with contact culture in linked to
better sociopolitical adaptation

19. Intergroup Perceptions and Relations
 SIT emphasizes the importance of social
categorization, comparison and in-group
favoritism yet research supports „integrationist‟
preference by migrant groups, which suggests that
integrative efforts may be blocked by members of
receiving culture and that emerging social
identities may be negatively affected by out-group
stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.

20. Attributions and Stereotypes
 Attributions refer to judgements or causal
explanations about human behavior used to make
sense of environment but often influenced by
motivational biases such as the need to maintain and
enhance self-esteem (internal/dispositional vs.
external/situational factors).
 Self-serving bias: tendency to accept credit for
success and deny responsibility for failure (also at
the group level)

21. Self-serving bias among groups
 Indian study by Taylor and Jaggi (1974) in which
members of the majority Hindu community gave
internal attributions for desirable acts when
performed by in-group and external attributions for
same behaviors by out-groups.
 Israeli students in the U.S. gave more internal
attributions for Israeli moral acts and fewer internal
attributions for Israeli immoral acts than Arab
students, and vice versa (Rosenburg and Wolsfeld,
1977)

22. Intergroup Stereotypes
 In-group favoritism is also present in intergroup
stereotypes
 Negative out-group stereotypes have significant
implications for prejudice and discrimination in
receiving societies
 Social psychological theory suggests that increased
contact—at least under certain conditions—may
improve perceptions and relations
 „crystallization‟ hypothesis: increased contact may
sharpen intergroup perceptions

23. Prerequisites for positive perceptions:
 Equal status
 Pursuit of common goals
 Contact of an intimate, rather than
casual nature
 Broader social climate supporting
intergroup contact
(Amir and Ben-Ari, 1988)

24. Perceived Discrimination
 Associated with less willingness to adopt to host
culture identity
 Related to negative outcomes like increased stress,
identity conflict, depression and social skills deficits
 Strategies by immigrants in response include
assimilation, attempting to pass as members of the
dominant society, selecting alternative groups for
social comparison, reevaluating in-group
stereotypes, social action for group betterment

25. SIT and Multicultural Ideology
 SIT theories have rather negative implications for
multicultural societies as much of the acculturation
literature sees assimilation as a natural, desirable
and inevitable consequence of migration, which
limits options for the maintenance of cultural
identity in sojourners. SIT, on the other hand, argues
that positive social comparisons, involving in-group
favoritism/out-group devaluation are a primary
source of self-esteem enhancement, suggesting that
prejudice, discrimination and conflict are inevitable.

26. “Multicultural Assumption”
 Assumes that the development and maintenance of a
secure in-group identity can lead to greater intergroup
acceptance and tolerance
 Draws attention to the sociopolitical context in which
intercultural relations occur and highlights ethnocentric
biases in models that feature assimilation as natural
outcome acculturation
 Points to limitations of acculturation models and SIT but
more contemporary research is needed
 None of the existing theories are comprehensive enough
to account for ID/ID change/intergroup relations