Optimal Distinctiveness: A Theory of Group Identification

在人际关系的研究中，人们更喜欢与与自己相似的人交往，这是一个公认的发现。另一方面，有证据表明，极端的相似性可能是令人厌恶的，个人寻求建立与他人的独特性，作为维护自我认同的一部分。目前的研究是基于这样一个前提，即个人选择群体成员是为了同时满足他们对社会分化和包容的竞争需求。对人工创造的群体的实验室研究和对自然群体的实地研究将结合起来，以检验这样的预测，即个人更喜欢属于独特的子群体（而不是多数群体），并将努力保持独特的群体身份，即使这种身份是不利的。这些研究的结果将加深我们对社会群体成员在建立和维持个体自我认同和心理健康方面的作用的理解。

It is a well.established finding in the study of interpersonal relationships that individuals prefer association with others who are similar to themselves. On the other hand, there is evidence that extreme similarity can be aversive and that individuals seek to establish distinctiveness from others as part of the maintenance of self identity. The current research is based on the premise that individuals select group memberships in order to meet simultaneously their competing needs for social differentiation and inclusion. Laboratory studies of artificially created groups and field studies of natural groups will be combined to test predictions that individuals prefer membership in distinctive subgroups (rather than majority groups) and will make efforts to preserve distinctive group identity even when such identification is disadvantageous. The results of these studies will enhance our understanding of the role of social group membership in establishing and maintaining individual self identity and mental health.