Social Identity and Self Concept

社会身份是个人自我概念的各个方面，这些方面来源于他或她在情感上重要的社会群体中的成员身份。最优独特性理论是自我分类理论的延伸，由PI发展，以解释为什么个人寻求与社会群体的认同，并解释社会认同在实现和维持稳定的自我概念中的作用。该理论基于这样一种观点，即独特性本身是社会身份选择和优势的一个潜在因素，独立于与特定社会类别成员身份相关的积极评价。有人提出，社会身份的选择和激活，在一定程度上，它们有助于个人在特定的社会环境中实现包容感和独特性之间的平衡。本研究旨在探讨最优独特性理论对个体心理过程的影响。本文提出了九组实验，旨在测试寻求和维持最佳群体认同的后果，包括(a)自我评价，(b)自我刻板印象和自我概念的内容，(c)向他人展示自我，以及(d)通过与外群体区分来保护内群体认同。综上所述，这些实验将有助于检验最优独特性理论所隐含的社会动机基本假设的有效性。这个研究项目的目的是调查群体成员对一个人的自我概念和自我价值感的形成、维持和改变的影响。它的设计是为了检验这样一种理论，即归属感（与他人相似）和独特性（与他人不同）的对立需求塑造了个人的身份和对自己和其他社会群体的态度。适应性自我概念同时满足这两种需求。不能满足任何一个都会产生焦虑和自我概念的不稳定（不平衡）。他们提出了一系列的实验，旨在评估这种不平衡对个人自尊和对其他社会群体成员的偏见的影响。＊＊＊

9514398 Brewer Social identities are those aspects of an individual's self concept that derive from his or her membership in emotionally significant social groups. Optimal distinctiveness theory is an extension of self- categorization theory, developed by the PI to account for why individuals seek identification with social groups and to explain the role of social identities in achieving and maintaining a stable self-concept. The theory is based on the thesis that distinctiveness per se is a factor underlying the selection and strength of social identities, independent of the positive evaluation associated with membership in particular social categories. It is proposed that social identities are selected and activated to the extent that they help the individual to achieve a balance between feelings of inclusion and feelings of distinctiveness in a given social context. The purpose of the proposed program of research is to explore the implications of optimal distinctiveness theory for psychological processes at the individual level. Nine sets of experiments are proposed that are designed to test the consequences of seeking and maintaining optimal group identification for (a) self evaluation, (b) self stereotyping and the content of the self concept, (c) presentation of the self to others, and (d) protection of ingroup identity through differentiation from outgroups. Together these experiments will serve to test the validity of the fundamental assumptions about social motivation underlying optimal distinctiveness theory. %%% The purpose of this program of research is to investigate the consequences of group membership for the formation, maintenance, and change of a person's self-concept and sense of self-worth. It is designed to test the theory that opposing needs for belonging (similarity to others) and distinctiveness (differentiation from others) shape individual identity and attitudes toward their own and other socia l groups. An adaptive self-concept satisfies both needs simultaneously. Failure to meet either produces anxiety and instability of the self-concept (disequilibrium). A series of experiments is proposed, designed to assess the effects of such disequilibrium on individual self-esteem and prejudice toward members of other social groups. ***