Testing the social identity-intergroup differentiation hypothesis: 'We're not American eh!'.

Full Abstract

The social identity-intergroup differentiation hypothesis is a hotly debated issue among social identity researchers (Brown, 2000; Turner, 1999); it states that individuals having a stronger in-group identification will perceive greater differences between their in-group and a relevant out-group. This study examines the importance of three factors when testing this hypothesis:
the strength and salience of in-group identification, the relevance of the out-group for social comparison, and the relevance of the dimension of social comparison. The hypothesis was examined in relation to the national identity of a sample of Canadian students. Perceptions of the in-group and out-groups were measured at Time 1 (N =171). The same measures were given at Time 2 (N = 77), along with a variety of measures of social identity. It was predicted that this hypothesis would be supported when the dimension of social comparison was of high relevance and only for an important social comparison group (i.e. Americans). Finally, the ability of identity to predict differentiation at another point in time was examined in order to examine the issue of identity salience and stability. Results generally supported the hypotheses and are discussed in relation to prior research and the conceptualization of a minority identity.

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Author information

Author/s: Lalonde, Richard N (RN);

Affiliation: York University, Department of Psychology, Toronto, Canada. lalonde@yorku.ca

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The British journal of social psychology / the British Psychological Society (Br J Soc Psychol), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Dec; vol 41 (issue Pt 4) : pp 611-30

Dates: Created 2003/02/20; Completed 2003/04/09; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12593755, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Australia - ethnology
Canada
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Minority Groups

Minority Groups
Prejudice
Social Behavior
Social Identification
Stereotyping
Students - psychology
Time Factors
United States - ethnology

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