Social Identity TheoryWhy merely being sorted into a group produces favouritism.PsychologyTajfel's three processes.1CategorisationSorting people, including yourself, into groups.2IdentificationAdopting the group's identity as part of the self.3ComparisonComparing your group favourably against others, to maintainself-esteem.MINIMAL GROUP PARADIGMParticipants assigned by a coin tossNo contact, no history, no stakeThey still allocated more to their own groupBecause group membership feeds self-esteem, threats to the group areexperienced as threats to the self.Social Identity Theorylearnposters.com
Social Identity Theory — printable life science wall chart from LearnPosters. Free vector PDF, US Letter and A4.

Social Identity Theory, step by step

Tajfel's three processes.

  1. CategorisationSorting people, including yourself, into groups.
  2. IdentificationAdopting the group's identity as part of the self.
  3. ComparisonComparing your group favourably against others, to maintain self-esteem.

Minimal group paradigm

  • Participants assigned by a coin toss
  • No contact, no history, no stake
  • They still allocated more to their own group

Because group membership feeds self-esteem, threats to the group are experienced as threats to the self.

Questions about the Social Identity Theory poster

What’s on the Social Identity Theory poster?
3 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. Tajfel's three processes. Categorisation — Sorting people, including yourself, into groups.; Identification — Adopting the group's identity as part of the self.; Comparison — Comparing your group favourably against others, to maintain self-esteem.. Because group membership feeds self-esteem, threats to the group are experienced as threats to the self.
Who is the Social Identity Theory poster for?
Social Identity Theory belongs to the Psychology section rather than to a school year, because life science is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning social can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
When should you use the Social Identity Theory poster?
Minimal groups are enough. No history, no competition, no contact required. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Social Identity Theory belongs on the wall where that life science work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
What other posters go with Social Identity Theory?
Helping Behaviour, Attitudes & Behaviour and Attribution sit alongside Social Identity Theory in the Psychology section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Helping BehaviourAttitudes & BehaviourAttribution
Is the Social Identity Theory poster free to download and print?
Yes. Social Identity Theory downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Psychology section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
What size does the Social Identity Theory poster print at?
Social Identity Theory is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Social Identity Theory loses nothing.Printing guide

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