Social Identity Theory: The Science of 'Us vs. Them'

One of the most fundamental insights in the psychology of prejudice and discrimination is can be found in "social identity theory." The theory, pioneered by Henri Tajfel and his colleagues, helps explain how the mere existence of ingroups and outgroups can give rise to hostility. The "us vs. them" mentality and the tribalism it evokes can be at least part of why groups have such trouble seeing eye to eye.

Features clips from NYU psychology professor, Dr. Jay Van Bavel.

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References
Brewer, M. B. (1979). In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86(2), 307-324.

Brown, R. (2020). The origins of the minimal group paradigm. History of Psychology, 23(4), 371-382.

Cialdini, R. B., Borden, R. J., Thorne, A., Walker, M. R., Freeman, S., & Sloan, L. R. (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(3), 366–375.

Dunham, Y., Baron, A. S., & Carey, S. (2011). Consequences of “minimal” group affiliations in children. Child Development, 82(3), 793-811.

Tajfel, H., Billig, M. G., Bundy, R. P., & Flament, C. (1971). Social categorization and intergroup behaviour. European Journal of Social Psychology, 1(2), 149-178.

Turner, J. C. (1996). Henri Tajfel: An introduction. In W. P. Robinson (Ed.), Social groups and identities: Developing the legacy of Henri Tajfel (pp. 1–23). Butterworth Heinemann

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Media Credits

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Opinion Science is a psychology podcast exploring the science of our opinions, where they come from and how they change. Each week I talk to social scientists and professional communicators about how the work they do reveals key insights about public opinion and persuasion.

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[dilipsubramanian]

Wonderful, very clear video and hugely helpful for my teaching. I let my students watch this first before discussing the theory in class and the discussions prove to be ever so much richer. Thanks very much

[alexprice]

Bro, you were one of my psych professors in undergrad this is sick!

[Graham]

How many people here - scrolled the video back to see - how many dots there actually were - after we were told we had been lied too!

[rolijain]

Wonderful pace, voice, info and examples. Thanks from NJ ! Great channel. Subscribed

[searchforserenity]

Nice video. I watched a Big Think video that discussed the research on oxytocin. Apparently sprays of oxytocin up test subjects noses produced (predictably) a more favorable outlook toward members of our In-Group. But it had the opposite effect on those we viewed as members of our Out-Groups.

[LabPsicometria]

Hi Andy, I really apreciated your video. Congratulations! You mentioned that researchers have recently been studying political positioning as an identifying group. Could you provide some reference? Thank you!

[nebelgeist]

Great video!

Well explained and really pleasant style of presenting all this information :)

[falco]

Sir, yes, Sir!!!! Tank Kuh for my experience with your mom!

[michaels]

This video, like most social science theorizing, dances around the elephant in the living room, which is evolutionary adaptiveness: why did the propensity to identify with ingroups evolve? What was the genetic mechanism? What makes it adaptive (since if it were not adaptive, it would have been selected out)?

[city]

Love this video! Very useful interesting information. Also really looking forward to a video that tells us what to DO about these biases...

[Miepelmiep]

Wow, what a great video. Very informative, well structured and transparent.

[jhonatangomez]

thanks for the effort you do with your videos, Andy, they are motivating me to learn more about psichology, I apprecciate it

[firstgvnk]

thank you for the video. very informative and great delivery.

[iarenubie]

Nice video Andy, does it also apply in the case where one would support their country indefinitely especially during sports and derogate others while at it. What consequences would it have on the group and their personal identity.

[briankelly]

Call out here, 'networking' for jobs specifically, rely heavily on 'in groups' such as being from same Alma mater.

[kittyykatie]

thanks i was just reading about this and it helps to hear a real person talk about it then just read about it hehe

[afchevalier]

Thank you Professor. This was very informative.

[Joy_Fox_]

I SAID 36 ACTUALLY WHAT THE FUCK

EDIT: GOD DAMN IT

[eliaskukali]

Such a brilliant presentation. Thank you Sir!

[kshanahan]

I counted 50 dots approx, so my initial guess was right so when you said 36 I was like - huh really.... Good Topic