In this process individuals compare their description of themselves as they are, with their description of themselves as they would like to become. Self-esteem depends then on the ability to live up to one's ideals. Self-esteem: The term self-esteem is used in psychology to describe a person's overall emotional evaluation of their own worthiness. The concept of self esteem assumes that the result of this reflection determines further the attitude towards the self, affecting the individual in aspects like motivation, attitudes, confidence and the overall emotional well being. Some theories suggest that self-esteem is a basic human need or motivation.
7. Evaluate Social Identity Theory, making reference to relevant studies Social Identity theory was developed by Tajfel (1979) to explain the relationship between social groups. Tajfel believed that social identity is the part of one’s self concept that is driven from the membership of a certain social group they belong to, which also contribute to one’s self-esteem. Examples of social identities may include racial group, nationality, social group and sports group. The three fundamental cognitive processes underlying social identity theory include categorization of our groups and other groups, identification of ourselves with the values and behavior of our groups, and comparison between us and other groups.
There are two major aspects in regards to the sociological perspective, the first being interaction between social structure and an individual and the idea of two levels of analysis. When it comes to the interaction of social structure and the individual, sociologists tend to concentrate not so much on the characteristics of an individuals behavior but rather on the precedents that are collective amongst individuals in regards to society and groups around them. The key to grasping sociology comes from the inevitability and repetition, which are seen in customary social behaviors throughout society and individuals. Social structures are socially embodied in the actions, thoughts, beliefs, and long-lasting temperaments of individual human beings. The typical being often has a
Assess the different sociological explanations for the formation of identity Identity is how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you. There are many different types of identity, personal identity is how you distinguish yourself, social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership, A collective identity refers to individuals' sense of belonging to a group (the collective), stigmatised identity is the process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity i.e. being disabled or having a criminal record. There are two main ways of looking at the formation of identity; macro and micro, macro such as Marxists, feminists and functionalists theorists look at it on a grand scale whereas micro theorists such as symbolic interactionism look at it from a small individual scale. Post modernists believe that some aspects of identity can bought, therefore changing how identity is formed.
TMA 01 Total Words: 1000 PI: Part One In this document the author will describe how the Social Identity Theory as devised by Henri Tajfel contributes to the understanding of the identity of people with physical disabilities. The Social Identity Theory (SIT) evolves from the identification of the social processes whereby an individual will identify with a certain group and distance themselves from another. The SIT is based around the idea that and individual will identify with a certain social group based on primary aspects of themselves, in the case of this document, the individual may class themselves as either physically able or disabled. The initial segregation into a social group provides the individual with a set of values and ideals which are widely believed to go hand in hand with being part of a particular group. The SIT does not place importance on what outsiders think of an individual and their placement within a group, rather the theory is wholly dependant on the individuals self assessment and ideas of themselves and where they belong.
In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong. We can also increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice views against the out group (the group we don’t belong to). Therefore we’re divided into the in-group or out-group based through a process of social categorization. Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group by focusing on negative aspects to enhance their self-image. Prejudiced views between cultures may result in racism; in its extreme forms, racism may result in genocide, such as occurred in Germany with the Jews, in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis and, more recently, in the former Yugoslavia between the Bosnians and Serbs.
They suggest norms and values are flexible guidelines. We apply meanings to social behaviour and are aware of how others see that behaviour and how we should act in a given situation. ----------------------- Social action theory Phenomenology Symbolic interactionism Ethnomethodology Structuration theory Weber Blumer Meaning Goffman Cooley Mead Schutz Garfinkel Giddens Structural and action approaches are both important to fully understand human behaviour. To get a full sociological explanation involves two levels: The level of cause and the level of meaning. (E.g.
The results indicated that that the most important factors affecting identity ranked in their order of importance are cohesiveness, voice and consensus respectively Introduction Social identity refers to how human beings make sense of each other. As such, social identity is critical to the construction of culture and by extension society (Turner, 1985). Human beings need to know the affiliations, beliefs, intentions of others to interpret their actions and/or predict their future behavior (Turner et al. 2008). While the qualities aren’t observable directly, they can be externally manifested through signals revealing of internal self (Turner et al.
Identity, in terms of social science, is defined as the manner in which human beings associate and label themselves as part of a particular social group. People could categorize themselves into groups according to their nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class and gender to name but a few. Symbolic interactionism aims to identify how an individuals’ identity could influence as well as be influenced by their social environment. In this essay, the approaches to construct identity by Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman will briefly be outlined and discussed. It will then be argued that, although there are differences between Mead and Goffmans’ views on the sociology of identity, they are in some way complementary.
Social Exchange theory The social exchange theory, also known as communication theory of social exchange, proposes that people make decisions in social situations depending on the alleged costs and benefits of a relationship. This assumption stresses that people evaluate each of their social relationships to determine how they will benefit from a relationship and what a relationship may cost them (i.e. time, money, energy, stress, etc.). It also suggests that someone will typically leave a relationship if he or she perceives that the effort or cost of it outweighs any perceived advantages. This basic principal of social psychology is imbedded in economics, rational choice theory, and structuralism.