Social Identity Processes in Organizations
- LAST REVIEWED: 27 June 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0126
- LAST REVIEWED: 27 June 2017
- LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2017
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199846740-0126
Introduction
Social Identity Theory (SIT) is an elaborate and well-tested social-psychological theory on intergroup and social relations. As such, it therefore focuses on the role of groups rather than the individual and makes a compelling case that social situations and group life have a more profound impact on individuals than is generally assumed in the psychological literature. According to SIT, individuals are members of a number of social groups, and they derive their identity from these group memberships. This social identity or, better, social identities, as well as the level of identification with a social group, in large part determines the attitudes and behavior toward other people, groups, institutions, and society. SIT is founded on an enormous empirical base. As is common in social psychology, a set of laboratory experiments, with the substantial advantage that experimental research can claim to establish causality, constitute a large part of this empirical base. Although SIT was originally developed to understand intergroup relations in general, groups and therefore intergroup relations are abundant in the complex world of organizations. SIT has been successfully applied to the field of organizations since 1989. By now, there is a large body of research, not only supporting the basic assumptions of SIT but also contributing to further development of ideas and theory, as well as offering practical implications for organization and management science. Typical organizational issues such as leadership and communication processes but also relatively modern topics such as gender issues and diversity of the work force have been addressed since the mid-1990s.
General Overviews
The first steps to applying Social Identity Theory (SIT) to the field of organizations were taken in Ashforth and Mael 1989. The most comprehensive overview is Haslam 2004, which starts with a thorough introduction of SIT and then discusses a number of central topics in organizational behavior in which social identity processes play an important role. Hogg and Terry 2000 is a shorter but excellent overview on SIT. Ashforth, et al. 2008 further develops the concept of identification in organizations by relating it to mainstream literature on organizational behavior. Haslam, et al. 2014 provides an overview of SIT research in organizational settings.
Ashforth, Blake E., Spencer H. Harrison, and Kevin G. Corley. “Identification in Organizations: An Examination of Four Fundamental Questions.” Journal of Management 34.3 (2008): 325–374.
An important effort to relate SIT as a social-psychological theory to more-mainstream organizational-psychological theories and findings, emphasizing how studying identity processes may enhance our understanding of pivotal organizational processes.
Ashforth, Blake E., and Fred Mael. “Social Identity Theory and the Organization.” Academy of Management Review 14.1 (1989): 20–39.
The first and still-influential theoretical article on the relevance of SIT for studying organizational processes. The authors discuss the value of SIT for organizational socialization, role conflict, and intergroup relations within organizations.
Haslam, S. Alexander. Psychology in Organizations: The Social Identity Approach. 2d ed. London: SAGE, 2004.
This book is essential reading for those not familiar with SIT, since it gives a thorough overview of the development of the theory itself, as well as an equally elaborate overview of both fundamental, experimental social-psychological research and applied research and how both types of research contribute to our understanding of microorganizational processes.
Haslam, S. Alexander, and Naomi Ellemers. “Social Identity in Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Concepts, Controversies and Contributions.” In International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Vol. 20. Edited by Gerard P. Hodgkinson and J. Kevin Ford, 39–118. New York: John Wiley, 2005.
An extensive review chapter on the value of SIT for research on organizational behavior, effectively countering a number of criticisms that have been directed at SIT.
Haslam, S. Alexander, Daan van Knippenberg, Michael J. Platow, and Naomi Ellemers, eds. Social Identity at Work: Developing Theory for Organizational Practice. New York: Psychology Press, 2014.
An edited volume with an overview of the most-important contributions of SIT to the literature on organizational behavior. First published in 2003.
Hogg, Michael A., and Deborah J. Terry. “Social Identity and Self-Categorization Processes in Organizational Contexts.” Academy of Management Review 25.1 (2000): 121–140.
This is a relatively short but very informative and influential review article on SIT in organizations, more grounded in core elements of SIT than is Ashforth and Mael 1989.
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Abusive Supervision
- Adverse Impact and Equal Employment Opportunity Analytics
- Alliance Portfolios
- Alternative Work Arrangements
- Applied Political Risk Analysis
- Approaches to Social Responsibility
- Assessment Centers: Theory, Practice and Research
- Attitudes
- Attributions
- Authentic Leadership
- Automation
- Bayesian Statistics
- Behavior, Organizational
- Behavioral Approach to Leadership
- Behavioral Theory of the Firm
- Benefits
- Between Organizations, Social Networks in and
- Brokerage in Networks
- Business and Human Rights
- Business Ethics
- Career Studies
- Career Transitions and Job Mobility
- Certified B Corporations and Benefit Corporations
- Charismatic and Innovative Team Leadership By and For Mill...
- Charismatic and Transformational Leadership
- Compensation, Rewards, Remuneration
- Competitive Dynamics
- Competitive Heterogeneity
- Competitive Intensity
- Computational Modeling
- Conditional Reasoning
- Conflict Management
- Considerate Leadership
- Cooperation-Competition (Coopetition)
- Corporate Philanthropy
- Corporate Social Performance
- Corporate Venture Capital
- Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB)
- Creativity
- Cross-Cultural Communication
- Cross-Cultural Management
- Cultural Intelligence
- Culture, Organization
- Data Analytic Methods
- Decision Making
- Diversity
- Diversity and Firm Performance
- Diversity and Inclusion, Global Perspective on
- Dynamic Capabilities
- Emotional Labor
- Employee Aging
- Employee Engagement
- Employee Ownership
- Employee Voice
- Empowerment, Psychological
- Entrepreneurial Firms
- Entrepreneurial Orientation
- Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship, Corporate
- Entrepreneurship, Women’s
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Ethics
- Executive Succession
- Faking in Personnel Selection
- Family Business, Managing
- Feedback
- Financial Markets in Organization Theory and Economic Soci...
- Findings, Reporting Research
- Firm Bribery
- First-Mover Advantage
- Fit, Person-Environment
- Forecasting
- Founding Teams
- Global Leadership
- Global Talent Management
- Goal Setting
- Grounded Theory
- Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions
- Human Capital Resource Pipelines
- Human Resource Management
- Human Resource Management, Strategic
- Human Resources, Global
- Human Rights
- Humanitarian Work Psychology
- Humility in Management
- Impression Management at Work
- Imprinting
- Influence Strategies/Tactics in the Workplace
- Information Economics
- Innovative Behavior
- Intelligence, Emotional
- International Economic Development and SMEs
- International Economic Systems
- International Strategic Alliances
- Job Analysis and Competency Modeling
- Job Crafting
- Job Design
- Job Satisfaction
- Judgment and Decision Making in Teams
- Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration within and across Firm...
- Leader-Member Exchange
- Leadership Development
- Leadership Development and Organizational Change, Coaching...
- Leadership, Ethical
- Leadership, Global and Comparative
- Leadership, Strategic
- Learning by Doing in Organizational Activities
- Licensing
- Management History
- Management In Antiquity
- Managerial and Organizational Cognition
- Managerial Discretion
- Meaningful Work
- Mentoring
- Multinational Corporations and Emerging Markets
- Multiteam Systems
- Neo-institutional Theory
- Neuroscience, Organizational
- New Ventures
- Organization Design, Global
- Organization Development and Change
- Organization Research, Ethnography in
- Organization Theory
- Organizational Adaptation
- Organizational Ambidexterity
- Organizational Behavior, Emotions in
- Organizational Citizenship Behaviors (OCBs)
- Organizational Climate
- Organizational Control
- Organizational Corruption
- Organizational Hybridity
- Organizational Identity
- Organizational Justice
- Organizational Legitimacy
- Organizational Networks
- Organizational Paradox
- Organizational Performance, Personality Theory and
- Organizational Responsibility
- Organizational Surveys, Driving Change Through
- Organizations, Big Data in
- Organizations, Gender in
- Organizations, Identity Work in
- Organizations, Political Ideology in
- Organizations, Social Identity Processes in
- Overqualification
- Passion
- Paternalistic Leadership
- Pay for Skills, Knowledge, and Competencies
- People Analytics
- Performance Appraisal
- Performance Feedback Theory
- Planning And Goal Setting
- Proactive Work Behavior
- Psychological Contracts
- Psychological Safety
- Real Options Theory
- Recruitment
- Regional Entrepreneurship
- Reputation, Organizational Image and
- Research, Ethics in
- Research, Longitudinal
- Research Methods
- Research Methods, Qualitative
- Resource Redeployment
- Resource-Dependence Theory
- Resources
- Response Surface Analysis, Polynomial Regression and
- Role of Time in Organizational Studies
- Safety, Work Place
- Selection
- Selection, Applicant Reactions to
- Self-Determination Theory for Work Motivation
- Self-Efficacy
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy In Management
- Self-Management and Personal Agency
- Sensemaking in and around Organizations
- Service Management
- Shared Team Leadership
- Social Cognitive Theory
- Social Evaluation: Status and Reputation
- Social Movement Theory
- Social Ties and Network Structure
- Socialization
- Spin-Outs
- Sports Settings in Management Research
- Stakeholder Theory, Transaction Cost Economics and
- Stakeholders
- Status in Organizations
- Strategic Alliances
- Strategic Human Capital
- Strategy
- Strategy and Cognition
- Strategy Implementation
- Stress
- Structural Contingency Theory/Information Processing Theor...
- Team Composition
- Team Conflict
- Team Design Characteristics
- Team Learning
- Team Mental Models
- Team Newcomers
- Team Performance
- Team Processes
- Teams, Global
- Technology and Innovation Management
- Technology, Organizational Assessment and
- the Workplace, Millennials in
- Theory X and Theory Y
- Time and Motion Studies
- Training and Development
- Training Evaluation
- Trust in Organizational Contexts
- Turnover
- Unobtrusive Measures
- Validity
- Virtual Teams
- Whistle-Blowing
- Work and Family: An Organizational Science Overview
- Work Contexts, Nonverbal Communication in
- Work, Mindfulness at
- Workplace Aggression and Violence
- Workplace Coaching
- Workplace Commitment
- Workplace Gossip
- Workplace Meetings
- Workplace, Spiritual Leadership in the
- World War II, Management Research during