• SIT argues that a person has not just one “personal self” but several social selves that correspond to GROUP MEMBERSHIP.
• According to SIT, we need to understand and know who we are in social contexts, therefore, so we categorise ourselves on the basis of group membership.
• When someone describes themselves as male, a swimmer, Indian, and a student - They’re describing their several SOCIAL SELVES OR IDENTITIES
• Group membership can also boost SELF ESTEEM (Being associated with a popular or successful group)
• Tajfel Et al, who create the theory identified THREE PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN THE CREATION OF A SOCIAL IDENTITY

The Three Mechanisms of SIT

1. Social Categorisation: The Hierarcchy - The process of classifying people into their groups mentally based on similar characteristics, whether that’s nationality, age, gender, group membership, or another common trait - This categorisation of people into groups creates IN-GROUPS, and OUT-GROUPS - In groups are those “IN” or affiliated with a certain group, and Out groups are those OUTSIDE of a certain group, aka anyone not in that group - Tajfel’s experiment later shows that even if you are randomly assigned to a group, you will still mentally create an ingroup, and an outgroup because you believe they are similar to you, creating a subsequent bond. In Tajfels study, he found that even though assignment was random, members of each group were ready to give their own group higher rewards, even when an option existed to give both groups equal rewards, which is a phenomenon known as IN-GROUP FAVORITISM
2. Social Comparison: Us and them - We constantly compare benefits of being in the in-group to being in the outgroup
3. Tendency for people to use group membership as a source of self esteem