A central aspect of social identity for many people is their ethnic and religious affiliation (Eriksen, 2001). Social psychologist Henry Tajfel (1978), one of an increasingly small number of Jews who survived World War II, wanted to understand the extreme violence and prejudice that his religious group experienced. One result was his social identity theory, which helps to explain prejudice and conflict between groups.

Social identity theory states that when individuals are assigned to a group, they invariably think of the group as an in-group for them. Doing so helps to build a positive self-image.

Self-image consists of both a personal identity and many different social identities. Tajfel argues that individuals can improve their self-image by enhancing either their personal or their social identity but that social identity is especially important.

Think about how you behave when you introduce yourself to a stranger. Are you more likely to say, "Hi, I'm an ambitious, hard-working idealist?" Or are you more likely to say, "Hi, I'm a student at State College, and I'm a member of the debate team?" Chances are, you are more likely to tell people about the groups with which you identify.

1		The fact that freshman students in an honors program consider themselves to be members of an is due to social identity theory.