Intro + Identity
Business and Management focuses on the functioning of markets and
organizations. At its heart, the disciplines of business and management
describe process engaged in by individuals in the context of complex
interdependent relationship, as they attempt to meet their needs. The topic
individuals and collectives is therefore highly pertinent as we inquire into
what it is that we are doing when we are doing business or managing. In
this course we will engage some fundamental philosophical distinctions
that can help us to engage this topic, and bring this into relationship with
the realities of global markets and the experience of organizational life.
• Social sciences = The study of human society and social relationships
• Social psychology = The study of social interactions, including their
origins and effects on individuals and groups
• Sociology = The study of the development, structure, and functioning of
human society
Identity
“Our understanding of who we are
and of who other people are, and,
reciprocally, other people's
understanding of themselves and
of others”
1. Human identity = “the self as a human being”
2. Social identity = “those aspects of an individual’s self-image that derive from
the social categories to which he/she belongs, as well as the emotional and
evaluative consequences of this group membership”
3. Personal identity = “attitudes, memories, behaviors, and emotions that define
them [people] as idiosyncratic individuals, distinct from other individuals”
Minimal group paradigm
= ingroup favoritism and outgroup prejudice, based on nothing but group
membership (Tajfel et al.,1971)
• Social Identity Theory (SIT) = intergroup behavior (between)(Tajfel & Turner, 1979)
• Self-Categorization Theory (SCT) = intragroup behavior (within)
Social Identity Theory (SIT)
Human Interaction
Purely interpersonal Purely intergroup
,‘Sliding’ from one to another changes attitudes and behavior
Social identity ‘activated’
• Positive and secure self-concept
• ‘us and them’ (social comparison, no islands)
• Social meaning and distinctiveness
Status hierarchy
What if group membership leads to negative self-image? (low status)
• Leaving the group (physically or psychologically)
• Comparing the group downwardly
• Focusing on good characteristics, devaluing bad characteristics
• Engaging in social change to overturn existing status hierarchy (conflict!)
Which strategy is chosen, depends on:
• Permeability of boundaries
• Stability of hierarchy
• Legitimacy of hierarchy
Self-Categorization Theory (SCT)
What determines the basis for self-categorization in a certain context?
Or: when does a social identity become more pronounced than a personal (or human)
identity?
And which one? (of the many groups we belong to)
Fit (“the extent to which the social categories are perceived to reflect social reality”)
• Comparative: high when strong intragroup similarities and intergroup differences
• Normative: high when social behavior and group membership are in line with
stereotypical expectations
Accessibility (cognitively)
• When primed
• When frequently activated
• Motivation
Depersonalization
Remember: SIT = intergroup, SCT = intragroup
Depersonalization
• Less individual, more a prototype of the group
• Subjectively defined based on stereotypes
• Attitudes, behavior, emotions conformation
• Intragroup homogeneity
, Norms and Values_SS
Values = “what is important to us in life” (Schwartz, 2012. p. 3)
Or
“culturally defined standards by which people assess desirability, goodness
and beauty, and which serve as broad guidelines for social living” (Macionis & Plummer,
2012, p. 966)
• Nature = universal
• Structure = universal
• Priorities/ hierarchies = individual differences
Main features of ALL values
1) Values are beliefs - linked to affect
2) Values refer to desirable goals - motivate action
3) Values transcend specific actions and situations - generally applicable
4) Values serve as standards or criteria - (unconsciously) guide attitudes
and behavior
5) Values are ordered by importance - different from norms and attitudes
6) The relative importance of multiple values guides action - context +
personal
What distinguishes values: expressed goal/motivation
10 basic human values
1) Self-Direction
- goal: independent thought and action
2) Stimulation
- goal: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life
3) Hedonism
- goal: pleasure and gratification for oneself
4) Achievement
- goal: personal success through demonstrating competence according to
social standards
5) Power
- goal: social status and prestige, control/dominance over people and
resources
6) Security
- goal: safety, harmony, and stability
, 7) Conformity
- goal: avoidance of upsetting/harming others and violating social norms
8) Tradition
- goal: respect, commitment, and acceptance of cultural/religious customs
9) Benevolence
- goal: preserving and enhancing the welfare of the ingroup
10) Universalism
- goal: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, protection of all people and
nature
Grounded in universal requirements of human
existence:
1) needs of individuals as biological organisms
2) requisites of coordinated social interaction
3) survival and welfare needs of groups
Individuals cannot fulfill requirements alone!
differences in value priorities on individual level
but
Similarities in value priorities on societal level
Claim: strong link between values and the characteristics of societies
Observation: deep-rooted changes in value priorities of societies over time
Reason: economic and technological changes reduce likelihood of disease,
