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Defining Common Goals without Speaking the Same Language: Social Identity and Social Action in Wales

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Theorizing Identities and Social Action

Part of the book series: Identity Studies in the Social Sciences ((IDS))

Abstract

Any consideration of the relationship between social identity and social action begs a rather basic question: what is social about social identity? What is implied by the epithet ‘social’ that differentiates it from personal, or non-social, aspects of identity? In the sense that we use the term, there are several aspects to the sociality of social identity. These follow from a basic definition of social identity as ‘the individual’s knowledge that he [or she] belongs to certain social groups together with some emotional and value significance to him [or her] of this group membership’ (Tajfel, 1972: 32). As such, social (as opposed to personal) identity is the psychological basis of intergroup behaviour, so that rather than subverting identity (c.f. Le Bon, 1897; Zimbardo, 1969), acting in terms of one’s membership of a social group entails acting in terms of a different, equally valid and meaningful aspect of one’s self-concept.

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Authors
  1. Andrew Livingstone
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  2. Russell Spears
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  3. Antony S. R. Manstead
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  4. Martin Bruder
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Open University, UK

    Margaret Wetherell

Copyright information

© 2009 Andrew Livingstone, Russell Spears, Antony S. R. Manstead and Martin Bruder

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Livingstone, A., Spears, R., Manstead, A.S.R., Bruder, M. (2009). Defining Common Goals without Speaking the Same Language: Social Identity and Social Action in Wales. In: Wetherell, M. (eds) Theorizing Identities and Social Action. Identity Studies in the Social Sciences. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230246942_13

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