Identity threat

According to social identity theory, group members may experience different kinds of identity threats. Group-status threat occurs when the perceived competence of the group is devalued. Group members may also experience various forms of social identity threats, one of which takes place when the moral behaviour of their group is called into question. The latter form of threat is sometimes experienced even by group members who can in no way be held personally accountable for their group’s behaviour, as when citizens of a certain country may feel guilt or shame for crimes committed by their country long before they were born.

Group members can also experience social identity threat when they think that their group is not sufficiently acknowledged as a separate entity with unique characteristics. Such group-distinctiveness threat is experienced when different groups of people are included in larger, more inclusive groups, nations, or organizations, such as members of linguistic minorities who strive for political autonomy or workers in a small company that is taken over in an organizational merger. In addition, categorization threat occurs when individuals are treated as group members at times when they would prefer not to be, as when a woman who is a lawyer is addressed in court on the basis of her gender instead of her profession. Acceptance threat occurs when individuals fail to gain acceptance and inclusion in the groups of which they consider themselves members, such as when a manager of Asian descent is not invited to join a local Asian business club.

To cope with identity threat, group members will respond differently depending on the degree to which they identify with the group. In addition to the perceived characteristics of the social structure (and the opportunities and restrictions implied), the psychological significance of group membership and the loyalty and commitment to the group and its members also determine how people cope with identity threat. See also conformity; deindividuation.