Henri Tajfel's Social Identity Theory Analysis

As I analyze my development from ages sixteen to twenty-two, I realized that Henri Tajfel’s Social Identity theory can be applied to the significant events that has affected my development. It is a stage theory that expresses the process by which individuals formulate their identity based upon a group that they interact with (Hutchinson, 2015). One’s social identity refers to an individual’s sense of who they are based on a group membership. The groups that people belong to are an important source of self-esteem and pride (Mcleod, 2008). According to this theory, there are different stages that adolescents go through in the process of creating their identity such as; acceptance, resistance, and redefinition (Hutchinson, 2015). I believe that I experienced each of these stages, within the Social Identity theory. The main conflict that I dealt with during my late adolescence, was a conflict with my social identity. As I transitioned to different environments, I was faced with the conflict of choosing which social group to belong with. In each of these …show more content…
I struggled to choose a cultural identity. In society, I was viewed upon as an African American, which is an oppressed minority group, but within this cultural group, I could not fully relate because I grew up within Jamaican family with different values. The socialization, dialects, and foods were different from one another. Once again, I felt that I had to choose a social identity, between groups that viewed each other as an in-group or out group. I wanted to be accepted by both groups. According to the Hutchinson (2015), culture greatly influences the perception of one self. I wanted one cultural group that I fully have a sense of belonging in and a great esteem of ethnic pride. To this day, I struggle with fully taking on either identities, but I am beginning to realize that I do not have to choose one, but that I can take on