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Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorisation Theory

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The Palgrave Handbook of Global Political Psychology

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology Series ((PSPP))

Abstract

Political behaviour always involves social groups, whether these take the form of concrete networks and gatherings of individuals such as pressure groups, demonstrations, governments, cadres or committees, or whether they are constituted as large-scale institutions or imagined communities (Anderson, 1991) such as polities, states, political parties, interest groups, publics, constituencies or electorates. In so far as social groups are central to politics, it follows that the psychology of groups should be relevant to our understanding of political psychology. Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Self-Categorisation Theory (SCT) represent major theoretical attempts to clarify the social-psychological processes associated with group membership and action and should, therefore, be in a good position to provide a significant contribution to that understanding.

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Authors
  1. Denis Sindic
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  2. Susan Condor
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Huron University College, Canada

    Paul Nesbitt-Larking

  2. Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden

    Catarina Kinnvall

  3. Department of Politics, University of Surrey, UK

    Tereza Capelos

  4. Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University, The Netherlands

    Henk Dekker

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© 2014 Denis Sindic and Susan Condor

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Sindic, D., Condor, S. (2014). Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorisation Theory. In: Nesbitt-Larking, P., Kinnvall, C., Capelos, T., Dekker, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Political Psychology. Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-29118-9_3

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