Social Identity: A Multidimensional Approach

In this study salience, importance, and multidimensional aspects of spontaneous social identities were examined. A Social Identity Survey was developed and administered to an ethnically diverse sample of American undergraduate students. Freely generated, social identities were rank ordered for importance and rated along four conceptually-derived dimensions: emotion, evaluation, importance, and stability. Results showed pattern differences among three groups of highly salient social identities: (a) gender, religion, and ethnicity; (b) academic major and student; and (c) hobbies and athletics. Ethnic differences suggest that mainstream Americans attributed less importance to the gender and ethnic identities in comparison with Asians and Hispanics.