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Defining IdentificationAccording to social identity theory, the self-concept is comprised of a personal identity that encompasses idiosyncratic attributes (e.g., dispositions, abilities) and a social identity comprised of salient group classifications (e.g., nationality, political affiliation) (Tajfel Turner, 1984).Turner (1984) proposed the existence of a "psychological group," defined as "a collection of people who share the same social identification or define themselves in terms of the same social category membership" (p.530).One credits the group with a psychological reality apart from specific relationships with its members.One's perception of being part of an entity is sufficient for incorporating that status into one's social identity, even in the absence of any interaction or cohesion with members.Indeed, research utilizing the "minimal group paradigm" shows that simply assigning an individual to a group is sufficient to engender identification, even without meeting other members (Tajfel, 1982a,b).Individuals classify themselves and others into groups as a means of ordering the social environment and locating their place within it.Thus, social identification is the perception of belongingness to a group and a sense of oneness with the group, and organizational identification is a specific form of social identification (Ashforth Nathanson, 1989).Nevertheless, Pratt (1998) calls identification "a process inherent to all social animals" (p.171) and a basic human function, while Haughey (1993) asserts that "Loyalty is so much a part of the human psyche that if it disappears in one area it will turn up in another" (p.3).Though individuals differ in their predisposition to identify (Glynn, 1998), some manifestation of identification appears universal.Also, although individuals tend to seek identities that enhance their self-esteem (Hogg Turner, Sachdev, & Hogg, 1983), and persons often continue to identify even at the cost of failure and unpopularity (Brown, 1986).
Mael et al. (Fri,) studied this question.