Actual demographic overlap of one’s identity categories drives perceived overlap
Evidence
Naturally, most individuals will be more or less aware of the actual overlap between the multiple categories they belong to. Actual category overlap will thus be, to some extent, predictive of social identity complexity, yet primarily so for the overlap complexity component of social identity complexity. Those individuals who identify with categories that are already characterized by a relatively high degree of actual overlap are, thus, likely to have relatively lower overlap complexity scores than will individuals whose important categories show considerably less actual overlap. For example, when seeking to assess overlap complexity based on self-categorized nationality and religion, Bangladeshi Muslims are likely to yield lower overlap complexity scores at an absolute level than German Muslims, based on the simple fact that the vast majority of people of Bangladeshi background are Muslim, whereas a tiny minority of German people is Muslim. Thus, one needs to keep in mind potential differences in the nature of the categories used to assess social identity complexity, and the situational context in which they are placed. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 540
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s thread on how structural/demographic conditions circumscribe Muslims’ cognitive options in ways that shape public perception of them as a monolithic bloc. — connects to: Identity alignment requires perceived sufficiency of similarity rather than actual sameness — Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall, Identity and Interaction: A…, 75
- SHARE: The Bangladeshi-vs-German-Muslim contrast example isolates a purely structural driver of identity complexity — worth sending to someone working on Muslim-minority demography.
- corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 540