Aligned identity attributes create stronger fault lines than cross-cutting ones

Evidence

Since three attributes (gender, race, and nationality) align to form a single dividing fault line, this fault line is thought to be relatively stronger than if each of the three attributes had formed three separate fault lines along gender, race, and nationality, respectively. In view of our discussion of social identity complexity, then, one may assume that such fault lines may result in less complex multiple identity structures. It thus becomes questionable whether social diversity, as a purely contextual, macrolevel phenomenon (based, e.g., on the number of different groups or the percentage of diverse others living in a contextual unit), is sufficient to explain variations in social identity complexity without taking into consideration individuals’ subjective experiences of their contextual diversity. Naturally, individuals need to be aware of, and subjectively experience, the diversity of their social environment in some form or other for the environmental context to influence their multiple self-perceptions. Diverse social settings should, then, be seen as opportunities for diverse social experiences and, importantly, for intergroup contact, but it is up to individuals to grasp these opportunities for them to impact on attitudes and other outcomes. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 553

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to fault-line theory and cross-cutting social categories; echoes the cross-cutting cleavage literature in political science on reducing conflict.
• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that objective contextual diversity is insufficient — only subjectively experienced diversity matters — is a dense, nuanced shift from macrolevel to experiential explanations.