Identification measures conflate salience with stable traits

Evidence

In the empirical research on collective guilt and other domains, however, measures of social identification are used in a somewhat ambiguous manner. At times, level of identification appears to be used as a shorthand for salience, and at other times, it as treated as a direct and relatively stable causal influence on other psychological processes (rather like a personality trait). — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 812

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: does treating identification as a trait produce systematically different findings from treating it as situational salience?
• XREF: connects to: High national identification requires a source of collective pride — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 837; Identity salience shifts with the scale of the surrounding group; Ingroup identity salience is historically contingent, not psychologically fixed — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 2191 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Identity salience shifts with the scale of the surrounding group #qualifies (0.80)
• Ingroup identity salience is historically contingent, not psychologically fixed #corroborates (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2191