Prejudice partly stems from the need for positive social identity via group comparison.

Evidence

Social Identity Theory assumes that people’s social identities are derived primarily from their membership in various groups: Social identity consists of “those aspects of an individual’s self-image that derive from the social categories to which he perceives himself as belonging” (Tajfel & Turner, 1986, p. 16). A second key assumption is that people are generally motivated to achieve and maintain a positive social identity, thereby boosting their self-esteem. Tajfel and Turner (1986) propose that this positive identity derives mainly from comparisons between the ingroup and available or relevant outgroups. The motivation to positivity implies that there will be a preference – in some cases, a group-serving bias – for favorable rather than unfavorable intergroup comparisons. In other words, people look for ways (or outgroups) that will enable the ingroup to be seen as positively distinctive. Fundamentally, then, Social Identity Theory posits that many instances of ingroup favoring perceptual and judgmental biases and intergroup discrimination can be traced to a need for a positive social identity. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 431

Categorization

• DEFINE: Spells out Social Identity Theory’s two core assumptions and its comparative mechanism.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 431