Realistic conflict theory treats group identity as an epiphenomenon, not an autonomous cause

Evidence

This identification with the in-group, however, has been given relatively little prominence in RCT as a theoretical problem in its own right. The development of ingroup identifications is seen in RCT almost as an epiphenomenon of intergroup conflict. As treated by RCT, these identifications are associated with certain patterns of intergroup relations, but the theory does not focus either upon the processes underlying the development and maintenance of group identity nor upon the possibly autonomous effects upon the in-group and intergroup behavior of these “subjective” aspects of group membership. It is our contention that the relative neglect of these processes in RCT is responsible for some inconsistencies between the empirical data and the theory in its “classical” form. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2674

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the gap RCT leaves - group identity treated as epiphenomenal - which motivates the social identity approach.
• XREF: connects to: Group identity processes operate autonomously from objective intergroup conflict — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 2674; the MOC “The Enemy-Making Machine: How Ourselves, the True, and Every Other Are Built from War”