Social identity complexity is an individual difference tied to personally central categories.

Evidence

By focusing much more explicitly on multiple self-categorization processes than do other multiple categorization approaches, social identity complexity seeks to explain variations in out-group perceptions only with regard to in-group categories that are central and important to individuals. Thus social identity complexity cannot be thought of as conducive to experimental manipulation involving arbitrary categories. Unlike other multiple categorization approaches, the concept of social identity complexity is inherently an individual difference variable. It is thus not so much an approach in the strictest sense but more of an explanatory concept underlying multiple categorization perspectives. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 584

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that social identity complexity is an explanatory individual-difference variable, not a manipulable intervention — distinguishing it from crossed categorization and common in-group models.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 584
• XREF: connects to: Mixed-identity self-categorization strategies exceed what social identity complexity theory predicts. — Anna X. Huang, Jacqueline M. Chen, and Juliane Degner, Being One or the Other, Both or…, 48