Threat to distinctiveness drives more complex identity structures, but evidence is sparse

Evidence

Given the relative novelty of the social identity complexity concept in social psychological theorizing and research, empirical evidence on the relationship between identity threat and social identity complexity is still relatively sparse. Although we may conclude that perceived threat to distinctiveness can be an antecedent of social identity complexity, much more empirical work is needed to confirm this relationship, also involving other types of threats. For example, it will be interesting to consider the extent to which threats to in-group power or status, or to values or morals may affect social identity complexity. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 580

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 580
• XREF: connects to: Recategorization into a common identity can backfire and increase subgroup bias via distinctiveness loss. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 176; Distinctiveness threat shifts behavior more than judgment, though its effect size is tiny. — Blake M. Riek, Eric W. Mania, and Samuel L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup…, 64