Social Identity, Self‐Categorization, and the Communication of Group Norms.pdf

Communication Theory ISSN 1050-3293 Social Identity, Self-Categorization, and the Communication of Group Norms Michael A. Hogg1 Scott A. Reid2 1 School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia 2 Department of Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4020 We articulate the role of norms within the social identity perspective as a basis for the- orizing a number of manifestly communicative phenomena. We describe how group norms are cognitively represented as context-dependent prototypes that capture the dis- tinctive properties of groups. The same process that governs the psychological salience of different prototypes, and thus generates group normative behavior, can be used to understand the formation, perception, and diffusion of norms, and also how some group members, for example, leaders, have more normative influence than others. We illustrate this process across a number of phenomena and make suggestions for future interfaces between the social identity perspective and communication research. We believe that the social identity approach represents a truly integrative force for the communication discipline. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00003.x There is much made, particularly in Western societies, of individuality—how people are uniquely different from one another. However, if you observe a group of teens, or some friends at a restaurant, or a large crowd at a soccer match, you will also be struck at how similar people are to one another in dress and behavior. Groups and situations seem somehow to submerge uniqueness in a sea of commonality, and the same person behaves differently as he or she moves from situation to situation and group to group. Indeed, groups and situations have their