Social Identity Complexity
Abstract
In this article, we introduce the concept of social identity complexity—a new theoretical construct that refers to an individual's subjective representation of the interrelationships among his or her multiple group identities. Social identity complexity reflects the degree of overlap perceived to exist between groups of which a person is simultaneously a member When the overlap of multiple ingroups is perceived to be high, the individual maintains a relatively simplified identity structure whereby memberships in different groups converge to form a single ingroup identification. When a person acknowledges, and accepts, that memberships in multiple ingroups are not fully convergent or overlapping, the associated identity structure is both more inclusive and more complex. In this article, we define the concept of social identity complexity and discuss its possible antecedents and consequences. Results from initial studies support the prediction that social identity complexity is affected by stress and is related to personal value priorities and to tolerance of outgroup members.
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1 The model is not intended to be limited to consideration of only two identities at a time and can be extended to multiple category memberships.
2 Note that we are dealing here with the way in which the individual herself conceptualizes her primary social identities and ingroups. An interesting extension of these ideas would consider the implications of discrepancies between the way an individual defines his or her own social identity and how he or she is categorized by others in a given situation.
3 Note that by virtue of our selection rules, the target social categories were equivalent in type and size across all respondents. Thus, our complexity measures reflected individual differences in subjective representations of these social identities.
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