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Psychological perspectives 65

model is driven not by skills training (although ability and training are import-
ant), but by individual motivation and attitudes.

3.2. Social identity theory

Social identity theory was developed in part to explain the ways in which socio-
cultural factors affect interaction (and thus communication) between different
social groups and cultures (cf. Spreckels and Kotthoff in this volume). The the-
ory rests on the assumption that the socio-historical context is the first factor in-
fluencing social behaviour, and thus the primary influence on interpersonal
communication (Tajfel 1979; Tajfel and Turner 1979; Turner et al. 1987). The
history of relations between two groups alone is sometimes enough to produce
stereotypes about people in those groups, even though people who hold the
stereotypes may be reluctant to admit this. The process of categorizing our-
selves and others into groups or categories is ubiquitous and may be arbitrary
(see Tajfel 1979). The process of stereotyping begins in the physical world, and
stereotypes help to simplify and control judgments about strange situations. In-
dividuals belong to a wide range of group memberships, ethnic and cultural
groups, large-scale social categories (sex, race, age, social class, religion, etc.),
occupational and other groups (Turner et al. 1987). When there is a history of
conflict or social inequality between two groups, people tend to rationalize dis-
criminatory behaviour through stereotypes.
In general, the theory posits that people describe their own group (ingroup)
using dimensions on which it appears positive and salient, and describe the
other groups (outgroups) in negative terms. Where there is social inequality, the
dominant group may nevertheless be perceived as more intelligent, beautiful,
and so forth, while the disadvantaged group is seen as submissive, uneducated,
poor, but friendly by people in both groups (Lambert et al.’s work in 1960 was
one of the first studies to show this clearly in an existing community, Montreal).
Many structural features, including the differential use of dominant and non-
dominant languages, reinforce such inequalities. For example, members of
dominated groups are rarely given credit for their language abilities by members
of the dominant group, but are stereotyped as stupid or criticized for their lack of
perfect fluency by monolinguals. Much of social identity theory concerns the
ways that structural inequalities influence the ways in which people construct
and communicate their social identities, and how they use stereotypes and iden-
tity management to change or maintain the status quo (Taylor and McKirnan
1984).