Chapter 3: The Development Of Social Identity And Intergroup Attitudes In Young Children

Answering the question, “Who am I?” is a life long process that has important implications for personal well being as well as social behavior. Although seemingly obvious at first, the answer to this question is not always so clear since after further consideration it becomes apparent that our sense of self, of who we are, is actually quite complex and made up of multiple components (Markus & Wurf, 1987; Turner, Oakes, Haslam & McGarty, 1994). Our unique constellation of personal characteristics (e.g., personality traits, abilities, reactions to events, etc.) can be thought of as composing our personal identity, or the part of our self that makes us different from others. Another aspect of our self, our social identity, can be thought of as that part of the self that we have in common with others, and that is derived from our membership in groups. The present chapter examines the development of this social identity in young children and discusses its implication for interpersonal relations and educational practice in early childhood.