Principle 1: Human beings are social animals with a basic need to belong.
This means that they are motivated to have important relationships with other people.
Study to use: Howarth (2002)
Principle 2: Culture influences human behavior.
This means that humans create and shape culture and they are influenced by their culture.
- Cultural norms provide general prescriptions for behaviors that are expected in a given culture or society.
Study to use: Berry (1967)
Principle 3: Humans have a social self which reflects their group memberships.
Group memberships give rise to social identities (ingroups) and comparison with other groups (outgroups). This might lead to bias in information processing (stereotyping) and discrimination.
Principle 3 demonstrated in:
Social identity theory (SIT) by Tajfel and Turner (1979) suggests that group-based social identities are based on categorization into ingroups (a group to which one belongs) and outgroups (a group to which one does not belong).
Ingroups are generally seen as more positive than outgroups and ingroup favoritism is common. The outgroup is generally seen in a more negative light (outgroup negative bias).