Social Identity Theory - Research Paper Example

Social Identity Theory Introduction: Recreational drug use has become an increasingly prevalent social problem. For example, the drug Ecstasy is widely used in Europe and the United States and is known as the party drug because it is mostly used by young people in bars, dance clubs, private parties and the rave scene which consists of large, all night dance parties. Use of ecstasy is prevalent among sex workers and gay clubs in cities, particularly in San Fransisco (Luna, 1997). In a study that was conducted on drug use among gay men in Sydney, Australia, the authors arrived at the conclusion that the use of recreational drugs was not associated with the marginalisation of the gay community, since the majority of users had a high socio economic status (Knox et al, 1998). The conclusion drawn in this study was that recreational drug use is a part of the social identification process for these men. This research study proposes to examine the increasing use of recreational drugs among young people and specifically among the gay population, in order to make an assessment of whether the use of drugs is associated with their social identification process as individuals and in a group. Literature Review: The Social Identity Theory put forward by Tajfel and Turner (1979) examines how people categorize themselves into ingroups or outgroups and how this subsequently affects individual perceptions and attitudes and behavior within and towards groups. There are three basic concepts upon which this theory bases its explanation of how individuals understand and define themselves within a social context. Categorization is the process by which an individual places himself/herself and others into existing categories; such categorization is useful because it provides information about how an individual is to react or function towards that particular object or individual, depending upon the category into which that individual fits. The next part of the process is identification which is the process whereby individuals identify themselves with those groups or people with whom they share values and ideals. This process also involves individuals making judgments about themselves, both as individuals and as members of the group. The last part of the process involves social comparison, which is a process of self evaluation in which individuals compare themselves with others who are similar and is an indication of the individual’s pursuit of a positive self concept. The use of ecstasy and other recreational drugs among young people is not confined merely to rave situations, but a variety of settings involving entertainment such as social settings involving dance or music venues including rock concerts, private residences of entertainers and other categories of the public and bars in inner city neighborhoods (Boeri et al, 2004). One important conclusion established in this study was that respondents used it widely as far as the hip hop scene is concerned and the users reported higher feelings of self esteem which enabled them to interact sexually with the opposite sex with a higher degree of comfort and ease. Through the process of usage of recreational drugs, young people were able to identify closely with others in the group and enhance the process of self evaluation, because the use of drugs helped them to feel more self confident and positive among themselves. The association between self identity and recreational drug use was also found to be a significant factor among gay men in San Francisco.(Casino and Kochems, 2004). The use of drugs by gay men was found to be interrelated in a complex way with the way in which individuals identified themselves. They sometimes altered their identities and behaviors when interacting within a group in order to assess levels of safety and or risk inherent within a particular situation. They negotiated their social, sexual and economic interactions in order to maintain their access to drugs. When the results of this study are examine din conjunction with the study by Knox et al(1998) of gay men in Australia, recreational drug use therefore appears to be intimately associated with the process of self identification of gay men and their interactions within groups consisting of other gay men. Young adolescent workers in Australia resort to recreational drug use as well as the use of other drugs such as alcohol in the workplace mainly to achieve a sense of belonging with their peers (Medical Studies, 2004). According to Dr. Pidd who conducted the study, social identity of an individual exists through group membership. Hence an individual’s circle of friends is likely to form the social influence upon the individual. The existing social norms among the group will condition the behavior of the individual. Research Question: From the above, it may be noted that the social Identity theory may also be applied to the question of drug use among gay adolescents. According to the theory, there are three basic concepts to be considered (a) categorization (b) identification and (c) social comparison. At the outset, when this is applied to the gay adolescent community, such individuals are likely to experience some feelings of disassociation from other adolescent individuals because of their sexual orientation. Therefore, they are likely to categorize themselves as gays and gravitate towards other gay individuals. Secondly, they will identify to a greater degree with the values, goals and lifestyles of other adolescent gays or the gay community in general, rather than the values of the general population. They will feel more comfortable interacting with other individuals who also share the same kinds of sexual preferences and are not outraged or disgusted by a seemingly aberrant lifestyle. Lastly, gay adolescent individuals are likely to compare themselves with other individuals who are similar and may experience feelings of inferiority or isolation if they do not share the values of the group. The perception of the group towards the individual is also likely to be more accepting if there is conformity with group social norms. As the literature review has also shown, there is a higher incidence of recreational drug use among the gay community. Such drug use is not a result of feeling marginalized, but appears to be associated with the need to develop an identity while interacting with other similar gay people. Hence, there appears to be a strong likelihood that drug use among young gay adolescents may be dependent upon the group social norms and the prevalence of drug use within the gay community. On this basis, the research question that is proposed to be examined in this study is: “Can recreational drug use among gay adolescents be explained through the application of the Social identity theory?” In arriving at an answer to this research question, the null hypothesis that is assumed in this study is: Is recreational drug use among gay adolescents dependent upon peer pressure? A confirmation of this hypothesis through the study would indicate that the Social Identity theory may serve to explain the prevalence of drug use among these adolescents. The alternative hypothesis in this case would be that the Social Identity Theory does not play a role and that drug use in gay adolescents may be dependent upon other factors. Aim and Objective of this study: It is proposed to examine the application of the Social identity Theory to the question of recreational drug use among gay adolescents. Since drug use is also associated with risky sexual behavior and violence in some cases, it is extremely important within a social context. By understanding how relevant the theory is and how far it is applicable to the issue of drug use among gay adolescents, it may be possible to arrive at a better understanding of the problem, so that solutions devised to deal with increasing drug use are appropriately targeted to achieve optimum results in lowering incidence of drug use. Methodology: The secondary data that will be used in this study is the literature review which will help to identify the findings of other researchers on the Social Identity theory and its application. The primary data is proposed to be derived from the administration of a survey questionnaire. As pointed out by William Trochim (2001), every study has a qualitative as well as a quantitative element to it, since even a numerical response may involve several shades of meaning and even purely verbal responses can be counted. Qualitative methods lend themselves well to those studies where a special understanding of the issues is sought to be achieved and in the generation of a level of information that is very detailed and comprehensive and which is mostly obtained through in depth interviews (Trochim, 2001). Quantitative data research is useful when general trends have to be identified or measured (Trochim, 2001), when the issues under study impact upon a significant number of people and may be widely applicable to the general population. A quantitative research method aims to gather larger volumes of data in a numerical format, which can be subjected to statistical analysis and where there is no ambiguity in the data, which is measured on an ordinal scale. Since the nature of issues that are being examined in this study involve a strong subjective element, a qualitative approach is selected. Moreover, since the specific population segment that is being targeted in this study is young, gay adolescents, it is not necessary to gather data from a large population sample; rather a more detailed analysis of subjective issues involving this community and the process of self identification as well as identification within a group may be more relevant for this study. Wiles and Cornwell (1990) have pointed out that since emotion is a multi dimensional phenomenon, verbal reporting tests will provide the best measure, through the development of typologies. This survey therefore proposes to use a Likert style questionnaire, where each question on pattern of drug use and the reasons for it, will function as a variable. The respondent will tick one of five answers, such as “Very important”, “Not at all important” or “somewhat important” and each response will be assigned a numerical variable. An example of this kind of questionnaire is the AIM questionnaire – Affect Intensity measurement Questionnaire. (Larsen and Diener, 1987, p 34). This will help to assign the due weightage to each variable so that it will be possible to determine which variables are important and which are not so important. The survey will specifically target gay adolescents. Since the incidence of drug use appears to be higher among the gay community, it is proposed to administer the survey questionnaire to at least 25 gay adolescent individuals residing within a particular geographical area. The kind of questions that are proposed to be included in the questionnaire are as follows: (a) Do you use recreational drugs? (b) How important is it to you that you use drugs? (c) How important is it to you that your peers accept you as part of their group? (d) How important is drug use in enhancing your self confidence? (e) How important is drug use in enhancing your self identity? (f) How likely is it that you would use drugs if your group didn’t use it? (g) How important is drug use in making you feel you belong to the group? The answers to such questions and the weightage that may be accorded to the answers depending upon median responses obtained for each question will help to assess how far the Social Identity Theory can be applied to the question of gay adolescent drug use. It will mainly help to assess and determine the extent to which peer pressures and perception of individual’s self identify play a part in the participant’s drug use patterns. Conclusions: The rising incidence of drug use is an issue of concern, particularly among the gay male community, because increased drug use is associated with health problems as well as violence. In the case of adolescents who form a vulnerable segment of the population, increased drug use has a higher possibility of leading to acts of violence. Although the use of recreational drugs is widely accepted in the United States and Europe on the grounds that they are not harmful, excessive drug use may be harmful. Therefore, understanding what prompts individuals to take to drugs and why they continue to persist in using drugs despite the knowledge they may have about the dangers of drugs is a relevant social issue to be examined. This study will therefore be very useful in contributing to the pool of existing literature on drug use. Moreover, by restricting the cope of this study to a specific segment of the population, it allows a more detailed and thorough examination of this issue. The gay community has been selected due to the higher prevalence of drug use among them. The application of the Social identity Theory to this issue will help to ascertain how strongly individual perceptions and attitudes towards taking drugs are conditioned by the values of the peer group to which the individual belongs. . References: * Boeri, Miriam Williams, Sterk, Claire E and Elifson, Kirk W, 2004. “Rolling beyond raves: ecstasy use outside the rave setting.” Journal of Drug Issues, 34(4):831-860 * Del Casino, VJ and Kochems, LM, 2004. “Social identity and the geographies of HIV related risk among gay and bisexual club drug users in Long Beach, California”, International Conference on AIDS, July 11-16; 15: Abstract no: WePe6126, Retrieved October 31, 2007 from: http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/102284045.html * Knox, SA, Kippax, S, Van de ven, P and Prestage, G, 1998. “Recreational drug use among gay men in Sydney, Australia: the normative role of drug use in gay social and sexual identity”, International Conference on AIDS, 12:218 (Abstract no: 14180). Retrieved October 31, 2007 from: http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/102228049.html * Larsen, Randy J. and Diener, Ed, 1987. "Affect Intensity as an Individual Difference Characteristic: A Review," Journal of Research in Personality: 21(1), pp 1-39. * Luna, G.C., 1997. “Youths Living with HIV: Self evident truths.” New York: The Harworth Press * Medical Studies, 2004. “Need to belong influences adolescent workplace drug use.” Retrieved October 30, 2007 from: http://www.news-medical.net/?id=6089 * Tajfel, H. and Turner, J.C, 1979. "An integrative theory of intergroup conflict", IN Austin, W.G. and Worchel, S. (Eds), “The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations”, CA: Brooks/Cole. * Trochim, William, 2001. “The Research Methods Knowledge base” (2nd Edn) Atomic Dog Publishing * Wiles, J.A. and Cornwell, T.B, 1991. “A Review of Methods Utilized in Measuring Affect, Feelings and Emotion in Advertising”, Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 13:241-275 Read More