Korte, R. F. (2007). A review of social identity theory with implications for training and development

Korte, R. F. (2007).  A review of social identity theory with implications for training and development. Journal of European Industrial Training, 31(3), pp. 166 - 180.  Retrieved on June 5, 2010 from http://www.emeraldinsight.com.ezproxy.usq.edu.au/Insight/viewPDF.jsp?contentType=Article&Filename=html/Output/Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Pdf/0030310301.pdf


Introduction
Individuals are the cause of their own behaviour, therefore considered the core competency of an organisation.  As a collective, expertise and practice generate productivity for the community.  However, when organisations focus specifically on an individual, the level of dependency is mutable.  Individual importance to the organisation generally manifests as self-satisfaction, with reciprocal loyalty and commitment.


Factors that influence community, team and individual levels have been identified through cognitive and affective behaviour which result in organisational performance.  Understanding the source of behaviour is a complex process.  Individuals have a multitude of representations of self depending on their immediate setting.  Within the representations of self, lies the core of the individual that has been categorised as four distinct aspects of life: "money, social, spiritual and pure ego" (pg. 1).  Thus identity is derived from personal, contextual and social experience.


Work in organisations is normally performed in teams.  From the interaction between teams, an individual may develop several indigenous identities.  Identity then can be said to come from the core of an individual that engages with the environment with varying levels of strength.


Scholarly purpose and structure of this investigation
Identity moderates behaviour, therefore is regarded as critical strategic factor in motivating individuals to learn


Conceptualisation of social identity
Organisations profile individuals holistically in order to fit job to person.  Observations were made that individual identity and group ethic and attitude determines the representation of self that is most suited to group environment.  This revealed the differences between core identity and social identity.


Social identity theory
Research has identified the elements and the processes of cognition (e.g. the way in which we reflect on experience).  By self-categorising, individuals can verify which attributes fit the social situation and behave accordingly.  The strength of identity becomes stronger over time as comfort levels increase and trust develops within the group.


Self-categorisation has a uni-directional function.  In establishing readiness potential, the group and individual are performing best-fit practices.  Performance and function are verified according to individual criteria.  Social identity generates the need to align to group culture.


Social identity is the facade of group related behaviour.  Core identity recedes and social identity is adopted.  Under this disguise, individuals may encounter self-conflict in aligning with group standards.  As individual strive for approval, many core aspects are blocked in favour of accepting community norms leading to depersonalisation.  Although social identity is an addition rather than a replacement, the environmental pull to be accepted makes it stronger.


As individual identity reflects group status and relevance, competition between groups develops and causes a territorial struggle.


Discrimination and stereotyping among groups
As individuals accept social identity, categorisation develops according to group culture.  Individuals adhere to accepted and defined roles of their community that projects similar standards on other groups to assess performance.  In doing so, depersonalisation extends to other communities.  Self-aggrandisement and disparaging others is "pervasive, implicit and easily triggered" (pg. 4).


Dominant groups control the status quo while minority groups look for the attributes that are less obvious in dominant groups (e.g. niche markets).  Self-aggrandisement and denigration of others is consequently seen as critical for positive self-evaluation.  Favourable evaluative measures vary between groups, causing differences in tendencies and output.  Individuals who immerse themselves in group culture and social identity remove instability and insecurity through the development of trust in community activity and performance which can also be regarded as causing rigidity and intolerance.


Some groups are easier to get into than others, while some groups are naturally elitist according to function (e.g. M.I.T).  Group power and status may cause effects if individuals strive to change their low-group status to high group status, or discriminate to protect self-esteem.  Equally, groups discriminate against low-status individuals.  Discrimination in groups is only transformed when change is pushed forwards by group members.


Internal discrimination occurs when similarities receive approval and differences are stifled in order to sustain group norms.  Non-conformists are threatening to the preservation of culture.  Categorisation is the stability that unites group and members to the philosophy generated by group identity and image.


Limitations of social identity theory
There are several approaches to viewing identity, which has caused some bewilderment in understanding the terminology of discourse (e.g. differences in anthropology, sociology and psychology).  Theorists do not discount that social identity as a concept exists, but question the manner of its construction.


Documented discourse is available from both individual and group level analysis.  When the lens is applied to understanding both, the balance is seen in favour of the group thus the individual is disregarded for the benefit of the community.  Emphasis is placed on the activity rather than on content and relevance of the activity.


Identity is becoming a widespread way of analysing organisational phenomena.  Researchers, theorists, scholars and practitioners all have individual conceptions and perspectives that leads to the distortion of relevance and reason.  Korte highlights some literature that increases understanding and contributes to training and development in organisations.


Discussion and implications for training and development
Training in HRD no longer has its focus on just problem-solving.  Performance-enhancing programs have been an effective strategy in reducing back-stabbing activities.  Programs that emphasise group behaviour benefit more than those that focus on individual behaviour.


Socialisation
It has been observed that communications between novice and group members in general flow in one direction.  As the newcomer acquires knowledge, information flows from group to individual as the dominant perspective.  It has been proposed that discourse opens to accept RPL as valid components of diversity and creativity that is the novice members strength.


Therefore, socialisation is said to be the process of learning the values and responsibilities that an individual undertakes with vocational practice.  In many large communities, groups are distinguishable from the organisation.  While mentors may expect group members to generate self-verification processes with newcomers, dysfunction occurs if group culture is not aligned with either organisation or individual culture.  Tacit learning in organisations involves acquiring the knowledge and skills to perform effectively, and to form a comprehensive understanding of culture.


Strategic training and development
To effect significant uptake of community culture, the manner in which culture is generated from source must be examined.  Organisations made up of groups, may have difficulty in maintaining alignment to culture (e.g. the difference between branches of a bank and state schools).  Reinterpretation of community identity relies on assumption.


Learning knowledge or developing skills changes an individual in such a way that they can never be the same again.  Epistemological learning, the knowledge that has been learned, leads to ontological learning, how it transformed the individual.


Acquiring knowledge leads to competency-based skills that are critically evaluated within the community.  Leaders use the often restricted perspective of high-functioning groups as a role model in training programs without realising that groups are made up of the diversity of individuals and subsequent conflicting identities.  Elitism and adopted status and power stem from professional competency.  A proposed method of improvement is to understand the ontological perspective when delivering training programs.


Readiness and motivation to learn
An individuals' level of interest or focus drives motivation to learn.  It is the readiness potential of an individual that enables goal-activation.  However, if a group is not ready to accept the readiness potential of a member, very little can be achieved.


Training groups for readiness potential may seem an effective program to enhance efficiency, however consideration for multiple seniority levels indicates that each group requires a custom designed program that takes into account power and politics, the status and practices of the roles, and the tacit knowledge that is rarely acknowledged as coherent to non-members.


Suggestions are that a better strategy could be to train towards a specific objective within readiness potential (e.g. understanding how group learning improves the group).


Discussion and conclusion
Learning leads to inevitable change.  Change is often blocked by an individuals' need for stability.  When individuals understand the need to adhere to lifelong learning to maintain links that increase professional knowledge and improve competency, group identity is seen to motivate and drive ambition.


Korte's intent was to highlight the development and emerging issues of social identity.  As an analytical lens, social identity provides an added depth that contributes to richer training experiences.