Social identity change: Shifts in social identity during adolescence Chris Tanti a, * , Arthur A. Stukas a , Michael J. Halloran a , Margaret Foddy b a School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria 3086, Australia b School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia Keywords: Social identity Adolescence Peer group Self-stereotyping Ingroup favouritism abstract This study investigated the proposition that adolescence involves significant shifts in social identity as a function of changes in social context and cognitive style. Using an experi- mental design, we primed either peer or gender identity with a sample of 380 early- (12– 13 years), mid- (15–16 years), and late-adolescents (18–20 years) and then measured the effect of the prime on self-stereotyping and ingroup favouritism. The findings showed significant differences in social identity across adolescent groups, in that social identity effects were relatively strong in early- and late-adolescents, particularly when peer group identity rather than gender identity was salient. While these effects were consistent with the experience of change in educational social context, differences in cognitive style were only weakly related to ingroup favouritism. The implications of the findings for theory and future research on social identity during adolescence are discussed. Crown Copyright Ó 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. The physical, psychological and social changes experienced by adolescents are such that psychologists generally regard adolescence as a critical period for self and identity development (Erikson,1968; Marcia,1987). For example, Erik Erikson (1968) claimed that the range and depth of change experienced by adolescents initiates the psychosocial conflict of ‘identity versus role confusion’, and leads them to become preoccupied with the question: “Who am I?” From this viewpoint, normal progress through adolescence ultimately results in an integrated understanding of self and identity, and some resolution of this question. Whereas research has shown that people do report marked changes or flux in the self-concept during adolescence (Harter, 1998; Rosenberg, 1986; Smollar & Youniss, 1985), it has been guided by the idea that adolescence entails change to the personal identity, that part of the self that reflects individual attributes. Equally plausible, and yet largely ignored in the research literature, is the likelihood that adolescence is marked by changes to a person’s social identity, that part of the self reflecting one’s group memberships and attributes. Indeed, some theorists (Kegan, 1982; Newman & Newman, 1976) have postulated an additional psychosocial stage confronting early adolescents, the conflict of ‘affiliation versus alienation’. As such, group identity becomes a dominant theme in early-adolescence, as young people strive to achieve a sense of belonging within a valued social group (Kroger, 2000). In fact, Newman and Newman (2001) suggest this striving for belonging, or social identity formation, is a precursor to the late-adolescent focus on personal identity and intimacy (Erikson, 1968). The focus of the present research was to investigate the changes in social identity occurring during adolescence. Social identity The social psychological literature provides a good basis to understand the conception of social identity. Various approaches (e.g., social identity theory, self-categorisation theory) posit that social identity is a socially derived psychological * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ61 3 94791590. E-mail address: c2tanti@students.latrobe.edu.au (C. Tanti). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Adolescence journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado 0140-1971/$ – see front matter Crown Copyright Ó 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.05.012 Journal of Adolescence 34 (2011) 555–567