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Human Groups and Social Categories: Studies in Social Psychology
First published in 1981, this volume presents studies on the social psychology of the relations and conflicts between social groups. Henri Tajfel played a central role in the development of social psychology in Europe, both in his own research and in his sponsorship of other European research. He has been particularly influential through his publications on various aspects of inter-group behaviour and a good deal of what he has written remains dispersed in a large number of different publications. This book presents a synthesis of some of this work, edited and structured to demonstrate its continuity and its cumulative importance. The book will be indispensable for social psychologists and should interest a wide range of political and social scientists.
- GenresSociologyPsychology
384 pages, Paperback
First published April 23, 1981
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About the author
Henri Tajfel
10 books13 followersFrom Wikipedia:
Henri Tajfel (formerly Hersz Mordche) (June 22, 1919 Włocławek, Poland – May 3, 1982 in Bristol, UK) was a British social psychologist, best known as the principal co-developer of Social Identity Theory.
Biography
Henri Tajfel was the son of a Polish Jewish businessman. He began his career by studying chemistry at the Sorbonne, but at the outbreak of the Second World War was called up into the French army. A year later, he was captured by the Germans. They never discovered that he was a Jew, so Tajfel survived the war in a series of Prisoner-of-war camps.
On his return home he discovered that none of his immediate family, and few of his friends, had survived the Nazi Holocaust. It has been speculated that this experience had a profound impact on Tajfel's later work on ingroups and outgroups, since Tajfel had managed to survive the Holocaust by pretending to be a member of another ethnic group.
After the war Tajfel worked first for international relief organizations including the United Nations' International Refugee Organization, to help rebuild the lives of orphans and concentration camp survivors. From 1946 he then began studying psychology, and by 1954 he had graduated in the UK with a degree in psychology.
Afterwards he applied for British nationality with his wife and their two sons, which he was granted in 1957. His research work at the University of Oxford was on different areas of social psychology, including the social psychology of prejudice and nationalism. Following two research visits in the USA, in 1967 he was made Chair of Social Psychology at the University of Bristol, until his death from cancer in 1982.
Henri Tajfel (formerly Hersz Mordche) (June 22, 1919 Włocławek, Poland – May 3, 1982 in Bristol, UK) was a British social psychologist, best known as the principal co-developer of Social Identity Theory.
Biography
Henri Tajfel was the son of a Polish Jewish businessman. He began his career by studying chemistry at the Sorbonne, but at the outbreak of the Second World War was called up into the French army. A year later, he was captured by the Germans. They never discovered that he was a Jew, so Tajfel survived the war in a series of Prisoner-of-war camps.
On his return home he discovered that none of his immediate family, and few of his friends, had survived the Nazi Holocaust. It has been speculated that this experience had a profound impact on Tajfel's later work on ingroups and outgroups, since Tajfel had managed to survive the Holocaust by pretending to be a member of another ethnic group.
After the war Tajfel worked first for international relief organizations including the United Nations' International Refugee Organization, to help rebuild the lives of orphans and concentration camp survivors. From 1946 he then began studying psychology, and by 1954 he had graduated in the UK with a degree in psychology.
Afterwards he applied for British nationality with his wife and their two sons, which he was granted in 1957. His research work at the University of Oxford was on different areas of social psychology, including the social psychology of prejudice and nationalism. Following two research visits in the USA, in 1967 he was made Chair of Social Psychology at the University of Bristol, until his death from cancer in 1982.
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August 28, 2019
Closer to a 3.5. The most interesting chapters are the ones that synthesize the information from the least interesting chapters (ie. social psychological studies that require a lot of context). It is necessary to read all because of how Tajfel structured it but it does feel like the connections are way too delayed to make any powerful statement in these empirical chapters. That said, the insights remain potent and reveal crucial concepts about how social psychology needs to go beyond inter-individual relationships and analyze the workings of inter-group relationships. The chapter connecting Hirschman’s “Exit and Voice” and the findings of social psychology is very worth the read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review