A Qualitative Approach to Intergroup Relations: Exploring the Applicability of the Social Identity Approach to “Messy” School Contexts

Abstract

The social identity approach (SIA) is one of the most influential theories of group processes and intergroup relations worldwide. However, we argue that the dominance of (post)positivist research methods in SIA work limits the extent to which it enables an understanding of the complexities of intergroup relations in schools. Drawing on qualitative data from two research studies, we highlight important questions and issues that are obscured by traditional psychological approaches to studying intergroup relations. In particular, we focus on the complex interplay among discourses about popularity within schools, constructions of gender identities, and intergroup relations. In doing so, we demonstrate the benefits that qualitative research may have for social psychological intergroup theories (and their applications) and, specifically, the SIA. We highlight how qualitative data can add considerable richness to understandings of intergroup relations and draw attention to inconsistencies and contradictions that otherwise may go unnoticed.

Keywords:

• competition
• discourse
• gender
• intergroup relations
• social identity approach

Notes

1. By discourse we mean “groups of statements which structure the way a thing is thought, and the way we act on the basis of that thinking. In other words, discourse is a particular knowledge about the world which shapes how the world is understood and how things are done in it” (Rose 2001, p. 136).