Taken from literature on social identity theory and social comparison theory, 12 strategies of identity management were identified as possible responses to negative social identity. A taxonomy with two orthogonal axes is proposed as theoretical organization of these diverse strategies. While the first axis considers responses as being either individual or collective, the second axis refers to the distinction between behaviours and cognitions. It is assumed that the German unification process implied a lower status position of East Germans relative to West Germans on relevant comparison dimensions, and that East Germans have to deal with this threat to their identity. Hence, data of an East German sample are used to empirically systematize identity management strategies, and, thus, to test the proposed taxonomy. Results support the expected four‐factor solution only for those strategies taken from social identity theory, while the responses derived from social comparison research build a fifth factor. In addition, the empirical assignments of strategies to cells of the taxonomy are only partly in line with the expected pattern. The empirical findings suggest some clarification and modifications of the proposed response taxonomy. The most important refers to a re‐interpretation of the taxonomy's first axis, which now differentiates between responses according to the specific changes of the comparison parameters they imply. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In a ®eld study in East Germany, predictions by Social Identity Theory concerning relations among socio-structural characteristics of intergroup relations (stability, legitimacy, permeability) and identity management strategies (e.g. social competition) were examined. In general, East Germans were expected to consider their status position as inferior compared to West Germans. Moreover, depending on whether they regard such a status di€erence as legitimate or illegitimate, as stable or unstable, and whether they perceive group boundaries as permeable or impermeable, East German participants should di€er with respect to identity management strategies such as change of status relations, change of categorization, change of comparison dimension, change of comparison object and change of group membership. Five hundred and seventeen participants from di€erent regions of East Germany completed a questionnaire on various aspects of life satisfaction. A path model including stability, legitimacy and permeability as predictors, ingroup identi®cation as mediator and identity management strategies as criteria was tested. Results are mainly in line with assumptions on main e€ects derived from Social Identity Theory. However, some extensions and clari®ca-tions with respect to assimilation situations seem to be adequate. In addition, results show that ingroup identi®cation can be regarded as a powerful mediator between perceived intergroup relations and identity management strategies.

Three studies investigated the determination of social discrimination by the valence of stimuli that are allocated between groups. The studies were based on either the minimal group paradigm or a more reality-based laboratory intergroup setting, with stimulus valence, group status, and group size as factors and with pull scores on Taifel matrices as dependent variables. In general, the results showed that group members did not discriminate against the out-group when allocating negative stimuli, where as for positive stimuli the typical in-group bias was found. However, those participants whose positive social identity was threatened by assigning them to inferior or minority groups showed an increased willingness to favor the in-group over the out-group in the allocation of both positive and negative stimuli.

The present article proposes a theoretical model of factors aecting the salience of social categorizations. The model is strongly related to the accessibility  ®t formulation by Bruner (1957) and to Oakes ' (1987) functional perspective on category salience. The results of an experimental series using the`Who said what?' paradigm are presented, which examined several hypotheses derived from the model. In Study I it was shown that the salience of a social categorization with high chronic accessibility (sex categorization) was related to perceptions of issue relevance (normative ®t) and intercategory dierences (meta-contrast ratio). Furthermore, in line with the salience model measures to increase the situational accessibility, (i.e. a priming procedure) of categorizations with low chronic accessibility (educational group and home town categorizations) failed to aect category salience as long as participants perceived no comparative and normative ®t of these categorizations (Study II). Under conditions where comparative ®t of these categorizations was perceived, however, the priming procedure successfully enhanced category salience (Studies II and III). Results are largely consistent with the hypotheses derived from the salience model and support Oakes' functional approach to category salience. Finally, the complex interrelation between situational accessibility and perceived ®t will be discussed.

In a field study in East Germany, predictions by Social Identity Theory concerning relations among socio‐structural characteristics of intergroup relations (stability, legitimacy, permeability) and identity management strategies (e.g. social competition) were examined. In general, East Germans were expected to consider their status position as inferior compared to West Germans. Moreover, depending on whether they regard such a status difference as legitimate or illegitimate, as stable or unstable, and whether they perceive group boundaries as permeable or impermeable, East German participants should differ with respect to identity management strategies such as change of status relations, change of categorization, change of comparison dimension, change of comparison object and change of group membership. Five hundred and seventeen participants from different regions of East Germany completed a questionnaire on various aspects of life satisfaction. A path model including stability, legitimacy and permeability as predictors, ingroup identification as mediator and identity management strategies as criteria was tested. Results are mainly in line with assumptions on main effects derived from Social Identity Theory. However, some extensions and clarifications with respect to assimilation situations seem to be adequate. In addition, results show that ingroup identification can be regarded as a powerful mediator between perceived intergroup relations and identity management strategies. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.