The Man in the Mirror
Abstract
<p>Almost everyone identifies with at least one social group, whether it is on the basis of nationality, religion, race, gender, role (e.g., father, daughter), or some other marker. Yet, far too often people fail to appreciate how the social identities they embrace impact their daily lives. Social identities can be adaptive by providing shortcuts for understanding and empathizing with others. However, they can also be maladaptive by increasing biases related to the social groups with whom we identify, thereby leading to increased levels of interpersonal and intergroup conflict. Thus, people would do well to better understand how social identity is developed, how it impacts our daily lives, and how it may be altered.</p><p> Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, and Conflict Reduction attempts to elucidate how interpersonal and intergroup conflicts can be meaningfully understood within the theoretical framework of social identity development. In pursuit of this goal, Ashmore, Jussim, and Wilder have gathered an impressive array of contributors from a diverse set of disciplines, including political science, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. The contributors use a variety of analytical techniques; however, all of the chapters discuss data taken from the field rather than from the laboratory. Some of the authors report