ember of a social group, as opposed to interpersonal relationships "creates the uniformity and co-ordination of group behaviour" (p. 4). An important component of social identity theory, thus, is the incorporated "model of the psychology of social structure" (Tajfel, 1987, p. 87).
As self-concept is closely associated with the theory of social identity, a question arises as to the potential for self-awareness to affect social identity (Abrams, 1994, pp. 89-112). As indicated above, the explanation provided by social identity theory for intergroup differentiation is a manifestation of an individual's perception of the saliency of group membership. Abrams (p. 90) holds that this explanation fails to account for "the processes that related self-perception to social behavior," and that such an accounting can be provided by self-awareness theory.
Self-awareness theory is concerned with the ways through which individuals control and direct their behavior (Wicklund, 1975, pp. 233-276). Within a sociological context, the relationship between self-awareness and social identity is perceived as a realization by an individual of variations between their own self-image and the ideal self-image associated with a salient reference group, and a response by an individual to such a realization (Abrams, p. 90). Within the context of cognitive psychology, the self-awareness/social identity relationship is described in "terms of control theory, in which negative feedback loops operate to enable individuals to match their behaviour to particular standards" (pp. 90-91). In essence, these two perceptions are virtually identical, with differences between the two couched within the semantics of opposing academic disciplines.
Research has documented differences in the extent to which self-awareness affect social identity on the bases of the cogency of private self-awareness and public self-awareness (Abrams, pp. 92-93). Generally, "heightened publ...