, 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 b
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