Social Identity: Clarifying its Dimensions across Cultures

Social identity has been linked to a number of work-relevant constructs. Specifically, researchers have investigated the role of social identity in cross-function teams, its impact on team performance and willingness to engage in OCBs, just to name a few. Furthermore, this construct has been cited as one of the most relevant constructs when understanding inter-group relations (Sohrabi, Gholipour, & Amiri, 2011). Given the theoretical and empirical importance of this construct, this paper reviews the construct of social identity and theorizes about how this construct may differ across cultures. First, we review social identity dimensions and propose how they may have different meanings and be perceived differently across cultures. Next, we delineate ways to pursue the measurement of social identity when conducting cross-cultural research. We conclude by providing insight for future research that compares social identity across cultures.