Linking self and social structure - A psychological perspective on social identity in Sri Lanka

A large (N = 603) and representative sample in Sri Lanka completed a questi onnaire that assessed the salience of 11 social identities (nation, social class, age, religion, caste, occupation, race, gender, educational level, t own or village of residence, and political party) within respondents' self- concepts. Consistent with extant psychological theories of identity. four f eatures of an identity were found to be systematically related to its salie nce within the self-concept: (a) how the status of an identity affects one' s overall self-esteem, (b) the degree to which one is a demographic minorit y on a category of identity, (c) whether an identity has been affected by p rocesses of urban-industrial development, and (d) the type and extent of in ter-group contact on a category of identity. The relevance of the identity framework to cross-cultural theory is discussed.