Mutual-implication Interaction between Social Identity and Social System: an Analytic Approach to Social Identity Formation

Abstract

Social identity formation (SIF) has rarely been addressed, either through analytic methods or on through sociologically and social-psychologically mixed-methods design at multiple levels. In the Iranian context, SIF, especially among youths, is devoid of any theoretical and functional models capable of explaining the effects which have been hypothesized of social system’s SIF functional deficiency. A sample of 445 students from the University of Tehran was selected in the period of 2016-2018, based on a random stratified sampling method. The participants undertook a validated questionnaire (i.e., content and construct validity) measures through expert judgment and PFA, delivered on a tablet. The reliability was r=0.88. A parametric one-sample Student’s t-test and a Friedman test were employed in the analysis which suggested a functional model for SIF. The analysis also supported both the major and minor hypotheses predicting direct effects of Iranian social system’s functional deficiency on reducing the level of their SIF in relation to their social system. Theoretically, the findings suggested an applied model for SIF in a mutually-implicated interaction process with social system along with specific measurement criteria. The model, which has seven parameters, is the product of a social system’s functional requirements, and seems to be influential in SIF formation by social system and can provide insights for social researchers and planners.