Henri Tajfel
Polish-born British social psychologist, co-originator of social identity theory
Polish-born social psychologist who survived the Second World War as a prisoner of war and held the chair of social psychology at Bristol from 1967. His minimal group studies and social identity theory, developed with John Turner, shaped research on discrimination.
Why this person matters
Tajfel's minimal group experiments showed that trivial categorisation can produce intergroup bias. With John Turner he developed social identity theory. He also helped build European social psychology, and his minimal group paper was written with Michael Billig, R. P. Bundy and C. Flament.
Main contributions
Minimal group paradigm
Shortly after arriving at Bristol, Tajfel ran experiments in which participants were divided on trivial bases, such as a preference for paintings by Klee or Kandinsky, and then allocated resources. They favoured their own group. The 1971 paper with Billig, Bundy and Flament is a core report.
Social identity theory
With John Turner he developed the theory that people seek positive distinctiveness through group membership. The European Association page says it is often misread as a theory of discrimination, and that Tajfel intended it as a theory of social change.
European social psychology
He sat on the first committee of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology in 1966, served as its second president and was in office when the European Journal of Social Psychology was founded.
Context and limits
Tajfel survived the war as a prisoner of war; nearly all his friends and family died. His biographer Rupert Brown, a former student, confirmed reports that Tajfel sexually harassed young women in his laboratory in the 1960s and 1970s. The European Association of Social Psychology stopped naming its lifetime achievement award after him and renamed its awards in 2020. Brown also calls social identity theory an impoverished explanation of genocide and intergroup violence, because it centres on positive distinctiveness.
In your introductory course
Social psychology.Tajfel appears in prejudice and intergroup relations. Students learn the minimal group effect and social identity as the explanation of in-group favouritism.
Related course reading: Psychology 2e, section 12.5. This is course context rather than a biographical source.
Years of active work
- 1954
Graduated in psychology in the United Kingdom with a first-class degree.
- 1967
Became Chair of Social Psychology at the University of Bristol.
- 1971
Published Social categorization and intergroup behaviour with Billig, Bundy and Flament.
- 1979
Published an account of social identity theory with John Turner, reprinted in 1986.
Sources
- European Association of Social Psychology, The Legacy of European Social Psychology: Tajfel, HenriSociety or association. Institutional biography inspected.
- European Association of Social Psychology, The Legacy of European Social Psychology: AwardsSociety or association. Institutional biography inspected.
- Social Science Space, Rupert Brown on Henri Tajfel (Social Science Bites, 2019)Publisher. Reference article inspected.
- Athena's Angels, Renaming of the EASP life achievement awardReference work. Reference article inspected.
- Wikipedia, Henri TajfelReference work. Reference article inspected.