Identity, social groups and communication

Abstract

The recent flourishing in discourses on identity in the social sciences as well as the factthat struggles of identity have become the paradigmatic form of social and politicalconflict in the modern world form the contextual framework of this article. Firstly, itexplores the development of theorising and research on identity in a sister discipline ofCommunication Science, namely Psychology, and specifically the development of socialidentity theory that acknowledges the vital role of social groups in identity processes.Furthermore, it explores how some subdisciplines of Communication Science deal withidentity issues and, more specifically, with the role of social identities in communicationrelatedphenomena. An alternative theoretical framework for the study of communicationand identity is discussed. Finally, attention is given to the way in which processesassociated with identity could influence communication-related phenomena and couldbe incorporated in the theorising and research within various subdisciplines ofCommunication Science.