Group identification is defined as member identification with an interacting group and is distinguished conceptually from social identity, cohesion, and common fate. Group identification is proposed to have three sources: cognitive (social categorization), affective (interpersonal attraction), and behavioral (interdependence). Inconsistent use of the term and problematic measurement mar existing literature on group identity and group identification. A new group identification scale, composed of three subscales that match the tripartite model for the cognitive, affective, and behavioral sources, is presented and its psychometric properties described.

Three experiments were conducted to assess the effects of perceiver group identity and expectancies on whether social information is organized at the level of the individual or the social category. In all 3 experiments, participants viewed a videotaped discussion among 6 people whose category identity was signified by sweatshirt color. In Experiment 1, performance on an identification test was affected by meaningfulness of the category distinction. Results of Experiment 2 indicated that intracategory confusions were higher under conditions of competitive interdependence between groups than under mere categorization or category salience conditions alone. Experiment 3 demonstrated that members of minority categories are individuated less than members of majority categories, except by members of the minority in-group. Results of the 3 experiments are discussed in relation to the concept of perceived "entitativity" of social categories.

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