The process that dictates self-categorization based on context, is not random, arbitrary or chaotic. There exists a systematic and lawful method (a general principle) that accounts for the variation of self-categorization based on context. Possibly the fit hypothesis (Haslem and Turner 1992).

Systematic variability of self-categorization

Self categories are not fixed - individuals can toggle through self-categories based on their needs and relevance to a present situation.  Self-categories are flexible as to allow the individual to adapt to the social context.

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The grouping (identifying) of ones' self with a class (of stimuli) that is separate/different from another class 

Self-categories

- Context dependance of self-categories (social vs. personal identification)
- Priming effect
- Intuitive understanding of sampling effects (especially among statisticians)
- state-dependent learning

Psychological appearances of domain specificity

Turner, J. C., Oakes, P. J., Haslam, S. A., & McGarty, C. (1994). Self and collective: Cognition and social context. Personality and social psychology bulletin, 20(5), 454-463.

 Self and collective: Cognition and social context (Turner 1994)

The self-categories that an individual identifies with (is defined by) in becoming a unique person by being different from other (in-group) persons

Personal identity

The social categorization of an individual with respect to their peers (self and others). There are shared self-categories that are identified with by members of a group (us v them; races, genders, nationalities, friend groups,  etc.)

Social identity

Context dependance of self-categories

Four things can create a more stable self-categorization:
- 1) The stability of the social reality that contexts arise from
- 2) The knowledge structures of the perceiver that create the coherence and understanding of a situation
- 3) The social groups and cultures that expose the perceiver to different values, norms and motives
- 4) The communication methods and social influences that go into establishing social norms (and validate their existence)

Stability in self-categorization

When a sensory experience (hearing a word/phrase, or seeing a picture), triggers an associational response that effects your decision making afterwards. The presentation of some stimuli affects someones response to the presentation of a following one.

Priming effect

Kahneman and Tversky in 1971, conducted a study to assess the intuitive understanding of sampling affects among statisticians. After asking the statisticians:
- There are two hospitals, one large and one small. 60% of the babies born in one of the hospitals on a specific day happened to be a boy. Which hospital was it likely to be?

During a causal conversation, most statisticians answered wrong and chose the large hospital. This is despite the fact a basic idea in statistics is that small sample sizes are likely to be variable. The context the idea was expressed in caused errors among "experts" in the discipline.

Domain specificity and intuitive understanding of sampling effects

Similarities/differences between the conditions of encoding and retrieval can affect retrieval performance.

state-dependent learning

information is encoded with considerations to  the context it was presented in.

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