What is social identity?
Social identity concerns the groups that contribute to how we see ourselves. Explore what a change in team, service or community can mean, while recognising that experiences vary.
An established idea, with limits
Social identity research examines how group membership contributes to a sense of self and relationships between groups. It offers a way to ask what a team, profession or community means to someone. It does not show that losing a particular group causes the same response in everyone.
When a group changes
A group can provide shared language, routines and a sense of being understood. Leaving it may change your everyday contact with other people even when your skills and values remain important. Membership can also be a source of pressure; no single group has to define the whole person.
Fictional example: a former team member misses the daily handover more than the job title. A manageable experiment might be a regular catch-up with one colleague or trying a new local group. The aim is to notice what feels useful, not to replace a whole community immediately.
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Related research papers
- Social categorization and intergroup behaviourTajfel, H., Billig, M., Bundy, R. and Flament, C. (1971). European Journal of Social Psychology, 1(2), 149–178.
Continue exploring related research
Further reading from the Knowledge Hub on the same themes.
- Psychology · 1 min readBelonging
Belonging involves feeling included, recognised and able to participate. Explore what connection might look like for you, at a pace and level of disclosure you choose.
- Psychology · 1 min readRole Exit
Role exit describes leaving a role that has helped shape your identity. Explore a sociological model and its limits, with no assumption that every person follows fixed stages.
- Psychology · 1 min readSelf-Concept
Self-concept is how you understand and describe yourself. Explore how roles, values and beliefs can change without treating a job title as a complete account of a person.
- Occupational Transition · 1 min readMilitary
Leaving military service can change work, routines, relationships and identity. Explore educational guidance alongside practical resettlement and specialist support.
- Occupational Transition · 1 min readEmergency Services
A change in police, fire or ambulance work can affect role, routine and team connections. Explore possible next steps without assuming a shared experience or need.
Identity After the Uniform
Related research
Published records from the research programme behind this article.
- White Papers · 2 min readWhite Paper 0, From Transition to Service Provider Identity Adaptation
A conceptual position paper reframing the Identity After the Uniform research programme: transition is the trigger, but the phenomenon under study is identity adaptation after a trained, high-pressure service role.
- White Papers · 1 min readIdentity After the Uniform: What the Evidence Tells Me
A research commentary examining the evidence, its limitations and the next questions for the Identity After the Uniform programme.
- Foundations · 4 min readThe AURIS Connection Hub
A verified, worldwide directory of support organisations, events and opportunities, built into the AURIS Identity System because the research kept showing the same problem: the right support usually exists, it is just hard to find.
- Research · 6 min readState of the Evidence: What We Know, What We Don't, and Why This Research Is Needed
An audit of the AURIS Master Evidence Repository, conducted 30 August 2026, setting out plainly which evidence is solid, which is located but not yet fully verified, which has been downgraded, and which gaps remain open.
Gemma Gardner
Founder and Research Lead, AURIS Institute
Gemma Gardner leads the AURIS research programme on identity and occupational transition. Her work builds the evidence base behind the AURIS Identity System and the Identity System, drawing on interviews with service leavers, families and the organisations that support them.
- Lead author, Identity Performance Psychology white paper series
- Principal investigator, AURIS identity adaptation interview programme
- Author of AURIS submissions on identity in occupational transition
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Discussion
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Everything published here comes from the AURIS research programme. The AURIS Identity System, the separate membership platform at aurisidentity.com, is where the same framework is taught as guided courses and daily practice.
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