INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES OF ADOPTING COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES: THE ISRAELI CASE

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Abstract
This paper combines several sociological perspectives in order to examine the relative importance of different social identity components in Jewish Israeli society. Several theoretical and methodological innovations are made towards using identity as a key concept in understanding how diverse understandings of social order can exist simultaneously within a single societal entity. Analysing a sample of 1200 Jewish Israelis we find that family identity is the most salient in Israel today. The major collectivistic identities, which in this case are Jewish and Israeli identities, are ranked second and third. Moreover, each social identity entails a different attitudinal and demographic profile. Respondents often ranked more than one major identity, so that different combinations of identities were formed, representing alternative perceptions of social order. The ideological inconsistencies formed within incongruous combinations lead to a moderation of political beliefs.