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Is there a distinction to be drawn between two kinds of group identity, namely social identities and collective identities? One’s sharing a significant personal attribute with others amounts to sharing with them a social identity. On the basis of such a shared attribute, we classify them together as belonging to the same nominal group. They have the same way of deriving a part of their selfdefinitions from one of their characteristics.Are there real groups? In order to refer to real groups, we need to apply criteria for being the same group, i.e. criteria for their diachronic collective identities. In order for a group to be real, it needs to be able to represent itself as maintaining itself in continuous existence, through its interactions with other groups, by means of a continuous renewal of its composition.