Chapter 3

Question 1

Putman: Social capital

Answer 1

positive advantages that people obtain from social relationships.

Question 2

Three important processes that determine the relationship between individuals of groups:

Answer 2

1. Inclusion and exclusion: the degree to which the individual is included or excluded from the
   group.
2. Individualism and collectivism: the emphasis on the primacy of the individual versus the
   group.
3. Personal identity and social identity: basing self-conceptions on personal qualities or shared
   interpersonal qualities.

Question 3

Ostracism

Answer 3

deliberately excluding someone from the group by ignoring and avoiding him.

Question 4

William: temporal need-threat model

Answer 4

a three-stage response to exclusion (ostracism): (1)
Reflexive stage: experiencing negative feelings (stress, pain, disappointment), (2) Reflective
stage: thinking about reasons why being excluded and worrying about self, and (3)
Resignation stage: when exclusion continues, person experiences helplessness, sadness, loss
of self-worth, and depression.

Question 5

Two kinds of responses to exclusion:

Answer 5

1) Fight-or-flight response: confront or withdraw from
the group, and in extreme/unexpected conclusion, they might display a freezing response,
and (2) Tend-and-befriend response: provide support to the group (‘tend’) and seek social
reconnection (‘befriend’).

Question 6

Evolutionary psychology

Answer 6

the need to belong resulted from natural selection as individuals who were
affiliated with groups were more likely to survive.

Question 7

Leary: sociometer theory / sociometer model of self-esteem

Answer 7

self-esteem provides
individuals with feedback about their degree of inclusion in groups instead of only a
perception of own self-image.

Question 8

Individualism and collectivism are distinguishable in their relative emphasis on individual and
collective across people (micro level), groups (meso level), and cultures (macro level):

Answer 8

1. The micro level: individuals differ in their conception of themselves as individuals or
   members of the collective. A person’s conception of himself includes both individualistic
   elements (the personal identity) and collectivists elements (the social identity / collective
   identity)
2. The meso level: the group culture determines the group’s emphasis on the individual
   members or the group as a whole. Group culture = shared values, attitudes, persuasions,
   practices, and preferences.
3. The macro level: cultures and subgroups within countries vary in their relative emphasis on
   individualism and collectivism.

Question 9

Personal identity

Answer 9

individual’s perception of those aspects of his/her self-concept
that derive from individualistic, personal qualities, such as traits, beliefs, and skills.

• Individualists/independents/idiocentrics: stress personal qualities,
  independence, personal goals, competition, uniqueness, need for privacy,
  and self-knowledge.

Question 10

Social identity / collective identity

Answer 10

individual’s perception of those aspects of
his/her self-concept that derive from his/her relationships with other people, groups,
and society.

• Collectivists/interdependents/allocentrics: emphasize relationships, belong,
  duty, harmony, seeking advice, context, hierarchy, and the groups’ goals and
  needs.

Question 11

Brewer: optimal distinctiveness theory

Answer 11

individuals strive to maintain an optimal
balance between three fundamental needs: (1) need to be assimilated by the group,
(2) need to be connected to friends and loved ones, and (3) need for autonomy and
differentiation.

Question 12

Individualists: emphasize exchange relationships

Answer 12

interaction is meant to obtain

rewards that stimulate own well-being

Question 13

Collectivists: emphasize communal relationships

Answer 13

interaction is meant to increase

the group’s well-being.

Question 14

Ultimatum game

Answer 14

experiment whereby an individual must come up with a proposal
regarding the distribution of a common source. When the proposal is rejected by the
others, no one will get anything

• Egocentric tendencies are more likely in
  individualistic settings in contrast to the sociocentric tendencies that are seen in
  collectivist settings.

Question 15

Norm of reciprocity

Answer 15

a social standard that enjoins individuals to pay back in kind
what they receive from others. Is implemented differently in individualistic and
collectivistic groups

Question 16

Individualists: equity norm

Answer 16

a social standard that encourages distributing

rewards and resources to members in proportion to their input.

Question 17

Collectivists: equality norm

Answer 17

a social standard that encourages distributing

rewards and resources equally among all members.

Question 18

Certain subgroups and geographic regions within a larger area may display more or
less collectivism:

Answer 18

o The southern portion of the U.S. is more collectivistic than other regions.
o Some ethnic groups in the U.S. (e.g., Asian Americans and Hispanic
Americans) are more collectivistic than individualistic.

Question 19

Social identity theory

Answer 19

groups influence the self-concept and self-esteem of group members. Two
cognitive processes:

1. Social categorization
2. Social identification

Question 20

Social categorization

Answer 20

automatically classifying people into categories.

Question 21

Self-categorization

Answer 21

individuals classify themselves into categories.

Question 22

Self-stereotyping / autostereotyping

Answer 22

individuals apply stereotypes (prototypes)

that are based on the group to themselves.

Question 23

Social identification

Answer 23

the group is seen as an addition to the self, process involves bonding
with and taking on the characteristics of one’s group.
Social identification and categorization become more likely when there are outgroups present and
when people are members of smaller groups.

Question 24

Collective self-esteem

Answer 24

a person’s overall assessment of that portion of their self-concept that is
based on their relationships with others and membership in social groups.
Can be divided into:
1. Membership-esteem: am I a valuable member to the groups that I belong to?
2. Private collective self-esteem: do I evaluate the groups that I belong to as positive or
negative?
3. Public collective self-esteem: do others evaluate the groups that I belong to as positive or
negative?
4. Identity: are the groups that I belong to an important part to my identity or not?

-People who join prestigious groups often have higher collective self-esteem than
those who belong to less positively valued groups.

• People with high membership esteem and high public and private collective self-
  esteem also have a higher personal self-esteem.

Question 25

individuals seek to protect and enhance both private self-esteem and collective self-esteem. Can be
done in several ways:

Answer 25

• Rejecting negative information about own group.
• Ingroup-outgroup bias = stressing the relative superiority of their group in comparison to
  other groups.
• Social creativity = selectively focusing on own group’s superior qualities and avoiding to
  confess the group’s losses.

Question 26

Ingroup-outgroup bias

Answer 26

stressing the relative superiority of their group in comparison to
other groups.

Question 27

Social creativity

Answer 27

selectively focusing on own group’s superior qualities and avoiding to
confess the group’s losses.

Question 28

BIRGing (basking in reflected glory)

Answer 28

seeking direct or indirect association with prestigious
or successful groups or individuals (e.g., supporters of a winning team). But, when the team
loses > CORFing (cutting off reflected failure) = distancing oneself from a group that
performs poorly (e.g., blaming the referee for the team losing the match).

Question 29

Stereotype threat

Answer 29

when high, people become concerned that they will be

stereotype/prejudiced if they are considered by others as a member of a particular group.

Question 30

individual mobility

Answer 30

individuals minimize their association with a group that performs
poorly or they will resign from the group.