Chapter 3 Flashcards
Putman: Social capital
positive advantages that people obtain from social relationships.
Three important processes that determine the relationship between individuals of groups:
- Inclusion and exclusion: the degree to which the individual is included or excluded from the
group. - Individualism and collectivism: the emphasis on the primacy of the individual versus the
group. - Personal identity and social identity: basing self-conceptions on personal qualities or shared
interpersonal qualities.
Ostracism
deliberately excluding someone from the group by ignoring and avoiding him.
William: temporal need-threat model
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.
Two kinds of responses to exclusion:
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’).
Evolutionary psychology
the need to belong resulted from natural selection as individuals who were
affiliated with groups were more likely to survive.
Leary: sociometer theory / sociometer model of self-esteem
self-esteem provides
individuals with feedback about their degree of inclusion in groups instead of only a
perception of own self-image.
Individualism and collectivism are distinguishable in their relative emphasis on individual and
collective across people (micro level), groups (meso level), and cultures (macro level):
- 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) - 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. - The macro level: cultures and subgroups within countries vary in their relative emphasis on
individualism and collectivism.
Personal identity
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.
Social identity / collective identity
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.
Brewer: optimal distinctiveness theory
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.
Individualists: emphasize exchange relationships
interaction is meant to obtain
rewards that stimulate own well-being
Collectivists: emphasize communal relationships
interaction is meant to increase
the group’s well-being.
Ultimatum game
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.
Norm of reciprocity
a social standard that enjoins individuals to pay back in kind
what they receive from others. Is implemented differently in individualistic and
collectivistic groups
Individualists: equity norm
a social standard that encourages distributing
rewards and resources to members in proportion to their input.
Collectivists: equality norm
a social standard that encourages distributing
rewards and resources equally among all members.
Certain subgroups and geographic regions within a larger area may display more or
less collectivism:
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.
Social identity theory
groups influence the self-concept and self-esteem of group members. Two
cognitive processes:
- Social categorization
- Social identification
Social categorization
automatically classifying people into categories.
Self-categorization
individuals classify themselves into categories.
Self-stereotyping / autostereotyping
individuals apply stereotypes (prototypes)
that are based on the group to themselves.
Social identification
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.
Collective self-esteem
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.
individuals seek to protect and enhance both private self-esteem and collective self-esteem. Can be
done in several ways:
- 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.
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.
BIRGing (basking in reflected glory)
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).
Stereotype threat
when high, people become concerned that they will be
stereotype/prejudiced if they are considered by others as a member of a particular group.
individual mobility
individuals minimize their association with a group that performs
poorly or they will resign from the group.
