Group Dynamics Ch 3 Flashcards
Need to belong
The generalized desire to seek out and join with other people, which, when unsatisfied, causes a state of tension and want.
Loneliness
Cognitive and affective malaise, including feelings of desperation, boredom, self-deprecation, and depression experienced when individuals feel their personal relationships are too few or too
unsatisfying
Degrees of separation
In social network analysis, the number of steps needed to link one person in the network to another person in the network.
Ostracism
Excluding a person or group of people from a
group, usually by ignoring, shunning, or explicitly banishing them.
Fight-or-flight response
A physiological response to
stressful events characterized by the activation of the
sympathetic nervous system (increased heart rate, pupil
dilation) that readies the individual to counter the threat
(fight) or to escape the threat (flight).
Tend-and-befriend response
A physiological, psychological, and interpersonal response to stressful events characterized by increased nurturing, protective, and supportive behaviors (tending)
and by seeking out connections to other people
(befriending).
Cyberostracism
The exclusion of one or more individuals from a technologically mediated group interaction,
such as a computer-based discussion group, by reducing or eliminating communication with the person.
Sociometer theory
A conceptual analysis of self-esteem
proposed by Mark Leary that argues self-esteem is not an
index of perceived self-worth, but instead is a psychological monitor of one’s degree of inclusion and exclusion in
social groups.
Individualism
A tradition, ideology, or personal outlook
that emphasizes the primacy of the individual and his or her
rights, independence, and relationships with other
individuals.
Collectivism
A tradition, ideology, or personal orientation that emphasizes the primacy of the group or community rather than each individual person.
Exchange relationship
An interpersonal association between individuals based on each person’s desire to increase the rewards they receive from others in the
relationship
Communal relationship
An interpersonal association
between individuals who are more concerned with
what others get rather than what they themselves
receive.
Norm of reciprocity
A social standard that enjoins individuals to pay back in kind what they receive from
others.
Group culture
The distinct ways that members of a group represent their experiences, including consensually accepted knowledge, beliefs, rituals, customs, rules, language, norms, and practices.
Ultimatum game
An experimental bargaining situation in which one individual, the allocator, must propose
a division of a shared resource to other members; if they
reject the allocator’s proposal, no one receives any of the
resource.
Equity norm
A social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources to members in proportion to
their inputs.
Equality norm
A social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources equally among all members.
Personal identity
The “me.” An individual’s perception of those aspects of his or her self-concept that derive from individualistic, personal qualities such as traits, beliefs, and skills.
Social Identity (or collective self)
The “we” component
of the self-concept that includes all those qualities attendant to relationships with other people, groups, and
society
Individualists (or independents or idiocentrics)
An individual who is dispositionally predisposed to put his or her own personal
interests and motivations above the group’s interests and
goals.
Collectivists (or interdependents, or allocentrics)
An individual who is
dispositionally predisposed to put the group’s goals and
needs above his or her own.
Optimal distinctiveness theory
A conceptual analysis
proposed by Marilyn Brewer that assumes individuals
strive to maintain a balance between three basic needs:
the need to be assimilated by the group, the need to be
connected to friends and loved ones, and the need for
autonomy and differentiation.
Social identity theory
A theoretical analysis of group
processes and intergroup relations that assumes groups
influence their members’ self-concepts and self-esteem,
particularly when individuals categorize themselves as
group members and identify with the group.
Minimal intergroup situation
A research procedure
developed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner in their
studies of intergroup conflict that involved creating temporary groups of anonymous, unrelated people.
Social categorization
The perceptual classification of
people, including the self, into categories.
Stereotypes (or prototypes)
A socially shared set of
cognitive generalizations (e.g., beliefs, expectations)
about the qualities and characteristics of the typical member of a particular group or social category.
Self-stereotyping (or autostereotyping)
Accepting
socially shared generalizations about the prototypical
characteristics attributed to members of one’s group as
accurate descriptions of oneself.
Social identification
Accepting the group as an extension of the self, and therefore basing one’s self-definition
on the group’s qualities and characteristics.
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.
Basking in reflected glory (BIRGing)
Seeking direct
or indirect association with prestigious or successful
groups or individuals
Cutting off reflected failure (CORFing)
Distancing
oneself from a group that performs poorly
Ingroup-outgroup bias
The tendency to view the ingroup, its members, and its products more positively than
other groups, their members, and their products. Ingroup
favoritism is more common than outgroup rejection.
Social creativity
Restricting comparisons between the
ingroup and other groups to tasks and outcomes where
the ingroup is more successful than other groups and
avoiding areas in which other groups surpass the ingroup.
Stereotype threat
An anxiety-provoking belief that others’ perceptions and evaluations will be influenced by their negative stereotypes about one’s group that can, in some cases interfere with one’s ability to perform up to one’s capabilities.
