Groups Flashcards
What is a ‘group’?
2 or more people who share characteristic/s that is/are socially meaningful for themselves/others
Members are connected by social relationships & boundaries that define who is/isn’t in the group
What type of categories are groups using defined by?
Social categories
What are the components of the Five Factor Model of Personality?
- extraversion
- agreeableness
- conscientiousness
- neuroticism (stable)
- openness
If a person is high on extraversion, what characteristics might they have?
- enthusiastic
- bold
- energetic
If a person is high on agreeableness, what characteristics might they have?
- sympathetic
- kind
- cooperative
If a person is high on conscientiousness, what characteristics might they have?
- organised
- efficient
- practical
If a person is high on neuroticism (but is stable), what characteristics might they have?
- content
- calm
- emotionally stable
If a person is high on openness, what characteristics might they have?
- creative
- imaginative
- intelligent
What are the characteristics of people who tend to join large groups?
High extraversion + high openness
What type of groups do women tend to seek membership in?
Smaller, informal, intimate groups
What type of groups do men tend to seek membership in?
Larger, more formal, task-focused groups
Who proposed Social Comparison theory?
Festinger (1954)
What is the basis of Social Comparison theory?
We determine our social & personal worth by comparing ourselves to others
We have a drive to gain accurate self-evaluations
Why do we compare our opinions & abilities to others?
To reduce uncertainty in these domains & learn how to define the self
When we are frightened about a situation, what must we do?
We must meet our emotional & cognitive needs
When we are frightened about a situation, what must we get?
We must meet our emotional & cognitive needs –> we need info to reduce our uncertainty
We use others to fulfil our need to gain knowledge about ourselves
When we enter an ambiguous situation, what type of psychological reactions might we have & what do they result in?
Enter an ambiguous situation → experience psychological reactions (negative emotions, uncertainty, a need for info) → social comparison & affiliate with others → results in cognitive clarity
Social comparison is linked to self-esteem. What are the two types of social comparison?
DOWNWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON - we choose comparison targets that are performing poorly compared to oneself → feel better about ourselves → boosts our self-esteem
UPWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON - we choose comparison targets performing better than oneself → we feel motivated to achieve the same goal/reach the same standard as them → increases our optimism & goals
Buunk & Gibbons (2007) found that when our self-esteem is at risk, we use ______ social comparison.
Buunk & Gibbons (2007) found that when our self-esteem is at risk, we use DOWNWARD SOCIAL COMPARISON.
Wheeler & Miyake (1992) found that students felt ______ & ______ when they associated with more competent people (used upward social comparison).
Wheeler & Miyake (1992) found that students felt DEPRESSED & DISCOURAGED when they associated with more competent people (used UPWARD social comparison).
Who found that even if pps performed better than average, they still felt discouraged if they compared themselves to someone who had far outperformed them?
Seta, Seta & McElroy (2007)
Who proposed the model of ‘self-evaluation maintenance’?
Tesser (1998)
What is the basis of ‘self-evaluation maintenance’?
Describes the process of how we determine our personal growth & progress - it is raised/lowered by the behaviour of those close to us
What does the ‘self-evaluation maintenance’ model assume?
It assumes that a person will try to maintain/increase their own self-evaluation
What is influences our self-evaluation?
Self-evaluation is influenced by our relationships with others
Who do we prefer to associate ourselves with?
People who don’t outperform us in domains that are relevant to our self-esteem
What type of social comparison do we use with superior people whom we are ‘psychologically close’ to?
Upward social comparison
People who maintain their self-evaluation celebrate others’ accomplishments only when they are beaten in a domain that they don’t value. What emotions might they feel if they are beaten in a domain that they do value?
- resentment
- envy
- shame
If students thought that a task was important, they judged their performance to be superior to that of their close friend.
If students thought that a task wasn’t important, they felt that they had performed worse than their close friend.
Who did this study?
What does this behaviour reflect?
Tesser, Campbell & Smith (1984)
This reflects maintenance of their self-esteem
Newcombe (1960, 1963) proposed 3 principles of attraction. What are they?
- Proximity
- Elaboration
- Similarity
How does proximity affect attraction to others?
We tend to like those who are situated nearby –> increases our familiarity & interaction
What did Newcombe (1960) do that supports the idea that proximity improves attraction?
Newcombe (1960) assigned pps roommates & found that by the end of the study, they had become close friends
What did Segal (1974) find in his study that supports the idea that proximity improves attraction?
Segal (1974) found that when teachers assigned students seats in classes, pupils in adjacent seats formed cliques
Students living in the same dorms sent more emails to each other than to people in more distant dorms.
Who did this study?
Sacerdote & Marmaros (2005)
How can proximity increase our sense of group-ness?
Familiarity breeds contentment
Repeated exposure increases interactions
Frequent online interactions (chats) increased attraction.
Who found this?
Reis et al. (2011)
How does elaboration affect attraction to others?
Groups often form when extra people are linked to the original members
Non-group members form relationships with an in-group member & are later incorporated into the group
Tobin (2008) claims that gangs form when…
…3 friends refer to themselves with a shared name & recruit others to join their group
How does similarity affect attraction to others?
We like people who are similar to us
Most groups try to increase levels of homophily (= the tendency of individuals to associate & bond with similar others)
We tend to associate with people who share similar beliefs, interests & politics
Why do people join groups?
- in stressful situations
- the need for belonging
- support (emotional, spiritual, informational)
- the need for power (to influence others, make them obedient/compliant)