The social group

Question 1

what is an aggregate or collective

Answer 1

aggregates and collectives are people who share some connection, but there is no psychological value to the connection

Question 2

what is a group?

Answer 2

two or more people who define themselves as a group and have a sense of “us” which can be compared to “them”

Question 3

what are the essential features of a group, according to Johnson and Johnson (1987)

Answer 3

• groups interact with each other
• perceive self as belonging to a group
• are interdependent
• have common goals
• have a structure of norms or rules
• influence each other

Question 4

what are ingroups and outgroups?

Answer 4

ingroups = groups we belong to

outgroups = groups we do not belong to

Question 5

what is entitativity

Answer 5

perception by group members themselves or others that the people together are a group

high entitativity = homogenous group with a clear structure, purpose or boundaries

Question 6

what are intimacy groups?

Answer 6

groups that are closely tied together, e.g., a family (high entitativity)

Question 7

what are task oriented groups

Answer 7

groups that come together temporarily to achieve a common goal (low entitativty)

Question 8

what are common bond groups?

Answer 8

group members have close personal bonds within the group

attachment among group members

Question 9

what are common identity groups

Answer 9

members have close personal identity with the group itself

attachment to the group

Question 10

what are Tuckman’s (1965) stages of group formation, and what are the characteristics of each stage?

Answer 10

1) forming = acceptance, avoidance of conflict, working out structure/rules, focus on gathering info rather than productivity

2) storming = addressing issues, conflict present, questioning role of group, individual roles established

3) norming = established rules of engagement, agreed roles and responsibilities, conflict has been addressed, listening/support/flexibility, common identity emerges

4) performing = independence and flexibility, working together or independently, task orientation

5) adjourning = task is complete, group disengages

Question 11

what is group socialisation?

Answer 11

the process of groups as a whole and group members coming together to meet each other’s needs and accomplish goals over time

Question 12

membership phases of group socialisation

Answer 12

1) prospective member (investigation)
2) marginal member (socialisation)
3) member (maintenance)
4) marginal member (re-socialisation))
5) ex-member (remembrance)

Question 13

Moreland and McGinn (1999) study on group socialisation

Answer 13

PPs more upset by and more likely to reject criticism of groups work when it came from other members of the former group

Question 14

what are initiation rites

Answer 14

tasks that a person must do to be invited into a group

can be pleasant (ceremonies, gifts) or unpleasant (embarrassment)

Question 15

what is group cohesion?

Answer 15

the extent to which a group holds people to one another, which gives a sense of unity and commonality

Question 16

what predicts group cohesion?

Answer 16

• attraction of groups and its members
• degree to which the group satisfies individual goals

Question 17

how do we measure group cohesion?

Answer 17

group cohesion is quite difficult to measure, so it is typically done by measuring individual level of attractiveness to the group

Question 18

what are norms?

Answer 18

uniformities of behaviour and attitudes that determine, organise, and differentiate groups from other groups

can be formal or informal

help regulate and guide behaviour

some are universal and some vary across cultures

Question 19

milgram’s subway study in 70s

Answer 19

• able bodied students asked people to give up their train seats
• 68% passengers did
• students reported feeling very uncomfortable

Question 20

what are descriptive and injunctive norms?

Answer 20

descriptive = describes what most do

injunctive = describes what most approve or disapprove of

Question 21

Cialdini et al 90s

Answer 21

in litter free setting, confederate who litters draws attention to the implicit norm to keep place clean so people litter less

confederate littering already dirty environment activates norm of untidiness, so people tend to litter more often

Question 22

why do norms work so well?

Answer 22

• they are often enforced
• people often internalise them
• they become fixed during socialisation
• they are consensual
• frequently activated
• act as action heuristics (mental shortcuts) to make life easier

Question 23

what are roles?

Answer 23

shared expectations of how people in a group are supposed to behave

Question 24

why aren’t roles always positive?

Answer 24

can sometimes make people lose sight of right and wrong

e.g., Stanford prison experiment

Question 25

gender roles - Twenge 2001

Answer 25

tracked women’s social status between ‘31 and ‘93, and compared this with their own ratings of assertiveness

pattern followed trends in women’s social status

therefore, roles are often linked to status

Question 26

what is the system justification theory (Jost and Banaji 2004)

Answer 26

people’s independence on social systems for wealth and security motivates them to justify these systems and see them as fair

Question 27

what is social creativity

Answer 27

strategies that group members engage in to maintain the esteem of the group (e.g., we’re a poor country, but we’re good at sport)

Question 28

what are deviants?

Answer 28

people who deviate too far from prototypical group members and group norms

generally disliked

Question 29

Deviants study by Marques et al ‘88

Answer 29

PPs watched speeches (bad vs good) given by in-group vs outgroup

bad speeches were rated as bad as (or worse) when they came from ingroup, rather than an outgroup member

this was explained as people who deviate from the group norms threaten the superiority of the ingroup

Question 30

why can deviants be good for the group?

Answer 30

deviants point out things that are wrong

Question 31

what is the intergroup sensitivity effect?

Answer 31

tendency to accept criticism more from within the group than from outsiders

even though they are deviant, they are constructive

Question 32

impostors

Answer 32

people posing as legitimate group members when they are not

Question 33

what is a schism

Answer 33

when groups break off and smaller groups form (subgroups), which differ in some crucial aspect

this can cause conflict (e.g, catholic/protestant)

Question 34

subgroups - what are cross cutting categories

Answer 34

subgroups that represent categories with members outside the immediate larger group

e.g., athletes can be part of Olympic national team and be international association of athletics

Question 35

what do groups do for us? (interdependence, affiliation, similarity, support, terror management)

Answer 35

• can accomplish more in a group than we ever could alone
• grouping together people and feeling included boosts our self esteem, and self esteem is seen as a measure of effectiveness of social relationships
• group membership can counteract anguish caused by mortality salience (how often you think of your mortality)

Question 36

what is social identity theory

Answer 36

two broad types of identities make up the self

personal identity = defined by one’s personal characteristics and relationships

social identity = defined by one’s group memberships

Question 37

what is optimal distinctiveness

Answer 37

people like to distinguish themselves from others, but also like to affiliate with others

being in a group allows both