The Social Group

Question 1

Entativity

Answer 1

The feature of the group that makes it appear a distinct unit that is bound together.

Question 2

Intimacy groups

Answer 2

Groups that are closely tied together (e.g., family groups)

Question 3

Task groups

Answer 3

Groups that come together temporarily to achieve a specific goal.

Question 4

Common bond group

Answer 4

Groups in which the members have close personal bonds within the group.

Question 5

Common identity group

Answer 5

Groups in which the members have close personal ties to the group itself.

Question 6

Collectives and aggregates

Answer 6

People who share some connection, but there is no psychological value to the connection.

Question 7

Group

Answer 7

Two or more people who define themselves as a group (having a sense of “us”) and who are also recognized by at least one other person.

Question 8

Ingroup

Answer 8

Term used to describe groups we belong to - “us”

Question 9

Outgroup

Answer 9

Term used to describe groups we do not belong to - “them”

Question 10

Group socialization

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Model of Group Socialization

Answer 11

Investigation
Socialization
Maintenance
Resocialization
Remembrance

Question 12

Socialization outcomes

Answer 12

These relate to how members of the group feel about how they functioned to reach the group’s purpose. The most prominent outcome is group cohesion.

Question 13

Group cohesion

Answer 13

The extent to which a group holds people to one another (and the group as a whole), which gives the group a sense of unity and commonality.

Question 14

Social norms

Answer 14

Uniformities of behaviour and attitudes that determine, organize and differentiate groups from other groups.

Question 15

Ethnomethodology

Answer 15

A method used for understanding ‘hidden’ social norms by analyzing people’s accounts and descriptions of their day-to-day activities.

Question 16

Breaching experiment

Answer 16

A technique used in ethnomethodology that seeks to examine people’s reactions to violations of common social norms.

Question 17

Frames of reference

Answer 17

The range of possible positions/attitudes/behaviours that people could adopt in a given situation. People use these frames of reference to guide their own thoughts and actions.

Question 18

Why do norms work so well?

Answer 18

Norms are enforced
We often internalize norms
Consensus influences the power of norms
Norms are often activated
Norms act as useful heuristics

Question 19

Social roles

Answer 19

Expectations shared by group members about how particular people in the group are supposed to behave.

Question 20

Status

Answer 20

Shared evaluations of the ‘prestige’ of roles within a group, the members of the group, or the group as a whole.

Question 21

Diffuse status characteristics

Answer 21

Attributes not directly relevant to the group task but positively valued in society.

Question 22

Specific status characteristics

Answer 22

Attributes directly relevant to the group task.

Question 23

System justification theory

Answer 23

Theory that people’s dependence on social systems for wealth and security motivates them to justify these social systems and see them as fair.

Question 24

Social creativity

Answer 24

Strategies that group members engage in to maintain the esteem of the group.

Question 25

Marginal group members (‘deviants’)

Answer 25

People who deviate too far from prototypical group members and group norms.

Question 26

Black sheep effect

Answer 26

Derogation of deviant or marginal ingroup members. (How strongly groups can react to marginal group members.)

Question 27

Intergroup sensitivity effect

Answer 27

The tendency to prefer criticism to come from within the group than from an outsider.

Question 28

Impostors

Answer 28

People who threaten the group by fraudulently claiming to be members.

Question 29

Schism

Answer 29

A group that divides into subgroups that differ usually in terms of their attitudes or values.

Question 30

Subgroups

Answer 30

Smaller groups nested within a larger group.

Question 31

Cross-cutting categories

Answer 31

Subgroups that represent categories that have members outside the immediate larger group.

Question 32

Opinion-base groups

Answer 32

Groups that are formed around shared opinions.

Question 33

Terror management theory

Answer 33

Theory proposing that human awareness of death creates a constant source of ‘existential anguish’ that must be dealt with.

Question 34

Social identity

Answer 34

The aspect of our self/identity that is determined by our group memberships.

Question 35

Social identity theory

Answer 35

The theory of group membership and intergroup relations arguing that personal identities and group memberships complete people’s sense of self.

Question 36

Prototype

Answer 36

‘Fuzzy’ sets of characteristics that define a group and distinguish it from other groups.

Question 37

Self-categorization

Answer 37

Cognitive process of categorizing oneself as a group member.

Question 38

Subjective uncertainty

Answer 38

Uncertainty about who we are and what we are supposed to do, which is alleviated by identification with groups.

Question 39

Optimal distinctiveness

Answer 39

People like to feel unique as individuals but at the same time they feel the need to affiliate with others. They need to find the optimal balance between these needs.

Question 40

Social ostracism

Answer 40

Being excluded from a group by the consensus of the group..