PSY 345 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Henri Tajfel, Caste System In India, Prosocial Behavior
Thursday, November 16, 2017
In-Group, Out-Group, and Evolutionary Social Psychology
What is the definition of a group?
- A group is 2 or more individuals who are connected by their social relationships
Why do some groups last only for a brief time in a society while other groups last much
longer?
- The nature of these relationships will sustain a group – in general, a group maintains its
existence because the members of the group have relationships with each other that
function to benefit the group as a whole. Cooperation and competition here are key
factors in maintaining those relationships
So, are strangers at a Starbucks waiting in line a group?
- Maybe. What defines a group could be subjective (social construction) or objective
(physical reality)
- Entitativity (en-te-tah-ti-vi-tee) is the ideas we have about our perceptions of people,
like similarity, proximity, and common goals – this can be the outsiders’ perceptions of a
different group as well as the insiders’ perceptions of the group’s unity
- So to answer the question…
o Yes, regular customers who might be strangers at Starbucks are considered a
group… although their relationships might not be direct or strong like parent to
child…
o “When members are similar to one another, frequently together rather than
apart, and experience shared outcomes then most would conclude the
aggregation is an entity – a group” (p. 496)
Types of Groups are Generally Broken Down into 4 Categories:
1. Small Intimate (Primary) Groups
a. Usually small in size (around 2-8 members)
b. Lasts moderate to long periods of time
c. Very high frequency and quality of interaction between members
d. Examples
i. Families
ii. Romantic Partners
iii. Best Friends
iv. Gangs
2. More Socially Oriented Groups
a. Usually seen in public settings
b. Usually involved with some social purpose (employment or recreation)
c. Depending on the group, members may have a high frequency and quality of
interaction (or very low)
d. Examples
i. Juries
ii. Co-Workers
iii. Study groups
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3. Collectives
a. These groups are usually formed quickly or spontaneously
b. The boundaries of who is/isn’t a group member is often unclear
c. Generally the quality of interaction between group members is very weak,
although often times very frequent
d. Examples
i. Concerts
ii. Lectures
iii. Waiting for a Bus
4. Categories
a. These groups are usually defined by similarities with other members, not
necessarily social interactions
b. The boundaries of who is/isn’t a group member is sometimes unclear, although
defining qualities for group membership are usually well defined
c. Members may never interact, but are connected by group identity indirectly
d. Examples
i. Race
ii. Ethnicity
iii. Gender
iv. Religion
v. Occupation
- There is some argument among social psychologists about whether a group members’
behaviors/thoughts/emotions are most influenced by their perspective of belonging to the
overall group or their individual perspective about the group
- Both types of groups’ experiences affect the way in which members perceive the group
and think/feel/behave
- For example: A class full of 6th graders goes through good and bad days (perceived by
the teacher). The teacher is a member of the group (the class), but very different from the
other members. This individual experience changes their experience of how the group is
perceived
o However, the teacher and students might be having a bad day. In fact, the teacher
could be extra tired that day and might be unorganized/rushing. This quality of
interactions could change the way the students interact with each other so that the
class as a whole would behave and perceive the group in a similar way
- Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) is the tendency for people to believe that other
people’s behaviors are caused by their own individual qualities rather than external,
group level forces
- Research has repeatedly shown the strong effect of conformity to group standards at the
individual level – suggesting that people may experience different situation within a
group, but the way they experience these situations is within the framework of a specific
group
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- This example of individual level vs. group level thinking is very clear in the Stanford
Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1971)
o Participants who were given group labels (“prisoners” or “guards”) took very
little time for each person to develop behaviors that were consistent with the
group label. In fact, the individual behavior demonstrated by each group member
was vastly different outside of the experiment
o “Group influence is perhaps most conspicuous at the behavioral level. People,
both knowingly and unwittingly, will amend their actions and preferences to
match the actions of others”
o “Groups can literally transform their members, to the point that the behavior or a
person in a group may have no connection to that person’s behavior when alone”
HOW do people join or identify with a group?
- Most often individuals will choose to include themselves in a group, but often times
people find themselves identifying themselves with a group due to environmental and
unforeseen motivations
- For example: you may not even have realized that you identify with a political party
until you go through a stressful time with money or unemployment. You then might
become more active in promoting certain political beliefs, but mostly because of the
experiences that you went through. Still, your decision are your responsibility, but are
shaped by group identity as well
WHY do people join or identify with a group?
- Baumeister and Leary (1995) argue that human being have an instinctual need to
find social relationships and avoid isolation
- Babies without early social interaction die or develop severe emotional dysfunctions.
Prisoners in solitary confinement usually become withdrawn or aggressive. Feral
children form social relationships with animals…
- Groups are instinctual human needs… “human beings have a pervasive drive to form and
maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and impactful interpersonal
relationships”
WHO joins groups?
- Individuals differ on their willingness to join a group:
o A person’s personality traits can help group membership (extraversion
conscientiousness, agreeableness) while other’s might hurt group membership
(neuroticism, openness)
o Past positive or negative experiences with groups can affect the perception a
person has about group membership, and limit or enhance their willingness to
include themselves in a group (professor’s yoga example)
- In line with attribution theory, some theorists argue that people join groups because other
people are an excellent source of information for how to explain life
- Other theorists support the idea that people join groups in order to collaborate with others
because this approach allows them to better meet their goals (to thrive or simply survive)
- People may also join groups to compete, in order to compare themselves to other
individuals they perceive as similar (in an attempt to see how they fit in with a specific
social hierarchy)
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Document Summary
A group is 2 or more individuals who are connected by their social relationships. The nature of these relationships will sustain a group in general, a group maintains its existence because the members of the group have relationships with each other that function to benefit the group as a whole. Cooperation and competition here are key factors in maintaining those relationships. What defines a group could be subjective (social construction) or objective (physical reality) There is some argument among social psychologists about whether a group members" behaviors/thoughts/emotions are most influenced by their perspective of belonging to the overall group or their individual perspective about the group. Both types of groups" experiences affect the way in which members perceive the group and think/feel/behave. For example: a class full of 6th graders goes through good and bad days (perceived by the teacher). The teacher is a member of the group (the class), but very different from the other members.
