Group or Delulu?
What’s the term for the extent to which a collection of people feels like a real, coherent group?
Entitativity
What term describes the part of the self that comes from group memberships?
Social identity.
What’s the basic process of mentally sorting people into “us” and “them”?
Social categorisation.
What phenomenon shows that even meaningless categories can create ingroup favoritism?
Minimal Group Paradigm.
What basic psychological need explains why people join groups?
The need to belong
A metro full of strangers suddenly bonds after a scary jolt and starts coordinating. Group or not a group?
Temporarily a group — due to shared fate + coordinated action.
What determines which identity becomes salient in a given situation?
Context — situational cues that activate a specific social category.
What bias describes believing that members of the outgroup are “all the same”?
Outgroup homogeneity effect.
In MGP studies, what is the typical pattern of allocation toward ingroup members?
Favoring the ingroup (ingroup bias).
Why do we join groups whose members match our idea of the “ideal member”?
Prototype similarity or prototype fit.
Is “people wearing headphones in a café” a group? Why or why not?
No — low entitativity, no shared identity, no interdependence.
When you emphasize being a “psychology student” rather than your personal quirks, what shift is happening?
Shift from personal identity to social identity.
What happens when people emphasize differences between groups and similarities within their own?
Intergroup differentiation and intragroup assimilation.
Why is MGP important for understanding group behaviour?
It shows categorisation alone is enough to trigger bias.
People are especially drawn to groups during periods of transition or ambiguity.
Which psychological process explains this attraction, and why?
Uncertainty reduction--groups provide clarity about behaviour, identity, and belonging.
Which definition says you’re a group if you see yourself as one and believe others see you that way?
Asch & Sherif; subjective perceptions of group identity.
Why might someone feel more like “an Indian student” while studying abroad?
The context activates national identity (identity salience).
Students from one major describe their own department as “diverse” but another as “all boring.” What concept explains this?
Outgroup homogeneity.
If you assign students to “red team” and “blue team” using a coin flip, why might they still discriminate?
Arbitrary categorisation activates social identity and ingroup preference.
A new student feels unsure in class and imitates how seniors behave. What concept explains this?
Uncertainty reduction through group identification.
Explain how physical proximity can sometimes create a sense of groupness.
Proximity increases familiarity, which can make a category more accessible, influencing perceived groupness.
According to SIT, why do people compare their groups with others?
To achieve positive distinctiveness and maintain a positive social identity.
Describe how categorisation can lead to discrimination even without conflict or competition.
Categorisation itself activates ingroup bias and favourable evaluation of ingroup vs outgroup.
Name one criticism of the Minimal Group Paradigm.
Participants may guess the study purpose (demand characteristics) or act strategically.
Why is the Minimal Group Paradigm considered strong evidence for Social Identity Theory rather than explanations based on personality or rational self-interest?
Because it demonstrates that categorisation alone is sufficient to produce ingroup bias, supporting the idea that identity-based processes drive discrimination.