Explain one study of social groups Flashcards
(5 cards)
Theory
Social groups = collections of individuals who share a common identity and perceive themselves as members of the same group.
Social identity theory explains how individuals categorize themselves into social groups, which shapes their sense of belonging.
Aim
One study that investigated SIT is Tajfel et al. study. The aim was to investigate if intergroup discrimination would take place based on being put into different groups by meaningless criteria.
Procedure
Sample consisted of 48 British schoolboys aged from 14 to 15. They were asked to rate 12 paintings by Klee and Kandinsky. They were not aware which painting was painted by who. They were then randomly allocated to one of two conditions and told that they preferred either Klee or Kandinsky. Furthermore they were asked to award points to two boys – one from their and one from another group. There were two point awarding system: first one where points were linked to the sum of both scores of 15 – if one gave their group member an 8, 7 points were automatically awarded to the other group; in the second system researchers manipulated the points awarded – if one gave a high number of points to their group, a higher profit goes to the other group; if one gave mid range amount of points same amount goes to the other group; and if one gave small amount of points to their group one point goes to other group.
Results
Results showed that in the 1st system boys allocated more points to their in-group showing in-group favoritism. In the second condition the boys rather gave fewer points to their group, just to maximize the difference in scores between the groups. Those results showed that there is a natural tendency of members of a group to favor their in-group. Additionally, despite meaningless criteria boys were able to identify with their respective group and create a positive social identity by giving more points to their in-group members.
Link
The study demonstrated that even when groups were created artificially with no prior relationship or significance, participants still identified with their assigned group. This confirmed that social groups can be formed based on minimal criteria, highlighting the cognitive process of social categorization. Thus, Tajfel et al.’s study shows that social groups do not need a strong historical or social basis to exist; they can be artificially created and still be recognized by individuals as meaningful social categories.
