During an inter-college fest, students of College X call themselves 'we' and students of College Y 'they'. Which of the following statements about this situation are correct?
(A) College X students are treating College Y as their outgroup.
(B) College X students are likely to see their own members as similar and having desirable traits.
(C) College X students are likely to perceive College Y students favourably in comparison to their own members.
(D) The 'we' and 'they' division here is a real category and is not created by the students.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → A and B only
(A) College X students are treating College Y as their outgroup. — Correct. College Y is the other group, called 'they'. For College X students it is the outgroup.
(B) College X students are likely to see their own members as similar and having desirable traits. — Correct. College X is their ingroup. Ingroup members are generally supposed to be similar and to have desirable traits.
(C) College X students are likely to perceive College Y students favourably in comparison to their own members. — Incorrect. The direction is reversed. Outgroup members are often perceived negatively in comparison to ingroup members.
(D) The 'we' and 'they' division here is a real category and is not created by the students. — Incorrect. Such categorisations are common, but these categories are not real and are created by us.
NCERT (2026-27): “Ingroup and Outgroup “Box 7.2 differently and are often perceived negatively in comparison to the ingroup members. Perceptions of ingroup and outgroup affect our social lives. These differences can be easily understood by studying Tajfel’s experiments given in Box 7.2.” “Although it is common to make these categorisations, it should be appreciated that these categories are not real and are created by us. …” |