Who developed minimal group paradigm?

The correct answer is Option (1) → Tajfel and colleagues

The minimal group paradigm was developed by Henri Tajfel and his colleagues to study the minimal conditions required for discrimination between groups. In this experimental setup, participants are randomly assigned to different groups with no prior history or meaningful basis for group membership. Despite the arbitrary group assignments, Tajfel found that people tended to favor their own group (ingroup) over others (outgroup), even when there was nothing tangible at stake.

This finding was foundational for social identity theory, showing how mere categorization into groups can lead to bias and discrimination without any real conflict or competition.