A researcher splits office trainees into two groups only by whether they like tea or coffee. Each trainee's identity is hidden by a code number. Trainees then award bonus points to others, and most give more points to members of their own group.
Consider the following statements:
(A) The design follows the minimal group paradigm.
(B) The grouping criterion is flimsy and has no past history or future.
(C) In Tajfel's original experiments, the children were told it was an experiment on intergroup conflict.
(D) Tajfel's results showed that children favoured the outgroup when groups were formed this way.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Only two
(A) The design follows the minimal group paradigm. — Correct. Groups made on a trivial basis, with identities hidden by code numbers, copy the <strong>minimal group paradigm</strong> that Tajfel used to find the minimal conditions for intergroup behaviour.
(B) The grouping criterion is flimsy and has no past history or future. — Correct. Liking tea or coffee is like liking one painter over another: a <strong>flimsy criterion with no past history or future</strong>.
(C) In Tajfel's original experiments, the children were told it was an experiment on intergroup conflict. — Incorrect. The changed words are 'intergroup conflict'. The children were told it was an <strong>experiment on decision-making</strong>.
(D) Tajfel's results showed that children favoured the outgroup when groups were formed this way. — Incorrect. The changed word is 'outgroup'. Even on a flimsy criterion, <strong>children favoured their own group</strong>, as the trainees here did.
NCERT (2026-27): “Ingroup and Outgroup … “7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 You will agree that these groups were created on a flimsy criterion (i.e. preference for paintings by two artists) which had no past history or future. Yet, results showed that children favoured their own group.” |