Consider the following statements about Tajfel's minimal group experi…

Consider the following statements about Tajfel's minimal group experiments:

(A) Grouping on a flimsy criterion with no past history or future was enough for children to favour their own group.
(B) The identity of other group members was hidden using code numbers.
(C) The children distributed money between recipients by name and group membership.
(D) The children were told that it was an experiment on group loyalty.

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) Grouping on a flimsy criterion with no past history or future was enough for children to favour their own group. — Correct. The groups rested only on a liking for paintings by two artists, with no past history or future. Even so, the children favoured their own group, so very little is needed for ingroup favour.

(B) The identity of other group members was hidden using code numbers. — Correct. Each child knew only his own group. Other members were known by code numbers, so personal liking could not shape the sharing.

(C) The children distributed money between recipients by name and group membership. — Incorrect. The changed words are 'by name'. The children knew recipients only by code number and group membership, so they never knew who got the money.

(D) The children were told that it was an experiment on group loyalty. — Incorrect. The changed words are 'group loyalty'. The children were told it was an experiment on decision-making, so the real aim, intergroup behaviour, stayed hidden from them.

NCERT (2026-27): “Ingroup and Outgroup …
Tajfel and his colleagues were interested in knowing the minimal conditions for intergroup behaviour. ‘Minimal group paradigm’ was developed to answer this question. British schoolboys expressed their preference for paintings by two artists — Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Children were told that it was an experiment on decision-making. They knew the Kandinsky group”

“groups in which they were grouped ( group members was hidden using code numbers. The children then distributed money between recipients only by code number and group membership.”

“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.”