A teacher divides Class XII into two teams only on the basis of whether students said they prefer tea or coffee in a quick poll. Later, each student shares reward points between classmates of both teams. Consider the following statements:
(A) Students are likely to give more points to members of their own team.
(B) A student is likely to call his own team 'we' and the other team 'they'.
(C) In Tajfel's experiments, which this situation resembles, the boys could see the names of the members of their own group while sharing money.
(D) Members of one's own team are likely to be seen as similar and as having desirable traits.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Only three
(A) Students are likely to give more points to members of their own team. — Correct. The teams rest on a flimsy criterion with no past history or future, like the painting preference in Tajfel's minimal group experiments. Even so, children there favoured their own group, so students here are likely to do the same.
(B) A student is likely to call his own team 'we' and the other team 'they'. — Correct. People call their ingroup 'we' and the outgroup 'they'. By using these words, they sort people as similar or different.
(C) In Tajfel's experiments, which this situation resembles, the boys could see the names of the members of their own group while sharing money. — Incorrect. In the minimal group experiments the identity of other group members was hidden using code numbers. Children shared money knowing only the code number and group membership, and still favoured their own group.
(D) Members of one's own team are likely to be seen as similar and as having desirable traits. — Correct. Ingroup members are generally supposed to be similar, are viewed favourably and are seen as having desirable traits. Outgroup members are often perceived negatively in comparison.
NCERT (2026-27): “Ingroup and Outgroup “… 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.” |