Ritika, Anwar, Joseph and Meena live in the same housing colony in Pune and take the same school bus every day. They find that all four love cricket, and soon they start a weekend cricket coaching club for the younger children of the colony. In the club, Anwar usually fixes the practice schedule and Meena keeps the accounts. Joseph, the best batsman, is looked up to by the others. Children who join later soon pick up these arrangements.
Anwar fixing the schedule, Meena keeping the accounts and Joseph being looked up to became a regular pattern in the club. Identify what this pattern shows.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Group structure
Option (1) Group norms — Incorrect. Norms are expected standards of behaviour agreed upon and enforced by members, a group's unspoken rules for everyone. Who fixes the schedule or keeps the accounts is a division of work.
Option (2) Group structure — Correct. Group structure develops as members interact and shows regularities in tasks, responsibilities and the relative status of members. Anwar's schedule, Meena's accounts and Joseph's standing are these three.
Option (3) Groupthink — Incorrect. Groupthink is a group's concern for unanimity overriding a realistic look at courses of action, which leads to uncritical decisions. The club shows no such decision.
Option (4) Adjourning stage — Incorrect. The adjourning stage comes when a group formed for a task is disbanded once the task is over. The club is still running and settling into a pattern.
NCERT (2026-27): “Stages of Group Formation … “• Norms are expected standards of behaviour and beliefs established, agreed upon, and enforced by group members. They may be considered as a group’s ‘unspoken rules’. In your family, there are norms that guide the behaviour of family members. These norms represent shared ways of viewing the world.” |