PSYC12H3 Study Guide - Final Guide: In-Group Favoritism, Aiesec, Dev Patel
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Lecture 6 – Alexa’s Intergroup Relations:
•Solomon Shereshevskii’s Mind of a Mnemonist
Could memorize lengthy mathematical formulae, matrices, and
poems in foreign languages
Discovered his ability when listening to a speech in the 1920s
“Take the number 1. This is a proud, well-built man; 2 is a high-spirited
woman; 3 is a gloomy person; 6 a man with a swollen foot; 7 a man with a
moustache; 8 a very stout woman - a sack within a sack. As for the number
87, what I see is a fat woman and a man twirling his moustache.”
He had problems categorizing as everything he saw was something
specific and therefore not good at generalization (example: Dev
Patel from Slumdog Millionaire) and also two other noticeable things
oTrouble memorizing things that weren’t literal
oNot good at remembering faces, which he saw as “very
changeable” (Slumdog Millionaire example again)
•Categorization allows us to…
Organize and make sense of the world
Make inferences about what we encounter based on previous
experience (i.e. a bear we’ve never seen before)
But… sometimes we make over-generalizations. Our tendency to
categorize extends to people. Overgeneralization stereotypes
This tendency also extends to ourselves.
We view ourselves as members of social categories.
oUniversity of Toronto Students
oLive in Canada
o18-22 years old
The categorization that is most obvious to us at a given time
depends on who we are interacting with i.e. it depends on the
context/situation where at one point I am categorized as an
AIESECer and specifically AIESEC Toronto at another point or at an
interuniversity competition a student of UofT.
•Does categorization necessarily lead to prejudice?
Textbook’s definition of prejudice: a biased evaluation of a group,
based on real or imagined characteristics of the group members
It does not necessarily result to prejudice as we can still be
unbiased even though we are a part of one group and not the other.
•Social Identity Theory
Joe Carter and Unidentified Man example where the association
with the team results in an increase of their self-esteem.
Two ways to gain self-esteem: our accomplishments and our group’s
•If Social Identity Theory is right and we derive self-esteem from our group’s
accomplishments, what would it predict about the self-esteem of devalued
It would predict a low self-esteem for devalued groups.
“There is ample evidence of ‘inferiority’ feelings and of morbid self-
hate in all minority groups.” - Erik Erikson
But… research suggests that this phenomenon isn’t necessarily true
as groups that do not have lower self-esteem:
oBlacks, Hispanics, women, physically unattractive, facially
disfiguring conditions, obese, learning disabled, physically
handicapped, gay, mentally ill, juvenile delinquents.
•Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (ODT)
We don’t associate with groups because we want to boost self-
esteem, we do it because we are driven to be “optimally distinct.”
Optimal Distinctiveness – good amount of uniqueness from others.
Social Identity Theory and Optimal Distinctiveness Theory says that
we can have multiple social identities. In optimal distinctiveness
theory we look at how inclusive these group memberships are i.e.
the centre is the personal identity and then when we go outside the
centre, we see the individual’s social identity and it gets broader
and broader as you go further away from your personal identity.
•Optimal Distinctiveness Model
Assimilation: the need to belong and Differentiation: the need to be
A low inclusive group for O’Reilly would be his family as there aren’t
a lot of people in there. A high inclusive group would be the
prisoners at Oz as there are a lot of people in that category. His
family provides him with a high need for assimilation or
belongingness as this group does not make him feel like he belongs
in society as it is an exclusive group. The prisoners provide him a
high need for differentiation as this group does not make him feel
unique. So, O’Reilly requires a balance of both of these needs. In his
case it could be the affiliation with Irish prisoners.
•How do ODT and SIT explain prejudice?
There are consequences of associating with a group, no matter
what the motivation (self-esteem or optimal distinctiveness).
oWe associate ourselves with groups
oWe like our group better than other groups (ingroup bias)