Chapter 3

• Need to Belong


  The generalized desire to seek out and join with other people, which, when unsatisfied, causes a state of tension and want
• Social Loneliness


  Cut off from groups, rejected or moved away
• Emotional Loneliness


  Lack of a long-term, meaningful, intimate relationship with another person (break up, divorce, romantic failure)
• Ostracism


  Excluding one or more individuals from a group by reducing or eliminating contact with the person, usually by ignoring, shunning, or explicitly banishing them
• Temporal Need Threat model of Ostracism

  1. Reflexive stage

  2. Reflective stage

  3. Resignation stage
• Fight-or-flight Response


  A physiological and psychological response to stressful events characterized by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system (increased heart rate, pupil dilation) that readies the individual to counter the threat (fight) or to escape the threat (flight)
• Tend-and-Befriend Response


  A physiological, psychological, and interpersonal response to stressful events characterized by increased nurturing, protective and supportive behaviors (tending), and initiating and strengthening relationships with other people (befriending)
• Exclusion and Aggression: Mark Leary and his colleagues (2003) examined 15 cases of post-1995 shootings in schools in the United States, they found that these terrible acts of violence were tied together by a common thread: rejection
• Sociometer Theory


  A conceptual analysis of self-evaluation processes that theorizes self-esteem functions to psychologically monitor of one's degree of inclusion and exclusion in social groups (proposed by Mark Leary)
• Individualism


  A tradition, ideology, or personal outlook that emphasizes the primacy of the individual and his or her rights, independence, and relationships with other individuals
• Collectivism


  A tradition, ideology, or personal orientation that emphasizes the primacy of the group or community rather than each individual person
• Exchange Relationship


  A reciprocal interdependency that emphasizes the trading of gratifying experiences and rewards among members
• Communal Relationship


  A reciprocal interdependency that emphasizes meeting the needs and interests of others rather than maximizing one's own personal outcomes
• Norm of Reciprocity


  A social standard that enjoins individuals to pay back in kind what they receive from others
• Group Culture


  The distinct ways that members of a group represent their experiences, including consensually accepted knowledge, beliefs, rituals, customs, rules, language, norms, and practices
• A psychologist Edgar Schein explains, "any definable group with a shared history can have a culture" and "once a group has learned to hold common assumptions, the resulting automatic patterns of perceiving, thinking, feeling, and behaving provide meaning, stability, and comfort"
• Equity Norm


  A social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources to members in proportion to their inputs
• Equality Norm


  A social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources equally among all members
• Personal Identity


  An individual's perception of those aspects of his or her self-concept that derive from individualistic, personal qualities such as traits, beliefs, and skills
• Social Identity


  An individual's perception of those aspects of his or her self-concept that derive from his or her relationships with other people, groups, and society
• Individualists/Idiocentrics


  Individuals predisposed to put their own personal interests and motivations above the group's interests and goals
• If individualists cannot identify any personal benefit from helping others in the group or community, then they will not offer any help (Ratner & Miller, 2001)
• Collectivists


  Individuals predisposed to put the group's interests and goals above their personal interests and motivations
• A collectivistic group "binds and mutually obligates" each member (Oyserman et al., 2002, p. 5)
• Members are expected to carry out their duties, and the successful fulfillment of their roles and responsibilities is the primary source of self-satisfaction (Schwartz, 1994)
• Collectivists hold rule-breakers in contempt, but individualists tend to display anger toward those who disregard the group's emphasis on autonomy by seeking to impose their will on others (Rozin et al., 1999)
• Individualists and collectivists do not differ in their tendency to join groups, but collectivists value their memberships in their groups more, consider these relationships to be stable and long-lasting, and are less willing to sever their memberships
• Those who are more individualistic are emotionally detached from their groups; they put their own personal goals above the goals of the group, and they find more enjoyment in personal success and competition. Collectivists are more respectful of other members of their groups, and they are more likely to be good corporate citizens who help coworkers rather than compete with them (Moorman & Blakely, 1995)
• Optimal Distinctiveness theory


  A conceptual analysis that assumes individuals strive to maintain a balance between three basic needs: the need to be assimilated by the group, the need to be connected to friends and loved ones, and the need for autonomy and differentiation (proposed by Marilyn Brewer)
• Social Identity Theory


  A theoretical analysis of group processes and intergroup relations that assumes groups influence their members' self-concepts and self-esteem, particularly when individuals categorize themselves as group members and identify with the group
• Stereotype


  The perceptual classification of people, including the self, into categories
• Self-stereotyping


  Accepting socially shared generalizations about the prototypical characteristics attributed to members of one's group as accurate descriptions of oneself
• Social Categorization


  Accepting the group as an extension of the self and therefore basing one's self-definition on the group's qualities and characteristics
• Social Identification


  Accepting the group as an extension of the self and therefore basing one's self-definition on the group's qualities and characteristics
• Collective self-esteem


  Individuals' overall assessment of that portion of their self-concept that is based on their relationships with others and membership in social groups
• Basking in reflected glory (BIRging)


  Seeking direct or indirect association with prestigious or successful groups or individuals
• Cutting off reflected failure (CORFing)


  Distancing oneself from a group that performs poorly
• In-group Out-group bias


  The tendency to view the ingroup, its members, and its products more positively than other groups, their members, and their products. Ingroup favoritism is more common than the outgroup rejection
• Social Creativity


  Restricting comparisons between the ingroup and other groups to tasks and outcomes when the ingroup is more successful than other groups and avoiding areas in which other groups surpass the ingroup
• Stereotype Threat


  The anxiety-provoking belief that others' perceptions and evaluations will be influenced by their negative stereotypes about one's group that can, in some cases, interfere with one's ability to perform up to one's capabilities