Evaluation of an investigation into group identity - Sherif et al (1954)

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Sherif et al (1954)

Aim: To study the origin of prejudice arising from the formation of social groups

Small group: individuals share a common goal that fosters interaction; individuals are affected differently by being in a group; an in-group develops with its own hierarchy and a set of norms id standardised.                       Norm: a product of group interaction that regulates member behaviour in terms of expected or ideal behaviour.                                                                                                  Group: a social unit with a number of individuals who are interdependent and have a set of norms and values for self regulation; individuals have roles within the unit.

Sample: 22 white American lower-middle class 12 year-old protestant (to eliminate family problems), psychologically adjusted boys. They didn’t know each other and they matched as much as possible (on IQ, Sporting abilities etc) they were also not informed that they were being used for a piece of reaserch in order to obtain ‘true’ results.

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Data Collection

Observer: participant observer allocated to each group for 12 hours a day                                       Sociometric analysis: issues such as friendship patterns were noted and studied.                                    Experiment: boys had to collect beans and estimate how many each other collected.                                                  Tape recordings: words and phrase used to describe their own group were studied.

Procedure:

The boys were transported in two groups to the Robber’s Cave National ...

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