Sherif disrupted the water supply at a Boy Scout camp to study the effects on what social dynamic:
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: A. superordinate goals
Explanation
Sherif manipulated the camp water supply to create a crisis that required cooperation to solve common problems. This artificial scarcity forced rival groups of boys to work together toward shared, superordinate goals. Cooperative problem-solving successfully reduced the intense intergroup hostility generated earlier in the study. The Robbers Cave experiment was a famous field study on intergroup conflict and prejudice conducted in Oklahoma. Superordinate goals are shared objectives that necessitate cooperation between mutually antagonistic groups to achieve. Realistic conflict theory suggests that competition over scarce resources fuels prejudice between social groups.
This research is applied in international diplomacy and community mediation to resolve deep-seated ethnic conflicts. Organizations use superordinate goals to unite rival departments and improve collaborative workplace teamwork. It matters because it demonstrates that cooperative engagement can effectively dismantle prejudice and hostility. Group polarization refers to the strengthening of initial group attitudes through discussion rather than shared water crises. Ingroup bias is the tendency to favor members of one own group over outsiders, which Sherif studied initially. Social traps are situations where individuals choose short-term selfish gains that create collective ruin.
- Subject
- Psychology
- Category
- Psychology
- Topic
- —
- Difficulty
- medium
Related questions
Q1. Assault rates witnessed an upward trend between 1970 and 1990. What factors might account for this shift?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. It may indicate all of the above
Recorded assault rates can rise due to multiple reporting and sociological measurement factors. Greater public awareness encourages victims to report incidents that previously went undocumented. Broader legal definitions...
Q2. Sheryl feels dissatisfied with her employment and, over recent weeks, has begun undermining the assignments of her colleagues. This serves as an illustration of:
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. Counterproductive behavior
Undermining colleagues is a clear illustration of counterproductive work behavior. Counterproductive work behavior encompasses voluntary actions that intentionally harm organizational well-being. Workplace hostility and...
Q3. Severe oxygen deprivation at birth leads to localized injury within the ______________?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: A. brain
Severe oxygen deprivation at birth causes localized ischemic injury and permanent cellular brain damage. Brain tissue is extremely sensitive to anoxia and suffers rapid damage without adequate oxygen supplies. The correc...
Q4. Sigmund Freud is widely acknowledged as the father of __________ in psychology.
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. Psychoanalytic school
Sigmund Freud founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology in Vienna during the late nineteenth century. His revolutionary therapeutic techniques focused on uncovering unconscious conflicts and repressed childhood mem...
Q5. Long-term shifts in behavioral patterns, culture, values, and norms are referred to as:
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: B. Social change
Long-term shifts in behavioral patterns, culture, and social norms are called social change. Social change describes significant structural alterations in societal values over time. Collective behaviors and institutional...
Q6. What psychological factor influencing conformity was highlighted in Asch’s line experiments and Sherif’s autokinetic studies?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. Group norms
Asch's and Sherif's classic studies demonstrate how implicit group norms heavily drive human conformity. Participants altered their individual judgments to match prevailing expectations established by surrounding groups....