Meera is a student at Wits.When asked to describe the average Wits student, she says it is almost impossible to do so because 'there are so many different kinds of people at Wits; the diversity is really amazing.' By contrast, when asked to describe the average USC student, UCT says: 'That's easy; they're all almost exactly the same.' Social psychologists would say that Meera is displaying what is known as the ____.
A)discontinuity effect
B)scapegoat effect
C)minimal group effect
D)outgroup homogeneity bias

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Meera is displaying the outgroup homogeneity bias, which refers to the tendency to see members of an outgroup as more similar to each other than members of one's own ingroup. The statement by UCT student also supports this bias as they are perceiving all USC students as the same. The other options, such as the minimal group effect, are not applicable in this scenario.

Meera Is a Student at Wits