The tendency to stick to your in-group, where you are most comfortable, often leads to ________.

• A. Categorical Thinking
• B. Limited Communication and Fewer Misunderstandings
• C. Perceiving Members of the Out-Group as a Threat
• D. Heightened Interest and Myths Involving Positive Attributes of the Out-Group

Answer: (C)

This item focuses on how staying with your in-group shapes attitudes toward those outside it. When you center yourself in a familiar group, you tend to defend its boundaries and view the outside world through that lens. That can boost suspicion and the belief that people from other groups pose a threat to your group’s resources, status, or norms. So, the tendency to stay within the in-group often leads to perceiving out-group members as a threat.

While rigid categorization can accompany this tendency, the most direct outcome described is threat perception toward the out-group. Limiting contact with others doesn’t reliably reduce misunderstandings—it often makes them worse by reducing opportunities to learn about differences. And focusing on positive myths about the out-group is less consistent with this pattern, which more often involves negative stereotypes and threat beliefs.