8: Group Influence Flashcards
two or more people who interact with and influence one another, perceive themselves as an “us”
group
the strengthening of dominant responses in the presence of others - tendency to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are around (ex. simple arithmetic)
social facilitation
type of social facilitation - the tendency to perform worse on difficult, inexperienced tasks when others are around (ex. complex math problems)
social inhibition
idea that social arousal boosts performance on easy tasks (social facilitation) and hurts performance on difficult tasks (social inhibition)
drive theory
statistically supported tendency for sports teams to perform better at their home stadium than at an opponent’s stadium - partly caused by social facilitation (supportive energy of fans in audience)
home advantage
concern for how others are evaluating us, which increase social arousal
evaluation apprehension
tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable
social loafing
people who benefit from a group effort but contribute little in return - form of social loafing
free riders
loss of self-awareness and evaluative apprehension in large, impassioned group situations - losing identity and sense of individual responsibility to a larger group, resulting in impulsive acts (rioting, hazing, bullying, war crimes, etc.)
deindividuation
a self-conscious state in which attention becomes focused on oneself, making people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions, act more in line with values - opposite of deindividuation
self-awareness
enhancement of group members’ preexisting tendencies due to the group - people with similar attitudes strengthen those attitudes when they come together to discuss them
group polarization
influence that results from accepting evidence about reality
informational influence
influence that results from a person’s desire to be accepted or admired by others
normative influence
evaluating one’s opinions and abilities by comparing oneself with others
social comparison
a false impression of what others are thinking and feeling on average, how they are responding - under or overestimating how many people hold a certain view
pluralistic ignorance
making group decisions in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility - suppressing opposing views in the interest of group harmony
groupthink
tendency for people with minority views to express those views less quickly than do people in the majority
minority slowness effect
process by which individuals mobilize and guide larger groups
leadership
leadership that excels at organizing work, setting standards, and focusing on goal attainment - directive style
task leadership
leadership that excels at building teamwork, mediating conflict, and offering support - democratic style
social leadership
leadership that exerts significant influence through the leader’s vision and inspiration - motivates others to identify with and commit themselves to a group mission
transformational leadership
