Basics of Group Processes Flashcards
What is the Coffee machine experiment
Alternating between pictures of eyes and flowers (self-payment), when there were pictures of eyes the payment to the honesty box increased significantly → these are just pictures of eyes, we know it is not really someone watching us, but even then, we are more compelled to engage in socially accepted behavior
What is a group process?
There are processes in groups that can make people contribute/engage in violence, while they would never do that on their own. The group is not just a collection of individuals, but a meaningful unit in its own right.
What is sociality?
The presence of others
Humans are social. Our functioning, attitude, and beliefs are impacted by the presence of others. The presence of others can shape the behavior we engage in. People change their behavior if they feel that someone is watching them.
“People are ‘set up’ psychologically, emotionally, neurologically, for interactions with others
What is Social Identity?
people are connected to groups through social identity (part of our identity is derived from membership in certain social groups)
- Group memberships are important for identity
What is Social Identity Theory?
Developed by: Tafjel and Turner (1979)
How does social identity shape our behavior, attitude, and view of the world?
Coming from an intergroup relations perspective; why is it so easy to hate others (WWII)
What is Self Categorization Theory?
Addresses the deterministic aspect of social identities, you can switch between a mode where you are thinking of yourself as a group and another mode where you are thinking of yourself as an individual.
Social identity theory does not mean we do not have any personal identity, but it talks about that in some circumstances we are more defined by group memberships and in some circumstances we are more defined by our personal characteristics.
What are the consequences of Group Dynamics?
- Shapes behavior/attitudes, etc. (shapes your perception of norms)
- Belonging to groups creates ‘others’
- These issues become very important because they touch on core components of identity
Group dynamics impact people at a very basic level. It even impacts people at the level of information processing. People will process certain cues differently (in-and out-group dynamic) → eye-tracking (understanding the in-group)
Once people are part of groups they start to function (psychologically) as a group member (you are thinking of yourself differently; rather as a group member than individual).
Group processes encourage collective violence in two ways
**Group processes increase motivation for collective violence
**- Emphasize Us/Them distinction
- Emphasize threat by others
- Offer rewards for violence (e.g. status)
**Group processes reduce aversion
**- Make violence normative
- Increase distance to target (psychological, physical, social)
- Provide drugs and alcohol
3rd Pathway Feedback Loop
Littman and Paluck (2015)
- How do group processes impact the likelihood/tendency toward collective violence? → Two pathways that ultimately impact whether conflict will escalate to collective violence
(1) We need to get to the understanding that such conflict is best resolved through violence → increase motivation; violence is needed to solve the conflict, violence is needed to demonstrate to the world that we cannot live like this
(2) The idea of overcoming aversion; in the group there are processes ongoing that prepare people ‘violence is okay, we should engage in violence morally speaking’
- Group processes will strengthen links
What is the Third Way group processes impact collective violence?
Feedback loop
Violence is so extreme, so doing it collectively causes bonding (even just the adrenaline can cause bonding between people in the group). After engagement in collective violence, people often experience social stigmatization from other people (who are not involved) and increasingly have nowhere else to go
