CH 2 The Social Psychology of Group Behavior

Question 1

[2.1] My Life at End Time Religious Camp (Rose Janssen)

Answer 1

First-hand account written in consciousness-raising format (I heard/I saw/I smelled/etc) to describe escaping an abusive religious cult experience.

Question 2

Why do we rely on evidence from the classical studies in social psychology?

Historical Development

Answer 2

Institutional Review Board (IRB) = stricter ethical standards nowadays. No deception or psychological abuse allowed. Modern day social psychologists face the challenge of being able to “test” conformity/obedience patterns due to this.

Question 3

Who is Kurt Lewin?

Historical Development

Answer 3

Father of small group research (1940s). Coined the term, “group dynamics”. Jewish descent from Germany influenced his studies of leadership styles at the University of Iowa.

Question 4

Describe Lewin’s leadership style experiment. List the different leadership styles used & explain the results for each.

Historical Development

Answer 4

Experimental study with 10 and 11 year old boys (organized in 3 groups of n=5). After-school program led by graduate students across 18-weeks. Each leadership style was rotated among the 3 groups of boys.

DEMOCRATIC: Decisions made by majority rule. Most initiative was taken in this setting. Most fun. Boys continued their work w/o the presence of their leader.

AUTOCRATIC: Strict discipline imposed. Most productive, but when the leader left the room, very little was accomplished.

LAISSEZ-FAIRE: Boys worked and played as they liked. Least productive all-together.

Question 5

Describe some of the major findings during the 1940’s-1950’s with regard to soldiers.

Historical Development

Answer 5

Soldiers loyalty + strong group ties = fighting even against overwhelming odds.

Some infantrymen listed prayers as first, and not wanting to “let down their buddies” as second, when asked about sources of support.

Ideology = NOT a primary fighting motive (Stouffer, 1949).

German prisoners of war continued to fight even after it became obvious they would lose. Loyalty to their buddies were a key factor (Shils and Janowitz, 1948).

U.S. soldiers in Iraq alluding to peers as family. Close bonded relations. SOCIAL COHESION (Wong, et al., 2003)

Question 6

Who is Gisela Konopka?

Historical Development

Answer 6

Considered the mother of social work. Late 1940’s. Jewish refugee from DE. Trained in social work and returned to DE to help rebuild the country. Group-work postwar period.

Question 7

Robber’s Cave experiments.

Who conducted it? Discuss major findings.

Historical Development

Answer 7

Muzsfer Sherif (a student of Kurt Lewin). Major findings on how conflict & cooperation is generated.

Participant observation study. Summer of 1954. Researchers disguised as camp counselors. Boys were encouraged to bond (two groups) and then challenge each other to a winner-take-all game of tug-o-war.

In-group versus out-group mentality was formed. Fights & name-calling ensued. Researchers then sought ways to create peace…

FAILED = Religious ceremonies and negotiations.

WORKED = The strategy of “superordinate goals”.

Question 8

What are superordinate goals?

Historical Development

Answer 8

A superordinate goal is linked to multiple subordinate goals.

FIRST… a, b, and c must be accomplished, THEN d, e, and f can be reached.

Example: Sherif’s Robber’s Cave experiments. Boys from competing groups had to work together to move a broken truck in one occasion, and fix a water supply issue on another, before they could compete against each other. This improved group cooperation.

Question 9

What study is Leon Festinger known for? Explain why the methodology was so controversial.

Historical Development

Answer 9

Leon Festinger also studied under Kurt Lewin.

UFO study, a naturalistic social psychological experiment. Examined behavior when presented with contradicting facts. Cognitive dissonance.

Group belief = faith that UFO’s would rescue them on Dec. 12, the day of the supposed flood. Eight members quit their jobs and/or sold all of their posessions.

When the flood never came, the group belief grew stronger and continued to proselytize others (convert). Some members drifted away at the second failed end-of-the-world date.

The more an individual takes action for the sake of their belief, the greater an individual’s commitment to it.

Methodology controversy: Festinger and researchers saw a news article announcing that a local community would be destroyed by flood. The researchers targeted the religious fanatics by pretending to be believers and joining the cult. Ethical dilemma: to what extent did their active cult participation reinforce beliefs in the other members?

Question 10

Cognitive dissonance

Historical Development

Answer 10

Refers to the state of two pieces of information in confluct. Coined by Festinger’s UFO study at the Uni. of Minnesota.

Extreme saxcrifices for a cause > cause does not materialize > the principle of self-justification operates with the thrust of dissonance (Tavris & Arson, 2008).

Question 11

True or False: There is a neurological basis for people’s rejection of the facts when the facts go against what they want to believe.

Historical Development

Answer 11

True. American’s public was reviewed for cognitive dissonance with the Iraq war. When mass weapons of destruction were not found, they claimed the new reason for was Saddam Hussein (and that the world would be a safer place w/o him).

A research study with MRI imaging found that the areas of the brain responsible for reasoning would shut down when presented with dissonant information abot their favorite candidates.

Question 12

Define conformity

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 12

“A change in a person’s behavior or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people” (Aronson, 2012).

Question 13

According to the early days of Lewin, what does research suggest about dissenters?

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 13

Dissenters from group norms are typically disliked.

Question 14

Name a social conformity experiment that the IRB would likely approve of recreating today.

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 14

Solomon Asch’s 1951 lines experiment.

Question 15

Describe the 1951 Solomon Asch experiment and its major findings.

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 15

A small group is shown a series of drawn lines and asked to indicate which line was closest in length to another line adjacent from it. 1/3 conformed to the inccorect answered. 3/4 gave incorrect answers at least once

In the absence of reward or punishment, why did people conform? Some genuinely perceived the line to be longer. Implicates that perception is altered by group suggestion.

Others explained that they did not want to be singled out.

Conformity is more prevalent in collectivist societies such as Japan, Norway, China, etc.

Question 16

In a jury trial setting, what reduces the chances of groupthink?

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 16

Diversity.

Question 17

How does Japan’s legal system differ from the United States?

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 17

Japanese government recognizes its collectivist values, thus implements a partial trial-by-jury format. It’s a mixed system where judges join the jurors for decison making.

Question 18

True or False: Social Psychologists rely on jury room observations to study conformity/human behavior.

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 18

False. Observers are not allowed in jury rooms. Researchers rely on mock trials and witness account interviews.

Question 19

Who was Stanley Milgram and what was he known for?

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 19

Milgram was Solomon Asch’s graduate assistant at Yale in the early 1960’s. He studied obedience & people’s willingness to obey an authority figure. Inspired by mistreatment of fellow Jews.

Question 20

Describe Milgram’s obediency study and major implications.

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 20

Recruited white-collar and blue-collar workers to participate in a teaching experiment that would test the effects of punishment on learning. The “teacher” believed that they were administering electric shocls to those with incorrect answers.

2/3 of participants followed instructions to keep raising voltage (up to 450 volts) despire screaming/shouting/begging. Compliance was greatest when “teachers” couldn’t see the faces of those they were “hurting”. Milgram video recorded on the last day of the experiment bc he was afraid that the public would not believe the results.

Self-justification. The tendency to want to invest just a tad more.

In another variation of the study, when joined by 2 individuals who defied the instructions, only 10% of “teachers” went along with the experiment.

Question 21

Describe the parallels of Milgram’s study and Abu Ghraib.

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 21

U.S. soldiers disrepected and humiliated prisoners in Iraq. When part of a group, the group replaces the individual responsibility. This “creature” is unhindered by the limitations of an indiviual…

Question 21

What is self-justification?

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 21

It’s a concept similar to that of chasing one’s losses once an investment has been made. Once you have taken a step towards a direction, it becomes easier to continue. The principle can be applied to both positive & negative outcomes.

Question 22

What cultures are more likely to be obedient to authority figures?

Studies of Social Conformity

Answer 22

Cultures that value elders/superiors are less likely to question authority & more likely to blindly follow instructions.

EX: South Korean youth sinking ferry boat and dying out of reluctance to disobey orders from the captain.

Question 23

What is Erving Goffman known for?

Role Theory

Answer 23

Goffman alludes to Shakesperean tendencies to put on front stage and back stage behaviors. The social imperative to impress people & the struggle to manage impressions = a major drive in human relations.

FRONT = presentation of self to public (dress, speech, manners, props)

BACK = kept closed to avoid being disillusioned

All enviornemnts require different performances & audience segregation is a must (faking the funk)

Question 24

Describe Jason Ulsperger’s experiment and the parallels to Erving Goffman’s role theory from his text, “Asylum” (1961).

Role Theory

Answer 24

A participant observation study in three for-profit nursing homes. Themes of “impression management” arose.

FRONT: Renaming and rebranding from old people home to assisted living centers; furniture being staged to give a home-like ambience.

BACK: Hiding incapacitated individuals; rules restricting shared spaces like dining areas from discomforting visitors (hide the “bad” stuff); bureaucreutic rules.

Question 25

What are the 3 categories of stigma?

Role Theory

Answer 25

(1) Abominations of the body or physical deformities
(2) Blemishes of ind. character, like criminal records
(3) Tribal stigma of race, nation, and religion

Question 26

Describe the study that Philip Zimbardo is most famous for and its major finds.

Studies Involving Context

Answer 26

Mock prison. University office room; a closet as solitary confinement. Half of the uni students were assigned as prisoners, the other half as guards.

Guards grew abusive towards inmates; forced sexual acts on them. Closed the experiment after 6 days. Abuse was traced to group dynamics, not individual character traits.

Question 27

Discuss Goffman’s 1963 “Stigma” piece/theory.

Role Theory

Answer 27

Role-playing. People take on the roles assigned to them by society; internalize these roles as part of their personalities. A desire to manage impressions and pass as “normal”

EX: Gay people trying to act straight, mentally ill people feeling emberassed when society ostracizes them…

Question 28

What is the relationship between group size and aggression?

Studies Involving Context

Answer 28

The larger the group size, the greater the aggression. EX: Lynchings with public gatherings = greater individuation and depersonalization.

Question 29

What is deindividuation?

Studies Involving Context

Answer 29

A state of lessened self-awareness.

Question 30

Define “prejudice” & “discrimination” — What is the differene?

Prejudice

Answer 30

The difference is attitude (prejudice) versus action (discrimination)

PREJUDICE preconceived and unjustified attitude (often passed generationally) towards a characteristic of race, gender, ethnicity. religion, etc. This forms stereotypes.

DISCRIMINATION a physical act, such as refusing to hire someone because they are Black, or an official policy that prohibits a group from doing something.

Question 31

Describe the findings of the F-Scale research.

Prejudice

Answer 31

1940’s study.

Higher F-Scale = highers anti-Semitism attitudes, ethnocentricism, and conservatism

Conservatism = more authoritarian traits

Prejudice is a personality dimesnsion; FEAR can be used as an effective tool for politicians. In a study, participants who were encouraged to think critically did not switch to a more conservative approach after viewing war/death images.

Question 32

List 2 psychological tendencies that may have a bearing on prejudice, according to the textbook.

Prejudice

Answer 32

(1) Projection: Defense mechanism that unconsciously attributes our own unacceptable ideas or motives; first coined by Sigmund Freud.
(2) Lack of empathy: Inability to consider how others might feel or experience something. Considered a cognitive distortion (Danielson, 2004). Often paired with a distorted self-image. Feuled with fear, it can lead to aggression.

Question 33

What is reaction formation and describe the 1996 study that supported the concept.

Prejudice

Answer 33

Reaction formation = When people overreact to a tendency in themselves that they FIERCELY reject.

Adams, Wright, and Lohr (1996) study measured erections of homophobic and non-homophobic straight men. Over 50% of the homophobic men evidenced penile arousal.

Question 34

Define Xenophobia.

Prejudice

Answer 34

Fear and dislike of foreigners. Greek translation: “stranger”.

Similar to ethnocentism: the belief that one’s culture, nation, or religion is superior.

Question 35

Define Scapegoat.

Prejudice

Answer 35

The target of a group’s rage, hostility, or teasing. Sometimes referred to as “frustration-aggression hypothesis” or “theories of displaced aggresion”.

Question 36

Define groupthink.

Prejudice

Answer 36

Conforming with the majority consensus, as opposed to your own thoughts. Out-groups will form. People refrain from voicing their disagreements.

Question 37

Define Cult.

Prejudice

Answer 37

A group whose members have strong beliefs associated with the teaching of a leader AND a body of beliefs & rites practiced by a group that usually attributes religious, mystical, or magical powers to its leader.

Question 38

[2.2] Hurricane Katrina and Human Behavior (New Orlean Natives)

Prejudice

Answer 38

Two narratives. The second woman became a SW.

Question 39

Who are the raging grannies?

Progressive Aspects of Collective Behavior

Answer 39

A collective organization of mostly older women who use satire and skits to ridicule government action that they disagree with. They want to disrupt bystanders and enable people with the power to speak up.

Question 40

What is the KWRU?

Progressive Aspects of Collective Behavior

Answer 40

Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU). Based in Philadelphia. A mass movement to end poverty since 1991.

Question 41

[2.4] My Immersion Experience: A Student Account (MSW)

Progressive Aspects of Collective Behavior

Answer 41

Student that worked with the KWRU in Philedalphia. No strings attached food distribution. Multi-levels of SW. Grassroots impact.