Ch 9 Flashcards
group
two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.
formal group
A designated workgroup defined by an organization’s structure.
informal group
A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.
social identity theory
Perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups.
ingroup favoritism
Perspective in which we see members of our ingroup as better than other people, and people not in our group as all the same.
outgroup
The inverse of an ingroup, which can mean everyone outside the group, but more usually an identified other group.
punctuated-equilibrium model
A set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity.
role
A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit.
role perception
An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation.
role expectations
How others believe a person should act in a given situation.
psychological contract
An unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from an employee and vice versa.
role conflict
A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations.
interrole conflict
A situation in which the expectations of an individual’s different, separate groups are in opposition.
norms
Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group’s members.
conformity
The adjustment of one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group.
reference groups
Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform.
deviant workplace behavior
Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization or its members. also called antisocial behavior or workplace incivility.
status
A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others.
status characteristics theory
A theory that states that differences in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups.
social loafing
The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.
cohesiveness
The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.
diversity
The extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from one another.
fault lines
The perceived divisions that split groups into two or more subgroups based on individual differences such as sex, race, age, work experience, and education.
group think
A phenomenon in which norm of consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.
