Chapter 12: Groups

Question 1

Define groups

Answer 1

a collection of individuals that who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree

Question 2

What are the benefits of groups?

Answer 2

-protection from predators
-assistance
-idea generations
-support
specialized jobs
-defense

Question 3

Define social facilitation

Answer 3

the effect of the presence of others on performance

e.g: cyclists pedaled faster when they were around other people vs when they were alone

Question 4

What is the fishing study (triplett 1898)?

Answer 4

• 40 kids turned fishing reels as fast as they could
• in trails 1-3, the children were alone; in trails 4-6 ,children were with others doing the same thing
• children turned the reels faster when they were around other kids doing the same thing

Question 5

What is the undergraduate philosophy study?

Answer 5

• participants asked to refute phil arguments in five minutes
• they did better when they were alone

Question 6

define mere presence theory

Answer 6

presence of others facilitates performance on well-learned tasks but hinders performance on novel or difficult tasks

Question 7

Define dominant response

Answer 7

response that the person is most likely/used to make

Question 8

what is the cockroach study?

Answer 8

• cockroaches placed in one of two mazes: a simple maze, complex maze
• cockroaches either alone or with another cockroach
• light shone on cockroaches so they would flee
• cockroaches w others did better on simple maze vs complex maze

Question 9

what is the cockroach variation study?

Answer 9

-same as the original, BUT this time, observer cockroaches watched the participant through glass. same result: cockroaches did better when others were watching on simple maze but worse on complex maze

Question 10

define evaluation apprehension

Answer 10

people’s concern about how they might appear in the eyes of others

Question 11

What is the words and blindfold study?

Answer 11

• participants given a list of words and asked to pronounce 2 words, 1, 2, 5, 10, or 25 times
• told to identify words flashing on the screen for very brief intervals
• none of the presented words were actually on the study list
• participants either alone, two other part. watching. , or two other blindfolded participated
• there was an significant effect (higher number of dominant responses) when the two others watched

Question 12

What is the true alone changing study (Markus 1978)? And what did we gather from it?

Answer 12

-participants told to change into clothes while other participants arrived.
-participants were either alone, experimenter watching, or repairman doing something in the room
-participants told to change back into their own clothes
-novel task: changing into lab clothes; difficult task: changing into own clothes
-participants showed greatest social facilitation effect for when experimenter watched. but still had an effect for mere presence as well
WHAT WE FOUND OUT: the mere presence of others is enough for social facilitation. Evaluation apprehension enhances this even further

Question 13

define social loafing

Answer 13

the tendency to exert less effort when working on a group task in which individuals contributions cannot be monitored

Question 14

When do people tend to make better decisions as a group?

Answer 14

• when the question has a PRECISE, factual answer

- they avoid the pitfalls of groupthink

Question 15

define groupthink

Answer 15

faulty thinking that arises when members of cohesive groups are pressured to come a consensus

• vietnam war
• 9/11
• pearl harbor

Question 16

What are some reasons for groupthink?

Answer 16

• conformity
• leadership
• self-censorship
• pluralistic ignorance

Question 17

How do we avoid groupthink?

Answer 17

Leader impartiality 
Encouraging dissension 
Creating subgroups 
Anonymity 
Devil’s advocate 
Review 
Outside opinions

Question 18

define group polarization

Answer 18

tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than those made by individuals

Question 19

How does group polarization come about?

Answer 19

• persuasive arguments account: people exposed to new arguments in favor of their position
• social comparison interpretation: comparison with others-wanting to be the most correct; stand out; one-up everyone else

Question 20

What are some characteristics of leaders?

Answer 20

Skills and expertise (Anderson & Brown, 2010) 
Socially skilled (Savin-Williams, 1977) 
Emotionally intelligent (Cote & Miners, 2006) 
Provide rewards (Willer, 2009)

Question 21

define power
define status
define authority
define dominance

Answer 21

p: the ability to control one’s own and other’s outcome
s: respect and prominence from others
a: control over others that comes from institutionalized roles/arrangements
d: behavior enacted with the goal of acquiring or demonstrating control over others

Question 22

define approach-inhibition theory of power

Answer 22

high power individuals are likely to go after goals and make quick judgements

• high power–> action, approach, touching
• low power–> inaction, inhibition, retreating

Question 23

what are the two core elements of high power individuals?

Answer 23

1. high power individuals are less careful and systematic in how they assess others (perceptions)
2. high power individuals are more focused on their own goals; [less likely to take other people’s perspectives] (behavior)

Question 24

What have studies found about powerful people (more likely to do what vs low power people)?

Answer 24

-more likely to touch others and approach them closely
-to think of others in a sexualized way
-to forwardly flirt with others
-are more likely to violate politeness-related norms of communication and act rudely towards others
-be more critical of others than themselves for the same behavior
[the higher their rank in a company, the more likely someone is to have an extramarital affair]
Low-power people
-are less likely to speak up & more likely to inhibit their speech
-restrict their body posture

Question 25

What did high-powered individuals do when they were asked to come up with nicknames and stories for their peers?

Answer 25

high powered individuals were more likely to tease others & tell degrading stories

Question 26

What does rape and hate crimes have to do with leadership and power?

Answer 26

• power asymmetries in the workplace predict sexual harassments
• prevalence of rape increases with a culture’s acceptance of male dominance
• prevalence of hate crimes rises with numeric power-differences in a local environment

Question 27

what is the armchair study?

Answer 27

• tested participants on self-interest measures
• seated participants in either fancy chairs (high power) or plain chair (low power)
• participants asked to complete part of questionnaire and leave rest for next participant, who was late
• low-power individuals completed roughly equal amounts regardless of self-interest levels
• high-power individuals completed more if they were low on self-interest and less if they were high on self-interest

Question 28

define deindividuation

Answer 28

reduced sense of individual identity when people are in a large group

Question 29

why does deindividuation happen?

Answer 29

-lower chance of any on person being singled out (anonymity)
-people feel less accountable for actions (diffusion of responsibility)
-more compliance to group norms
leads to impulsivity, irrationality…

Question 30

define suicide baiting

Answer 30

when observes urge suicidal individuals to commit suicide
(when Mann put together 15 years of newspapers for attempted suicidal jumps and adverts, he found suicide increases dramatically in crowds over 300 and after 6pm)

Question 31

what is the Halloween study (diener, 1976)?

Answer 31

-recorded the behavior of 1000 trick or treaters
-some kids were alone, others in groups
-half of the children were asked their names, other half were not asked their names
-on a table in the entry way, there was a bowl of candy; children were told they could take 1 piece of candy
-researcher left, said kids could take candy and leave
-anon kids in groups took more candy
RESULTS: deindividuation encourages transgressive behavior

Question 32

define self-awareness theory

Answer 32

when people focus attention to themselves, they become concerned with self-evaluation and how their current behavior conforms to internal standards and values

Question 33

define individuation

Answer 33

enhanced sense of individual identity produced by focusing attention on the self

Question 34

define spotlight effect

Answer 34

the assumption that our own appearance and behaviors are being carefully scrutinized by others at all times, when in fact, they typically are not

Question 35

what is the mirror study( Diener and Wallbom, 1976)?

Answer 35

-participants solved a series of anagrams; asked to stop when they heard a bell
-they were working at a typical desk, or a desk with a mirror
RESULTS: 75% of those at the typical desk kept working past the bell
-only 10% of those by the mirror kept working past the bell

Question 36

what is the spotlight effect study?

Answer 36

• participants asked to put on unflattering shirt w a large image of Barry Manilow
• then they had to enter another room with a group of students filling out questionnaires
• they thought 50% of other students remembered what was on their t shirts
• only 25% actually remembered