Chapter 7: Group Influence

Question 1

Group

Answer 1

Two or more people who interact with and influence on another
All groups have one thing in common: their members interact
Perceive an us vs them

Question 2

Mere Presence

Answer 2

People are not competing, do not reward or punish, do nothing except be present as a passive audience or co-actors
Bikers go faster when in group than alone (when competing)
Children wind string faster in the presence of others doing the same task
Presence of others improves accuracy of simple motor tasks
Makes us better at recognizing faces

Question 3

Social facilitation effect in animals

Answer 3

Presence of same species helps performance (e.g. Ants excavate more sand, Chickens eat more grain)
Presence of same species hinders performance (e.g. Cockroaches, parakeets, green finches learn maze more slowly with others there)

Question 4

Presence of others can hinder performance

Answer 4

Diminishes efficiency at learning nonsense syllables, completing a maze, performing complex multiplication problems
Can even be worse at learning new faces

Question 5

Role of arousal in response

Answer 5

Arousal enhances dominant response tendency

Question 6

Arousal & Simple Tasks

Answer 6

Increased arousal enhances performance on easy tasks for which the most likely dominant response is correct
Overlearned, instinctual, automatized, require no resources
E.g. easy anagrams, quicker to learn short maze

Question 7

Arousal & Complex Tasks

Answer 7

Increased arousal promotes incorrect responding when answer is not dominant
E.g. hard anagrams, take longer to learn difficult mazes
Novel, learned, controlled, require cognitive resources

Question 8

Presence of many others

Answer 8

Crowding
Crowds intensify positive or negative reactions
Arousal and self conscious attention created by audience can interfere with well learned and automatic behaviours such as speaking
Effect of others’ presence increases with their number
Even supportive audience may elicit poorer performance on challenging tasks

Question 9

Evaluation Apprehension

Answer 9

Observers make us apprehensive because we wonder how they are evaluating us
Enhancement of dominant responses is strongest when people think they are being evaluated

Question 10

Social Loafing

Answer 10

Group members may be less motivated when completing additive tasks
People in tug of war line pull less when in a group and more when alone
People think they put in full effort with group even though didn’t

Question 11

Reducing Social Loafing

Answer 11

Groups loaf less when members are friends or are identified with or indispensable to their group
People loaf less if the task is challenging, appealing, or involving
If goal is very compelling maximum output from everyone is essential
Using rewards based on effort
Evaluating each member alone

Question 12

Deindividuation

Answer 12

When arousal and diffused responsibility combine and normal inhibitions diminish
Occurs in group situations that foster anonymity and draw attention away from the individual
Lessening of restraint
Impulsive self gratification
Destructive social explosions

Question 13

Counteracting Deindividuation

Answer 13

Increase self awareness (e.g. mirrors, name tags, individualized clothing, decrease alcohol)

Question 14

Group Polarization

Answer 14

Groups enhance initial inclination
Groups come to more extreme decisions than individuals

Question 15

Groupthink

Answer 15

Tendency of decision making groups to suppress dissent in the interest of group harmony (big groups make bad decisions)
Lead group members to overestimate their group’s might and right
Group members become close minded
Group suffers from pressures toward uniformity

Question 16

Preventing Groupthink

Answer 16

Be impartial (don’t endorse any position)
Encourage critical evaluation (devils advocate)
Occasionally subdivide the group and reunite to air differences
Welcome critiques from outside experts and associates
Before implementing a decision, call a second chance meeting to air lingering doubts

Question 17

Task Leadership

Answer 17

Organizing work, setting standards, and focusing on goal attainment
Often have directive style
Keep attention and effort focused on task
Men that exhibit masculine traits tend to be perceived as dominant leaders and to be successful CEOs

Question 18

Social Leadership

Answer 18

Building teamwork, mediating conflicts, and being supportive
Democratic style that delegates authority, welcomes input from team members, and prevents groupthink
Women in general are more egalitarian than men and more likely to oppose hierarchies
When given control over tasks workers become more motivated
When participating in decisions members feel more satisfied

Question 19

Transactional Leaders

Answer 19

Combine task and social leadership

Question 20

Transformational Leader

Answer 20

Motivates others to identify with and commit themselves to the group’s mission
Charismatic, energetic, self confident extroverts
Articulate high standards, inspire people to share their vision, offer personal attention

Question 21

Minority Influence: Consistency

Answer 21

Minority that sticks to its position is most influential
Persistent nonconformity is often painful
Minorities tend to become influential because it becomes the focus of the debate

Question 22

Minority Slowness Effect

Answer 22

Tendency for people with minority views to express them less quickly than people in the majority

Question 23

Minority Influence: Self Confidence

Answer 23

Any behaviour by a minority that displays confidence tends to raise self doubts among majority
Especially influential for matters of opinion (not fact)

Question 24

Minority Influence: Majority Defections

Answer 24

Consistent minorities create feeling of freedom for majority members to change sides
Minority person who defected from majority was more persuasive than consistent minority voice
Once one defection occurs typically more follow