Chapter 8 Group Processes

Question 1

What is a group?

Answer 1

A set of individuals who directly interact over time and have shared fate, goals, or identity.

Question 2

Why do we form groups?

Answer 2

1. Survival advantage
2. The need to belong

Question 3

Group Cohesiveness

Answer 3

The extent to which forces push group members closer together, such as through feelings of intimacy, unity, and commitment to group goals.

Question 4

The more cohesive a group is, the more its members are likely to:

Answer 4

1. Stay in the group
2. Take part in group activities
3. Try to recruit new like-minded members

Question 5

Cohesiveness and group performance: PRO

Answer 5

If task needs close cooperation, cohesiveness helps group performance

Question 6

Cohesiveness and group performance: CON

Answer 6

Cohesiveness can lead to narrow-mindedness and conformity, which can hinder performance

Question 7

Social Facilitation

Answer 7

A process whereby the presence of others enhances performance on easy tasks but impairs performance on difficult tasks.

Question 8

Three explanations for the arousal in social facilitation:

Answer 8

1. Mere presence: Other people cause us to become alert and vigilant
2. Evaluation apprehension theory: Other people make us feel apprehensive about how we are being evaluated
3. Distraction-Conflict theory: Other people distract us from the task at hand

Question 9

Mere presence hypothesis

Answer 9

The proposition that the mere presence of others is sufficient to produce social facilitation effects

Question 10

Evaluation apprehension theory

Answer 10

A theory that the presence of others will produce
social facilitation effects only when those others are seen as potential evaluators.

Question 11

Distraction conflict theory

Answer 11

A theory that the presence of others will
produce social facilitation effects only
when those others distract from the
task and create attentional conflict.

Question 12

Social Loafing

Answer 12

A group-produced reduction in individual output on tasks where contributions are pooled.

Question 13

Collective effort model

Answer 13

The theory that individuals will exert effort on a collective task to the degree that they think their individual efforts will be important, relevant, and
meaningful for achieving outcomes that they value.

Question 14

Deindividuation

Answer 14

The loss of a person’s sense of individuality and the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior

Question 15

What are factors that increase deindividuation?

Answer 15

• Unaccountability
• Increased obedience to group norms
• Anonymity

Question 16

How can we counteract deindividuation?

Answer 16

• Increase self-awareness
• The presence of mirrors
• Large name tags
• Individualized clothing

Question 17

Process loss

Answer 17

The reduction in group performance due to obstacles created by group processes, such
as problems of coordination and motivation

Question 18

Additive task

Answer 18

The group product is the sum of all the members’ contributions.
Examples: donating to a charity or making noise at a pep rally

Question 19

Conjunctive task

Answer 19

The group product is determined by the individual with the poorest performance (weakest link)
Examples: Mountain-climbing teams or an offensive line trying to protect the quarterback on a pass play in football.

Question 20

Disjunctive task

Answer 20

The group product is (or can be) determined by the performance of the individual with the best performance
Example: best shot during team golfing

Question 21

Process gain

Answer 21

The increase in group performance so that the group outperforms the individuals who make
up the group

Question 22

Brainstorming

Answer 22

A technique that attempts to increase the production of creative ideas by encouraging
group members to speak freely without criticizing their own or others’ contributions

Question 23

Group polarization

Answer 23

The exaggeration of initial tendencies
in the thinking of group members
through group discussion

Question 24

Groupthink

Answer 24

A group decision-making style characterized by an excessive tendency among group
members to seek concurrence.

Question 25

Ways to prevent group thinking:

Answer 25

1. Remain impartial
2. Seek outside opinions, from independent evaluators or experts
3. Create subgroups
4. Seek anonymous opinions
5. Encouraging members to raise objections and concerns
6. Assign one or more members to be a “Devil’s advocate”

Question 26

How to reduce social loafing?

Answer 26

Make individuals accountable

Question 27

When is social loafing most likely to not occur?

Answer 27

When…
1. the task is challenging, appealing, involving
2. group members are friends
3. big reward for effort

Question 28

Why do groups make us do strange things?

Answer 28

1. social facilitation
2. social loafing
3. Deindividuation

Question 29

Transactive memory

Answer 29

A shared system for remembering information that enables multiple people to remember information together more efficiently than they could do so alone