Chapter 8: Group Processes Flashcards
What is a group?
We characterized a group as a set of individuals with at least one of the following characteristics:
- direct interactions with each other over a period of time;
- joint membership in a social category based on sex, race, or other attributes;
- a shared fate, identity, or set of goals.
Why join a group?
o Humans may have an innate need to belong to groups, stemming from evolutionary pressures that increased people’s chances of survival and reproduction when they lived in groups rather than in isolation. Indeed, according to the social brain hypothesis, the unusually large size of primates’ brains evolved because of their unusually complex social worlds (Dunbar, 2008).
o According to social identity theory, an important part of people’s feelings of self-worth comes from their identification with particular groups. This is also at the root of why being rejected by a group is one of life’s most painful experiences (Kerr & Levine, 2008; Williams, 2009). As social beings, we come to understand ourselves and our place in the world with reference to the groups that constitute our identities.
What is the social identity theory?
Social identity is the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group.
Why are groups homogenous?
- Many groups tend to attract people who are already similar before they join.
- Groups tend to operate in ways that encourage similarity in the members
Group development may proceed through several stages (Wheelan, 2009). Bruce Tuckman (1965; Tuckman & Jensen, 1977) proposed a particularly memorable set of stages through which groups often develop:
o Forming: Members try to orient themselves to the group. They often act in polite, exploratory ways with each other.
o Storming: Members try to influence the group so that it best fits their own needs. They become more assertive about the group’s direction and what roles they would like to play in the group. A great deal of conflict and hostility may arise as well as feelings of excitement about what might be achieved.
o Norming: Members try to reconcile the conflicts that emerge during storming and develop a common sense
of purpose and perspective. They establish norms and roles and begin to feel more commitment to the group.
o Performing: Members try to perform their tasks and maximize the group’s performance. They operate within
their roles in the group and try to solve problems in order to achieve their shared goals.
o Adjourning: Members disengage from the group, distancing themselves from the other members and
reducing their activities within the group. This may occur if members believe that the benefits of staying in
the group no longer outweigh the costs.
What is group cohesiveness?
Qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members.
The more cohesive a group is, the more its members are likely to:
–Stay in the group,
–Take part in group activities, and
–Try to recruit new like-minded members.
What is the role of cohesiveness if task needs close cooperation?
It helps
What is the role of cohesiveness if maintaining good relations seems more important than finding a solution to a problem?
Cohesiveness can hinder performance
What is social facilitation?
The tendency to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when in the presence of others and when individual performance can be evaluated.
What experiment supports social facilitation?
Triplett began his research by studying the official bicycle records from the Racing Board of the League of American Wheelmen for the 1897 season. He noticed that cyclists who competed against others performed
better than those who cycled alone against the clock. After dismissing various theories of the day (our favorite
is “brain worry”), he proposed his own hypothesis: The presence of another rider releases the competitive
instinct, which increases nervous energy and enhances performance
What research does Triplett do on social facilitation?
•Triplett (1898) (Potentially first “psychology” study ever)
- Children- rolled up fishing line on a reel
- Condition 1: by themselves
- Condition 2: in the presence of other children
- Faster when? In presence of other children
- But work even back then got some mixed results.
What is Zajonc’s Solution on social facilitation?
According to Zajonc, the road from presence to performance requires three steps.
- The presence of others creates general physiological arousal, which energizes behavior. Based on experimental psychology research and principles of evolution, Zajonc argued that all animals, including humans, tend to become aroused when in the presence of conspecifics—that is, members of their own species.
- Increased arousal enhances an individual’s tendency to perform the dominant response. The dominant response is the reaction elicited most quickly and easily by a given stimulus. Here again, Zajonc drew from experimental psychology research, particularly research
concerning learning. - The quality of an individual’s performance varies according to the type of task. On an easy task (one that is simple or well learned), the dominant response is usually correct or successful. But on a difficult task (one that is complex or unfamiliar), the dominant response is often incorrect or unsuccessful.
What is the mere presence theory?
The proposition that the mere presence of others is sufficient to produce social facilitation effects.
What is the evaluation apprehension theory?
proposes that performance will be enhanced or impaired only in the presence of others who are in a position to evaluate that performance (Geen, 1991; Henchy & Glass, 1968)
What is the distraction-conflict theory?
points out that being distracted while we’re working on a task creates attentional conflict (Baron, 1986; Sanders, 1981). We’re torn between focusing on the task and inspecting the distracting stimulus. When we are conflicted about where to pay attention, our arousal increases.
Simple tasks vs complex tasks on social facilitation and performance
Simple tasks where the “dominant” or automatic response is correct
• Over learned
• Instinctual
• Automatized
• Require no resources
—> Performance heightened when person is a little anxious
Complex tasks where the answer is not obvious
• Novel
• Learned
• Controlled
• Require cognitive resources
—> Performance suffers when person is a little anxious
What is social loafing? Explain
A group-produced reduction in individual output on tasks where contributions are pooled.
Social loafing is not restricted to simple motor tasks. Sharing responsibility with others reduces the amount
of effort that people put into more complex motor tasks, such as swimming in a relay race or playing soccer;
cognitive tasks, such as completing memory, math, or verbal tests; and important, enduring real-world behaviors, such as working collaboratively on collective farms or team projects (Hoigaard & Ommundsen,
2007; Liden et al., 2004; Miles & Greenberg, 1993; Plaks & Higgins, 2000; Tan & Tan, 2008; Weldon et al., 2000). When others are there to pick up the slack, people slack off
Social loafing is not inevitable; a number of factors can reduce it. Social loafing is less likely to occur when
one of the following conditions is present:
§ People believe that their own performance can be identified and thus evaluated—by themselves or
others.
§ The task is important or meaningful to those performing it.
§ People believe that their own efforts are necessary for a successful outcome.
§ The group expects to be punished for poor performance.
§ The group is small.
§ The group is cohesive—that is, membership in the group is valuable and important to the members
and the individuals like each other
Three factors that are key to reducing social loafing:
- limiting the scope of the project—projects that are very large and complex should be broken into smaller components;
- keeping the groups small; and
- using peer evaluations—the researchers found that as the number of times when peers evaluated each other’s work increased, the incidence of social loafing decreased
What is the collective effort model?
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.
What is the sucker effect?
if the outcome is not personally important to individual members, if they believe that their contribution won’t affect the outcome very much, or if they feel they are unable to compensate for the anticipated social loafing of other members, then they are likely to exert less effort. This is sometimes called the sucker effect: Nobody wants to be the “sucker” who does all the work while everyone else goofs off, so everyone withholds effort and the result is very poor group performance (Houldsworth & Mathews, 2000; Kerr, 1983; Shepperd, 1993a).
What is deindividuation?
The loss of a person’s sense of individuality and the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior
Philip Zimbardo (1969) observed that arousal, anonymity, and reduced feelings of individual responsibility together contribute to deindividuation.
