Chapter 8 - Group processes (Lecture + Book done)

Question 1

Define groupthink. Example? (2)

Answer 1

-the tendency for groups to begin to think as one
Example: Freedom Convoy

Question 2

Define group

Answer 2

-three or more people who are interacting with each other and are interdependent

Question 3

What are two people usually referred to as?

Answer 3

-dyad

Question 4

What type of mindset may form in groupthink?

Answer 4

-us vs. them

Question 5

Are groups a bunch of people who happen to be occupying the same space?

Answer 5

-no, groups are people who have come together for a common purpose

Question 6

Why do people join groups? (2)

Answer 6

-we can achieve more in a group often than individually
-basic human need to be in groups

Question 7

What is another important function of groups?

Answer 7

-they help us define who we are

Question 8

What did research on university students by James Cameron suggest about groups?

Answer 8

-the groups to which we belong plays an important role in defining who we expect to be in the future and asked students if they felt they belonged at the university they were at and this was associated with positive self-esteem and well-being and that being a student at this university would help them become the self they aspired to be in the future

Question 9

People who engage more strongly with a group are more likely to do what according to research by O’Neill?

Answer 9

-engage in social action

Question 10

What size is a social group? What is not a social group? (2)

Answer 10

-usually 3-6 people
-the university you attend is not a social group because it is too large

Question 11

Describe social norms in groups

Answer 11

-they are a powerful determinant of behaviour and are often present in groups

Question 12

Define social roles

Answer 12

-shared expectations about how particular people are supposed to behave

Question 13

Describe the difference between social norms and roles.

Answer 13

Norms: specify how all group members should behave
Roles: specify how people who occupy certain positions in the group should behave

Question 14

When a group follows a set of clearly defined roles, what do they tend to experience?

Answer 14

-more satisfaction and a better performance

Question 15

What is a con of roles?

Answer 15

-they can become so strong that someone’s personal identity and personality are lost, like in the Stanford prison experiment (Zimbardo)

Question 16

What did Zimbardo say contributed to the tragic loss of decency among Americans in charge of the Iraqi prison? (3)

Answer 16

-role of prison guard
-anonymity
-dehumanization of the prisoners (easy because they didn’t speak the same language and many were naked)

Question 17

What percentage of women between the ages of 25 and 54 in Canada are employed outside the home?

Answer 17

-82%

Question 18

Do women or men have more university degrees or certificates?

Answer 18

-women have 35%, men 30%

Question 19

In a survey of 28 countries, how many countries did women earn significantly less than men?

Answer 19

-26

Question 20

What percent of minimum wage earners did women constitute in 2018?

Answer 20

-60%

Question 21

According to 2019 data, the average woman in Canada makes how much per every dollar earned by a man?

Answer 21

-84 cents

Question 22

According to 2018 data reported by Statistics Canada how many hours of unpaid work do women complete in the home everyday compared to men?

Answer 22

-3.9 hours women to 2.4 hours for men

Question 23

Based on a study of children and a parents belief about traditional vs. egalitarian gender roles, what was found?

Answer 23

-mother’s beliefs about domestic gender roles predicted the beliefs held by their children

Question 24

In advertising, describe gender roles still seen?

Answer 24

-men are still much more likely to be featured in the foreground of the ad than women

Question 25

Describe which countries found the prominent characters in advertisements were more likely to be male, less of a gender difference and more likely to be female. (3)

Answer 25

Male: Brazil
More equal: USA
Women: South Korea

Question 26

Define group cohesiveness

Answer 26

-qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking among them

Question 27

If a group has formed primarily for social reasons, such as a group of friends who like to go to the movies together, what does more cohesiveness in this group mean?

Answer 27

-the group is better

Question 28

What is associated with a more cohesive group? (3)

Answer 28

-members are more likely to stay in the group
-take part in group activities
-try to recruit like minded members

Question 29

What is a drawback of group cohesiveness?

Answer 29

-group members’ concern with maintaining good relations becomes more important than finding good solutions to a problem

Question 30

What is more likely with groups in terms of diversity?

Answer 30

-group members tend to be alike in age, sex, beliefs and opinions

Question 31

What are the two reasons for homogeneity of groups? (2)

Answer 31

-many groups attract people who are already similar before they join
-groups tend to operate in ways that encourage similarity between individuals

Question 32

What did the study by McLeod, Nobel and Cox look at?

Answer 32

-created groups of all white and groups of racially diverse students and asked them to brainstorm ideas about how to best attract tourists to the US. Groups that were homogenous reported greater liking for each other. However, the diverse groups came up with more feasible and effective ideas

Question 33

Why are universities, military and police services currently spending resources to try to achieve diversity?

Answer 33

-they believe it will lead to improved performance

Question 34

Describe the research by Robert Zajonc on cockroaches (2)

Answer 34

-placed a bright light (which cockroaches dislike) and time how long it took a roach to run and escape the light. Cockroaches ran faster when other roaches were watching than when they were alone
-had another test where it was a complicated maze rather than a runway and the cockroaches performed worse when watched by other cockroaches

Question 35

What is required for a task to be done well when you are in the mere presence of other people?

Answer 35

-if the task is relatively simple and well learned it is done better when with others

Question 36

When the task is difficult to people and animals do worse or better in the presence of others?

Answer 36

-worse

Question 37

What is the theoretical reason Zajonc said for why the presence of others facilitates a well-learned or dominant response but inhibits a less practised or new response? (2)

Answer 37

-the presence of others increases physiological arousal
-when such arousal occurs, it is easier to do something that is simple but harder to do something complex or learn something new

Question 38

Define social facilitation

Answer 38

-tendency for people to do better on simple tasks but worse on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance can be evaluated

Question 39

Why does the presence of others lead to arousal? Describe the three theories to explain the role of arousal in social facilitation. (3)

Answer 39

-other people cause us to become alert and vigilant (they may do something that requires us to respond)
-they make us aware that we are being evaluated (this makes us feel even more arousal)
-they distract us from the task at hand

Question 40

Define social loafing

Answer 40

-tendency for people to do worse on simple tasks but better on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance cannot be evaluated

Question 41

What did Karau and Williams say about gendered social loafing? Why (2)

Answer 41

-the tendency to loaf is stronger in men than women
-women tend to be higher than men in relational interdependence, which is where the focus on and care about personal relationships with others

Question 42

What does research say about when people are more likely to loaf at work together?

Answer 42

-when they expect to work with team members from a different culture

Question 43

Define deindividuation. Example (2)

Answer 43

-the loosening of normal constraints on behaviour, leading to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts
Example: Online trolls

Question 44

What did Kathleen van Royen research about cheating?

Answer 44

-showed participants a post about a girl who stole someone else’s boyfriend and saw what comments they made, the most effective comment was warning that parents could read the comments

Question 45

Describe the three things that cause deindividuation to allow for more violent acts. (3)

Answer 45

-either presence of others or wearing masks make people feel less singled out and accountable for their actions (anonymity)
-presence of others lowers self-awareness
-it increases the extent to which people obey the group’s norms

Question 46

What determines whether deindividuation will lead to negative behaviours?

Answer 46

-the specific norms of the group (are they violent or is it a dance party for example)

Question 47

In general do groups do better or worse than individuals if people are motivated to search for the answer that is best for the entire group and not just themselves and if they rely on the person with the most expertise?

Answer 47

-they tend to do better than an individual

Question 48

Define process loss. Example (2)

Answer 48

-any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving
Example: You know the right answer to something in a group but nobody listens to you

Question 49

Do groups tend to focus on the information they already collectively share and less on information known only to one/few of the group members?

Answer 49

-yes

Question 50

How does Irving Janis define groupthink?

Answer 50

-a kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner

Question 51

According to Janis what conditions must be met for groupthink to occur?

Answer 51

-highly cohesive group, isolation from alternative viewpoints, directive leader, high stress and poor decision making procedures

Question 52

Can groupthink (Irving’s definition) be achieved even when some of the antecedents are missing?

Answer 52

-yes

Question 53

What has research shown are several steps to make groupthink less likely? (4)

Answer 53

-remain impartial
-seek outside opinions
-create subgroups
-seek anonymous opinions

Question 54

Describe the Choice Dilemnas Questionnaire.

Answer 54

-a series of stories that present a dilemma for the main character and ask the reader to choose how much probability of success there would have to be before the reader would recommend a riskier action

Question 55

What is risky shift?

Answer 55

-that groups tend to make decisions that are more extreme in the same direction as the individuals’ initial predispositions, so if they’re already riskier they will become even more risk in a group

Question 56

Define group polarization

Answer 56

-the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of the members if the members’ initial tendency is to be risky and toward greater caution if the members’ initial tendency is to be cautious

Question 57

Why does group polarization tend to happen?

Answer 57

-each person brings different persuasive arguments that cause people to become more persuaded
-social comparison interpretation is that people tend to align their position a bit more with the group and even more extreme sometimes to be seen as an impressive thinker

Question 58

What is the great person theory?

Answer 58

-certain key personality traits make a person a good leader, regardless of the situation the leader faces

Question 59

If the great person theory is true, what should we be able to do?

Answer 59

-isolate the key aspects of personality that make someone a good leader

Question 60

Leaders tend to show what personality traits more so than nonleaders?

Answer 60

-slightly more intelligent, extraverted, charismatic, open to new experiences, confident and assertive

Question 61

Do many personality characteristics correlate with leadership effectiveness?

Answer 61

-no

Question 62

What did Peter Suedfeld at UBC find for one correlate of leadership effectiveness?

Answer 62

-integrative complexity

Question 63

What is integrative complexity?

Answer 63

-the ability to recognize more than one perspective on an issue and be able to integrate these perspectives

Question 64

Define transactional leaders

Answer 64

-set clear short-term goals and reward people who meet them

Question 65

Define transformational leaders

Answer 65

-inspire followers to focus on common long-term goals

Question 66

Are transformational and transactional leadership styles mutually exclusive?

Answer 66

-no

Question 67

What is the contingency theory of leadership?

Answer 67

-the theory that leadership effectiveness depends both on how task oriented or relationship oriented the leader is and on the amount of control and influence the leader has over the group

Question 68

What is the task-oriented leader?

Answer 68

-leader is more concerned with getting the job done than with the feelings of and relationship among workers

Question 69

What is the relationship-oriented leader?

Answer 69

-concerned primarily with the feelings of and relationships among workers

Question 70

What situations do task-oriented leaders do well in?

Answer 70

-high or low control work situations, as they bring structure

Question 71

What situations are relationship oriented leaders most effective?

Answer 71

-moderate-control situations

Question 72

What are agentic traits?

Answer 72

-assertive, controlling more associated with masculinity

Question 73

What is the glass cliff?

Answer 73

-when women are put in positions of leadership during precarious times when crisis is occuring

Question 74

What is a social dilemma? Example. (2)

Answer 74

-a conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual will have harmful effects on everyone if chosen by most people
Example: Free book library outside of your house where people keep taking books

Question 75

What is the tit-for-tat strategy?

Answer 75

-a way of encouraging cooperation by at first acting cooperatively but then always responding the way your opponent did on the previous trial

Question 76

What is an integrative solution?

Answer 76

-the parties in a conflict make trade-offs on issues according to their different interests; each side concedes the most on issues that are unimportant to them but important to the other side

Question 77

Are threats an effective way of reducing conflict?

Answer 77

-no, makes it worse

Question 78

When does communication help to resolve conflict?

Answer 78

-if it is used to work out a solution for both parties