Chapter 9 Flashcards
Group
Three or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense
that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other.
Minimal group situations
we can be affected by the mere presence of others
– Social facilitation
– Social loafing
– Deindividuation
Interacting groups
– Group polarization
– Groupthink
– Minority influence
Why do people join groups?
- We have an universal need for belonging.
- Groups can be a source of information
(informational social influence). - Groups help us define who we are.
- Groups also help establish social norms
Social Roles
Shared expectations in a group about how particular people are supposed to behave
Norms v. Roles
- Norms prescribe how all group members should act.
- Roles describe how specific group member should act.
Group Cohesiveness
Qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members
Social Facilitation
The tendency for people to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance can be evaluated
-Individual efforts evaluated
- Evaluation apprehension
- Arousal
Why the Presence of Others Causes Arousal
- Other people cause us to become particularly alert and vigilant
- They can make us apprehensive about how we’re being evaluated
- They distract us from the task at hand
Social Loafing
The 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. (opposite of social facilitation)
- Individual efforts pooled and NOT evaluated
- No evaluation apprehension
- Less arousal
(stronger in men than women)
relational interdependence
the tendency to focus on and care about personal relationships with other individuals.
Deindividuation
The loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people can’t be identified (such as when they are in a crowd), leading to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts
- people feel less accountable
- increases obedience to group norms
Process Loss
Any aspect of group interaction that inhibits/prevents good problem solving.
Why does process loss occur?
- Groups might not try hard enough to find out who the most competent member is.
- The most competent member might find it difficult to disagree with everyone else.
- Communication problems can arise.
Transactive Memory
The combined memory of two people that is more efficient than the memory of either individual
