Chapter 9: Foundations of Group Behavior Flashcards
group
two or more people trying to achieve a common goal
formal group
a designated work group defined by an organization’s structure
informal group
a group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined, such a group appears in response to the need for social contact
social identity theory
proposed that people have emotional reactions to the failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied to whatever happens to the group
how might people define themselves?
the city you live in, the team you are on, your profession, your religious background, your ethnicity, and your gender
how do our social identities help us?
help us understand who we are and where we fit in with other people; research indicates they bring us better health and lower levels of depression because we become less likely to attribute negative situations to internal or insurmountable reasons
ingroup favoritism
perspective in which we see members of our ingroup as better than other people, and people not in our group as all the same.
people with low agreeableness show higher levels of ingroup favoritism
outgroup
the inverse or an in-group, which can mean everyone outside the group
social identity threat
individuals believe they will be personally negatively evaluated due to their association with a devalued group, and they may lose confidence and performance effectiveness
punctuated equilibrium model (PEM)
a set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity
first stage of PEM
group decided their general direction and a framework for behavioral patterns and assumptions through which the group will approach its project emerges
second stage of PEM
the groups last meeting is characterized by a final burst of activity to finish its work.
role
a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit. different groups impose different role requirements on individuals
role perception
our view of how we’re supposed to act in a given situation is a role perception. we get these stimuli from all around us - for example, friends, books, filsm and television, as when we form an impression of politicions from House of Cards
role expectation
how other believe a person should act in a given situation
psychological contract
an unwritten agreement that sets out what a manager expects from an employee, and vice versa
perceptions of psychological contracts vary across cultures
role conflict
a situation in which an individual is cronfronted by divergent role expectations
interrole conflict
a situation in which the expectations of an individual’s different, separate groups are in opposition
norms
acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group’s members
conformity
the adjustment of one’s behavior to align wit the nroms of the group
reference groups
important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform
deviant workplace behavior
voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in doing so, threatens well-being of the organization or its members.
what is important to know about a work group?
they can become characteized by positive or negative attributes
status
socially defined position and rank given to groups or group members by others
status characteristics theory
a theory stating that differences in status charactersistics create status hierarchies within groups
what determines status?
1) the power a person wields over others
2) a person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals
3) an individual’s personal characteristics
group size
group size can affect the group dynamics, but it depends on what dependent variable you’re analyzing. If you’re fact-finding, more people will be better for the group
social loafing
the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.
This is not consistent with collectivist cultures
ways to prevent social loafing
set group goals, so the group has a common purpose to strive toward
2) increase intergroup competition, which focuses on the shared group outcome
3) engage in peer evaluations
4) select members who have high motivation and prefer to work in groups
5) base group rewards in part by each member’s unique contributions
cohesiveness
the degree to which a group member is attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group
diversity
the extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from, one another
diversity appears to increase group conflict at first. although differences can lead to conflict, they also provide an opportunity to solve problems in a unique way s
faultlines
the perceived divisions that split groups into two or more subgroups based on individual differences such as sex, age, race, work experience, and education
strengths of group decision-making
groups generate more complete information and knowledge. By aggregating the resources of several individuals, groups bring more input as well as heterogeneity into the decision process. they offer increased diversity of views
weaknesses of group decision-making
group decisions are time-consuming because groups typically take more time to reach a solution. there are conformity pressures. the desire by group members to be accepted and considered an asset to the group can squash any overt disagreement
effectiveness and efficiency
groups are more creative and accurate and accepting
groups are less efficient
groupthink
a phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action
not all groups are affected by groupthink - mostly those with a very clear group identity
groupshift
describes the way group members tend to exaggerate their initial positions when discussing a given set of alternatives to arrive at a solution.
interacting groups
typical groups in which members interact with each other face-to-face
brainstorming
an idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives while witholding any criticism of those alternatives
nominal group technique
a group decision making method in which individual members meet face-to-face to pool their judgements in a systematic but independent fashion
