Chapter 9- Group Processes: Influence in Social Groups Flashcards
group
- 3 or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other
- people who assemble for common purpose
interdependent
-you influence them and they influence you
why join groups
- evolutionary need to belong
- still want to feel distinct though
benefit of small groups
- give us a sense of belonging
- also make us feel distinct from others and recognized
functions of groups
- ) give sense of belonging
- ) define who we are
- ) establish social norms
- ) make decisions
composition of groups
- usually 3-6 members
- members alike in age, sex, beliefs, etc
- social rules
- social norms
- cohesiveness
reason from homogeneity of groups
- ) tend to attract people who are already similar
2. ) encourage similarity among members
social roles
- shared expectations as to how particular people are to behave
- specify who occupies what position, rather than how to act
- negative when people get too caught up and lose ID
do it all
- women expected to maintain a career, raise kids, clean, and satisfy husband
- conflict regarding gender roles
group cohesiveness
-qualities of group that bind members together and promote mutual liking
most cohesive group
- social group
- members more likely to stay in group, participate, and recruit
meaning of presence of others
- ) performing task with coworkers who are doing same thing
- ) performing task in front of audience
* being evaluated causes increase in arousal
social facilitation
-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
theories of arousal in social facilitation
- ) other people cause us to become alert
- ) other people make us apprehensive
- ) other people distract us from task at hand
evaluation approach
-concern about being judged
social loafing
- tendency for people to relax when they are in the presence of others and not being evaluated
- do worse on simple tasks and better on complex tasks
- stronger in men and in Western cultures
predicting if presence of others will hinder performance
- ) are you being evaluated
2. ) is task simple or complex
performance evaluated
- arousal
- social facilitation effects
- better at simple tasks
performance not evaluated
- more relaxed
- loafing effects
- better at complex tasks
deindividuation
- loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people can’t be identified
- “getting lost in a crowd”
- do behaviors they would never do alone
consequences of deindividuation
- ) feel less accountable (not blamed)
- ) increases obedience to group norms
- ) feel less inhibited about what you can say
good group decision making
- most successful if most talented member can convince others that he is right
- have ALL information shared
- sometimes results in risky behaviors
process loss
-any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving
ways to focus on unshared information
- ) make sure to have discussion long enough that everything gets brought up
- ) don’t share initial preferences early
- ) assign members to different areas of expertise
transactive memory
- combined memory of two people
- more efficient than individual memory
groupthink
-when maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner
when does groupthink occur
- ) group is highly cohesive
- ) isolated from contrary opinions
- ) ruled by directive leader, who makes his or her wishes known
illusion of unanimity
- looks as if everyone agrees
- component of groupthink
inferior decision making process
- group doesn’t consider full range of alternatives
- don’t develop contingency plans
- don’t consider risks of preferred choice
avoiding groupthink
- ) remain impartial
- ) seek outside opinion
- ) create subgroups
- ) seek anonymous opinions
group polarization
- groups make riskier decisions than individuals
- result of persuasive arguments and social comparisons
persuasive arguments interpretations
-each member presents arguments that other members have not considered
social comparison interpretation
- people discuss issue in group only after they check out how everyone else feels
- do what it takes to be liked
great person theory
- certain key personality traits make a person a good leader, regardless of the nature of the situation
- not true
- personality only slightly influential
transactional leader
- short-term goals
- make sure needs are met and run smoothly
transformational leader
- long-term goals
- think outside the box
contingency theory
-leadership effectiveness depends on how tasks oriented the leader is and the amount of control the leader has
task-oriented leader
- concerned with getting job done
- little concern about feelings
- do well in low and high-control of situations
- powerful
relationship oriented leader
- concerned with feelings and relationships
- low-control
- effective in moderate control situations
communal
- concerned with welfare of others
- helpful, kind, etc
- woman leader
- best at managing crisis
glass cliff
-women in leadership positions put in charge of high crisis situations where it is likely for failure
social dilema
- conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, be harmful to everyone
- most people act selfishly, hurting others
tit-for-tat strategy
- used to increase cooperation
- act cooperatively and respond in the way opponent did
- demonstrates willingness to cooperate and unwillingness to sit back and be exploited
negotiation
-form of communication when offers and counteroffers are made and parities reach compromise
integrative solution
- trade-off negotiation where people get what is most important to them
- Ex: dividing assets in divorce
The idea that the best leader requires the right person in the right situation at the right time is most consistent with the ________ theory of leadership.
contingency
Jan is the leader of a cohesive “knowledge masters” group that is preparing to compete against teams from other colleges. To prevent groupthink and ensure that her group is successful, she should
invite non-members to provide feedback
In a study conducted by Zimbardo and his colleagues, college men volunteered to take part in a simulated prison that was planned to continue for two weeks. It was stopped after six days. Why?
interactions between guards and prisoners became too aggressive and insulting
Nan had pretty much made up her mind before a group discussion. During the discussion, however, she thinks to herself, “I think I’ll hang back and see how the others feel about it. I don’t want them to think I’m nuts or anything.” Nan’s thoughts best reflect the ______ interpretation of group polarization
social comparison
The qualities of a group that tie members together and promote liking between members are known as
group cohesiveness
When social psychologists define a social group as a collection of interdependent people, they mean that
members’ needs goals cause them to influence on another
Shared group expectations about how particular group members are expected to behave are called
roles
For Halloween, Jeff wears a sheet and goes to a party as a ghost. How is this costume likely to influence his behavior? He will
feel less accountable for his behavior
According to the authors of your text, there are two reasons why deindividuation leads to more deviant behavior:
people feel less accountable and are more likely to obey deviant norms
Chad and Wilma play the prisoner’s dilemma game in which each player must choose to cooperate or compete with the other player over a series of rounds. As shown below, Wilma goes first, and after four rounds, the results are as follows: Round 1: Wilma cooperates, Chad competes Round 2: Wilma competes, Chad competes Round 3: Wilma competes, Chad cooperates Round 4: Wilma cooperates, Chad cooperates As revealed in the pattern of responses above, Wilma is probably using a _____ strategy.
tit-for-tat
James manages a team of employees for a company that is highly organized, well controlled and high in employee satisfaction. According to the contingency theory of leadership, there is a greater need for a _____ leader than a _____ leader.
task-oriented
Compared to individuals deciding alone, members of groups tend to make decisions that are ________ than the initial inclinations of its members.
more extreme
Process loss can best be defined as
anything that inhibits good problem solving
The three reasons why the presence of others can be arousing are that others can:
makes us vigilant
distracts us
makes us apprehensive
You are a member of a team of detectives and police investigators who are trying to solve a crime. Based on information in your text about information sharing in groups, what would be the best way for your team to discuss the crime and solve it accurately?
have each member responsible for certain information
Pursuing one’s self-interest can create ________ in which individual benefits decrease because everyone engages in the same behaviors.
social dilema
The phenomenon of groupthink is most likely to occur when a group is under stress, highly ________________, and when the leader is very ________________.
cohesive
directive
Ann is a leader who inspires her employees to look at the broad, long-term goals of her company. She is able to get her employees to find a common goal, and she really thinks outside of the box. Ann’s leadership style is best described as
transformational
The resident assistant of a campus residence hall notices that when a team of five students is assigned to bathroom duty, the bathrooms are not as well cleaned as when only one student is assigned to clean them. What phenomenon does this example illustrate?
social loafing
Integrative solutions are
means to find outcomes favorable to both parties
Public television relies on the voluntary donations of its viewers. If not enough viewers donate, all viewers lose programming. This situatioin is a good example of a
public goods dilema
rving Janis (1972, 1982) considered all of the following to be symptoms of groupthink except
emergence of devil’s advocate
One reason why people may engage in social loafing in groups is that they feel
less noticeable
When people or roaches undertake a difficult task, the presence of others _____ performance; whereas when they undertake a simple task, the presence of others ______ performance.
impairs
enhances
Recall that in the Deutsch and Krauss (1960, 1962) trucking game, each participant’s “profits” depend on how quickly his or her truck gets to the destination. Sometimes one participant had a gate with which to threaten the other participantt; other times, both participants had a gate, and still other times, neither participant had a gate. Under which condition(s) did participants make the most money?
when neither party had a gate
