CHP 8: Group Influence Flashcards
What is a group?
two or more people
who interact for longer than a few moments
interact with influence on one another
and perceive one another as “us”
interdependent, needs and goals influence eachother
How are we affected by the presence of others?
Define Social Faciliation
the tendency of people to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present
current meaning: the strengthening of dominant (prevalent) responses in the presence of others
can hinder or boost performance
How do the presence of others (performing with or against you) affect you and your performance
Bob Zajonc, his study, and arousal
- crowds/presence of others increases our arousal
- when that increase occurs it is easier to do something simple than difficult
- he conducted the maze studies with the cockroaches (conditions - simple mazes and complex mazes, with audience boxes of cockroaches watching one cockroach look for the food in the maze)
SOCIAL FACILITATION HERE FOCUSES ON SINGLE PERSON
simple tasks = easier with presence of others
new/complex tasks = harder in presence of others
How does Crowding affect us?
- being in a crowd or being crowded stimulates arousal and dominant responses
- more densely packed ares vs sparse
a room of 35 that seats 35 feels more crowded than a room that seats 100 with 35 people in it
What is it about others that creates arousal?
- Evaluation Apprehension
- Distractions
Define Evaluation Apprehension
Nicokla Cottrell
- When we are concerned abt how others are evaluating us
- observation makes us apprehensive
what prompts arousal?
What is being ‘driven by distraction’
- Sanders, Baron, Moore
- when we wonder about how auidence is reacting, we become distracted from task at hand
- it causes cognitive overload and causes arousal
- can be other distractions outside of audience as well
Define Social Loafing
the tendency of people to exert less effort when they pool their efforst toward a common goal AND when they are not being individually held accountable
basically - working less hard in a group because you think your efforts are going unnoticed
When does Social Loafing occur the most?
It occurs more in simple tasks
Jackson & Williams 1985
had people come into a lab and work on mazes, they were given a simple or complex maze
another person was doing the identical maze next to you
the participant was told that either individual performance or group performance were being evaluated
so when they were told that their score was being averaged they felt more relaxed and did better on HARDER mazes compared to simpler ones
becoming realxed can help in difficult tasks
is social loafing more apparent in collectivist or individualistic cultures?
Individualisitc
because in collectivist countries that loyalty and idea of group is very important
Define Deindividuation
- Loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension; occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to group norms, good or bad
- can range from a variety of behaviors
What factors prompt one to exhibit deindividuation?
- group size (so larger groups)
- anonymity (when identity is concealed, Zimbardo cloke study, Diener and halloween candy)
- being aroused and distracted (like seeing other act how we feel and people’s attention being diverted)
less accountability and increases obedience to group norms
Define Self-Awareness
A self-conscious state in which attention focuses on oneself. It makes people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions
being aware of yourself and your actions etc
When deindividuation is high….
self awareness is low (vice versa)
* they act less restrained, regulated and more likely to act without thinking about their own values
can lead to deviant acts
self awareness is opposite of deindividuation
David Dodd 1985
asked the question “If you could do anything humanely possible with complete assurance you would not be detected or held responsible what would you do?”
Rodney King - police brutality case when they thought they were not being watched
Are two heads better than one?
yes
* relying on experts
* stimulating through comments
* non overlapping knowledge
Define group polarization
Group-produced enhancement of members’ preexisting tendencies; a strengthening of the members’ average tendency, not a split within the group
group interactions reinforcing what you already believed
for example democrat talking to other democrats
risky shift
individuals altering opinions after group discussion
describe normative and information influence in group polarization
informational - actively invloved in discussion enhances attitude change
normative - social comparison (evalutating our beliefs through others)
pluralistic ignorance, false impression of people and how they are thinking/feeling/responding
Strasser & Titus 1985
groups of 4 came in and had to figure out best person for president of student body (A or B)
it was set up for A, but in one group they got shared info (each person given same packet of info 8+ 4-)
unshared = each person had four negatives the same but 2 diff positive each (if shared it is same as other group)
shared info = more likely to pick candidate A than unshared because the other group did not really share their information
What are the different types of leadership
formal and informal leaders can have disproportinate influence
task - Leadership that organizes work, sets standards, and focuses on goals
social - Leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support
transformational - Leadership that, enabled by a leader’s vision and inspiration, exerts significant influence
leadership - The process by which certain group members motivate and guide the group
Define Group think
the tendency of decision making groups to suppress opposing views in the interest
Iriving Janis
main goal is to keep stability and not consider facts in realisitic manner, reach a goal everyone agrees upon
What does group think sprout from
- highly cohesive groups
- isolation from outside
- directive leader
- high stress
- poor decision making procedures
