Exam 3 Chapter 9 Flashcards
What is a group?
Two or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other
Why do people join groups?
Benefits
-Important aspect of identity (help us define who we are, distinguish us from other groups)
- Important source of information (helps us deal with new situations, Informational social influence)
- Establishment of social norms (Helps guide our behavior, Normative social influence)
What are the functions of groups?
Groups encourage similarities
Promote social norms
Communicate social roles
What is group cohesiveness?
Group qualities that bond members and promote liking
How does cohesiveness influence groups?
- If a task requires close cooperation between the group members, cohesiveness helps performance
- If maintaining good relations among groups members is more important than finding good solutions, cohesiveness can interface with optimal performance
What are social roles, and why can they be a problem?
Is a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group
-Roles can be too restrictive especially relation to gender
-Roles can take over a person if the person gets too entangled in a role
What are gender roles?
- What a culture considers acceptable attitudes or behaviors for the different genders
- Men and women can face difficulties if they don’t act in accordance with acceptable gender roles
What is gender role conflict?
Gender roles are by their nature restrictive
- Women are expected to nurturing and emotional
- Men are expected to be assertive and unemotional
What is replication?
When a researcher conducts a study again and finds the same results
What was the replication crisis?
In 2010, psychologist started to recognize that some famous studies would not produce the same results when ran again today
What is arousal?
Arousal refers to the mobilization or activation of energy for and during behavior
Arousal increases the vigor of behavior and affects efficiency the of behavior
What is Yerkes-Dodson Law
Description of how task difficulty and arousal influence performance
Easy tasks differ from difficult tasks in how they’re influenced by arousal
Yerkes-Dodson Law: Low arousal
-People who are experiencing low arousal will perform poorly at a task
- Skilled performance requires energy and focus that low arousal people don’t have
Yerkes-Dodson Law: High arousal + Difficult tasks
-Inverted U arousal relationship: as stimulation for arousal increases, performance increases, levels off then declines
- Wand et al (2204): Increasing anxiety led to poor shooting performance
Yerkes-Dodson Law: High arousal + Easy tasks
Performance is increased. People’s reaction times are also increased
Why do people cause arousal?
Increased alertness
- Other people cause us to become particularly alert and vigilant
- Because other people can be unpredictable we are in a state of greater alertness in their presence
Why do people cause arousal?
Evaluation Anxiety
- They make us apprehensive about how we’re being evaluated
- When other people can see how you are doing, you feel like they are evaluating you
Why do people cause arousal?
Distraction
- They distract us from the task at hand
- Divided attention produces arousal
- Consistent with this interpretation, nonsocial sources of distraction, such as a flashing light, cause the same kinds of social facilitation effects as the presence of other people
How did Zajonc (1965) build on Fere (1887) and Triplett’s (1898) findings?
Added more conditions to his experiment
Zajonc (1965): What were the methods?
Created different conditions for the cockroaches, had an easy or difficult maze and made them go through the maze either alone or with spectators
Zajonc (1965) What were the major findings?
Presence of others
- Lowered times in the simple maze
- Increased times in the difficult maze
Effect of other depends on the difficulty of the task
What is social facilitation?
- The presence of others will increase arousal
-This will enhance our dominant (most likely) response
What is social loafing?
When people perform worse when they’re in a group, not better
What can you do stop social loafing?
- Find ways to monitor each group members performance
- Create a challenge that will provide additional motivation to group
How is social loafing affected by gender?
- Women are less likely to social loaf than men
Why? Women tend to be higher in relational interdependence - Focused on and cares about personal relationships
- Do not want to disappoint group members
How is social loafing affected by culture?
- Certain cultures tend to be collectiveness which means they don’t want to let others down
- People from Asian cultures are less likely to social loaf than people from Western cultures
- Social striving (working harder in groups) occurs in some Asian cultures
What is deindividuation?
- A group can cause its members to lose their individuality
- Tends cause deviant behavior that wouldn’t of occurred alone
Ex. an individual sees a mob of people rioting therefore they think it is okay to participate in the deviant behavior that the group is doing
What causes deindividuation?
Large groups increases anonymity and lowers accountability, Encourages obedience to group norms
Arousing and distracting activities reduce self awareness and increases arousal and the intensity of behavior
Deindividuation and Lack of accountability
- People in large groups feel like it’s unlikely they will be singled out for their behavior because the group helps “conceal” them.
- As a result, group members feel there will be no negative consequences for their behavior
Deindivuation and Reduced self-awareness
- Self-awareness influences the degree to which we are aware and influenced by our values and attitudes
- If a group causes low self-awareness, people have fewer inhibitions against behaviors they normally wouldn’t engage in
What can enhance deindivuation?
- Groups wearing the same clothing (uniforms)
-Group wearing clothes that hide their identity - Members of the group are required to follow orders
-The group members are close and highly cohesive
Diener (1976) What were the methods?
Trick or treaters were left alone with a bowl of candy, and the instruction to only take one candy
Variables
- They were in a group or alone
- They gave their name or didn’t
Observed whether they took more than one candy.
Diener (1979) What were the major findings?
- Anonymity increased stealing
- Groups increased stealing
Why are people mean to each other online?
Since people are communicating anonymously on the internet they say things that they would never normally say to someone face-to-face
What is process loss and why does it occur?
Process loss is any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving
It occurs when groups have communication problems, don’t listen to their most competent members, focus on common knowledge and not on unique information that one person possesses
What is group think and why does it occur?
Group members care more about the groups cohesiveness than making a good decision
Occurs because of overconfidence and illusion of invulnerability, close-mindedness and rationalizing decisions, pressure toward uniformity and no conflict
What can a leader to prevent group think?
- Remain impartial
- Seek outside opinions
- Create subgroups
- Seek anonymous opinions
- Encourage criticism and skepticism
- Allow group members to express doubts
What is group polarization?
Group members who have similar beliefs intensify their attitudes
Why do groups polarize?
Informational Influence
- You’ll hear more arguments in support of the overall opinion
- After you hear these arguments, you’ll assume others support them (norm)
- You will now be more certain that the group’s opinion is the right opinion, strengthening you belief in the position
Why do groups polarize?
Normative Influence
- If other people express support for a position, the group is more likely to accept you if you express the same opinion
- You may now express a stronger opinion to get the groups’s favor
- Due to cognitive dissonance, expressing stronger opinions may change your actual opinion
Why do groups polarize?
Pluralistic Ignorance
- We may believe that our opinions or attitudes are not widely held
- However, we’re often wrong about what we think others believe
- When you find the others feel the way you do, you feel liberated to voice your true beliefs and validated in believing them.
How is leadership related to ones personality?
Great Person Theory: idea that certain personality traits make a person a good leader, regardless of the situation
Deinviduation and Obedience
When people are deindividuated, their group’s norms have more power to influence their behavior. As a result, people will be more likely to do what the group is doing, even if it’s harmful
Why can it be challenging for women in leadership roles?
People believe leaders need to be action-oriented and have assertive traits. This is a problem for women because of a gender role conflict. If she’s warm, she’s ‘not good enough’ to be a leader. if she’s forceful and assertive, she’s disliked for violating gender role
What is the tragedy of the commons?
Hardin (1968): A situation where a commonly available resource is abused without anybody feeling a responsibility to protect it.
What is a social dilemma?
A conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual, if chosen by most people, will have harmful effects on everyone.
What is the prisoner’s dilemma?
A situation where people choose between a cooperative act and a competitive act that benefits themselves but hurts others
How can you increase cooperation in the prisoner’s dilemma?
Increased closeness with your competitor/fellow prisoner. People are more likely to cooperate with friends or people they expect to interact with. Try to change norms regarding the game.
What is the contingency theory of leadership?
The idea that the effectiveness of a leader depends both on how task- or relationship-oriented the leader is and on the amount of control the leader has over the group
Task-oriented leaders
Leaders who are concerned more with getting the job done than with workers’ feelings and relationships. Do well in high-control work situations
Relationship-oriented leaders
Leaders who are concerned more with workers’ feelings and relationships. Most effective in moderate-control work situations
Why don’t threats help resolve conflict? What does work?
Threatening someone often leads to that person wanting retaliation, causing both parties to experience dissatisfaction. Cooperation works!
What is the relationship between culture and leadership?
Different cultures value different traits in leaders. But there was universal agreement about the value of two leadership qualities: charisma and being team oriented
