Group Dynamics Flashcards
What is the Asch Experiment?
Which stick is longest?
People will blindly follow the group. This is groupthink because people are scared of being dissenters.
The effect is larger in collectivist cultures.
Having one ‘ally’ decreases conformity greatly -> even just one person also dissenting greatly reduces groupthink.
Dominant people yield the most infuleunce (they are seen as more competent). This is especially true in individualistic cultures.
What is a group?
Two or more prople interacting interdependentl to achieve a common goal. There are two types: formal and informal.
What are the 3 group assumptions?
Synergy, Effectiveness and Efficiency.
Group performance is better than ths sum of individual performances.
Groups are better at achieving organizational goals.
Groups are more efficient in the pursuit of organizational goals.
What is groupthink?
Situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically evaluating unusual, minority, or unpopular opinions
What are solutions to groupthink?
Devil's advocate Dialectful Inquiry Bring in outsiders Dissent valued Members feel comfortable speaking up
What is social loafing?
The tendency to withhold physical or intellectual effort when performing a group task. More pronounced in indiviualistic cultures.
What is a solution to social loafing?
Make individual performance visible.
How do groups perform relative to their members?
They typically make a better decision than the average, but a worse decision than the best person. (For example the desert survival experiment from lectures).
What is the name for ‘the tendency to withhold physical effore when performing a group task’?
Social Loafing
What is the name for ‘situations in which group pressures for conformity deter the group from cricially evaluating unusual, minority or unpopular opinions’?
Groupthink
Why do groups fail to outperform the best person?
Conformity Pressure (groupthink)
Domination by small numbers
Social Loafing
What is Synergy? (in relation to group dynamics)
Group performance is better than the sum of indiviudals
What is Effectiveness? (in relation to group dynamics)
Groups are better at achieving organisational goals.
What is Efficiency? (in relation to group dynamics)
Groups are more efficient at achieving organisational goals.
What are synergy, effectiveness and efficiency?
The 3 assumptions made about groups.
Group performance is better than ths sum of individual performances.
Groups are better at achieving organizational goals.
Groups are more efficient in the pursuit of organizational goals.
What is the name of the experiment where people were asked which two sticks were the same length?
The Asch Conformity Experiments.
Why might you need to make individual performance more visible (in relation to group dynamics)?
To prevent social loafing.
What are the Asch Conformity Experiments?
Which line is the same length as this line? The effect is stronger in collectivistic cultures, and weaker when there is an ‘ally’.
In what kind of cultures is groupthink more of a problem?
Collectivistic cultures.
How might groupthink be reduced?
Dialectful Inquiry, Devil’s Advocate, increase anonymity.
Define Dialectical Inquiry.
One group comes up with argumants for one idea. Another group comes up with arguments for another. The two then discuss the competing ideas.
Define Devil’s Advocate.
One group comes up with arguments for one idea. The other group then comes up with counterarguments, and essentially dismantles the first groups ideas.
Contrast DI and DA.
In DI, the second group comes up with alternative proposals. In DA, the second group only argues against the initial proposal.
‘One group comes up with arguments for an idea. The other then comes up with arguments for a different idea’. What practice does this describe?
Dialectical Inquiry
‘One group comes up with arguments for an idea. The other group then comes up with counters to the assumptions of the first. They do not suggest an alternative recommendation.’ What practice does this describe?
Devil’s Advocate
If a Devil’s Advocate also comes up with useful counterreccomendations, what is this called?
Dialectical Inquiry
OTHER THAN Time consuming, Group think, and social loafing, what is a disadvantage of groups?
Diffusion of Responsibility.
What is both an advantage and a disadvantage of groups?
Diffusion of Responsibility.
What are the advantages of groups? Name 4.
More information is brought to the table.
More people’s minds help inform the answer.
People are invested in the decision.
Diffusion of Responsibility means people are more likely to take big decisions.
