Group Process

Question 1

What are the two fundamental types of roles in groups?
(I & E)

Answer 1

• An instrumental role : helps the group achieve its tasks
• An expressive role : provides emotional support and maintain morale

Question 2

What is Social Facilitation, and how does it depend on the kind of task?

Answer 2

It is the way that the presence of another person increases one’s arousal and that strengthens the dominant response which can lead to two different paths :
- Easy task : correct response, performance enhancement
- Difficult task : incorrect response, performance impairment

Question 3

What is Social Loafing, and when is it less likely to occur?

Answer 3

It is a group-produced reduction in individual output on easy tasks in which contributions are pooled.
- It is less likely to occur when people believe that their own performances can be identified and evaluated by themselves or by others

Question 4

What is deindividuation, and what two kinds of cues affect it?

Answer 4

Deindividuation : the loss of a person’s sense of individuality and the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior

The cues that can affect it are :
- Accountability cues which affect the person’s cost-reward calculations – there is a diffusion of responsibility
- Attentional cues which focus on a person’s attention away from the self – pay less attention to internal standards and more attention to immediate situation

Question 5

What is Group Polarization?

Answer 5

Group polarization is the exaggeration through group discussion of initial tendencies in the thinking of group members

Question 6

How does framing in terms of gains and loss affect risky group decisions?

Answer 6

• When decisions are made and framed in terms of potential gains, groups make riskier decisions than individuals made before
• When they are framed in terms of potential loss, groups make less risky decisions than individuals made before

Question 7

What is Groupthink and how does it affect group decisions?

Answer 7

Groupthink : the excessive tendency to seek concurrence among group members.
- It emerges when the need for agreement takes priority over the motivation to obtain accurate information and make appropriate decisions

Question 8

What are the five steps in Problem Solving?
(D. Id. E. S. Im.)

Answer 8

Steps in Problem Solving:

1. Define the problem
2. Identify possible solutions
3. Evaluate pluses and minuses of each solution
4. Select the best solution in that situation
5. Implement the decision

Question 9

What is Brainstorming, and how does it overcome Groupthink?

Answer 9

Brainstorming : a technique that attempts to increase the production of creative ideas by encouraging group members to speak freely without criticizing their own or others’ contributions.
- It helps with each of the five steps of problem solving which groupthink interferes with

Question 10

What are Virtual Teams?

Answer 10

Virtual teams : viewed as “groups of people who work interdependently with shared purpose across space, time, and organizational boundaries using technology to communicate and collaborate”

Question 11

What are the two types of resource dilemmas?
(C & P.G)

Answer 11

• Commons dilemma : if each takes all they want, depletes for everyone (e.g, overfishing)
• Public goods dilemma : if no one contributes service can’t continue (e.g., blood supply)

Question 12

What are two keys to finding a common ground?

Answer 12

• Recognition of a superordinate identity
• Superordinate goals can elicit cooperation by appealing to people’s self-interest