group processes Flashcards
Group
set of two or more people who interact and are interdependent (their needs and goals cause them to influence each other), consists of direct interactions with each other over a period of time, a shared common identity/fate/goal, or joint membership in a social category based on sex/race/other attributes
Social brain hypothesis
humans are drawn to groups for survival and reproduction, and this is why we join groups. Large brains among primates reflect this tendency, the larger the primate’s brain, the more it’s drawn to form groups.
Social identity theory
people’s feelings of self-worth are derived from group membership, another idea as to why we join groups.
Key features of a group
(1) roles – individuals expected behaviors, in the forms of instrumental roles, which help the group achieve its taste, and expressive roles, which provide emotional support and maintain morale. (2) Norms – rules of conduct, can be formal or informal, and pressure is exerted on members that deviate from the norm. (3) Cohesiveness – closeness, the forces exerted on a group push its members closer together, casually related with group performance, can be affected in different ways as a function of cultural differences.
Roach study
placed a flashlight in a simple maze and wanted to see how fast these roaches could complete the maze, first testing the roach by itself, then testing it with an audience of other roaches. Then redid this in a complex maze. Findings: the presence of other people (or roaches in this case) make you experience arousal causing a dominant response (social facilitation).
Dominant response
performance improves on easy tasks, and declines on hards tasks.
Why does the presence of others cause arousal?
the presence of others makes us more alert, also because we are concerned about being judged, and because people are distracting. Divided attention (attentional conflict) produces arousal.
Social loafing
The tendency for an individual to perform worse on a simple task or better on a complex/important task when individual performance isn’t evaluated. The presence of other people doesn’t make you aroused causing relaxation, which affects performance in the following ways: performance declines on an easy/unimportant task, and performance improves on hard/important tasks. People “loaf” (put in less work) less when… (1) individually evaluated/rewarded, (2) the task is important or meaningful, (3) the individual’s effort is necessary for success, (4) group expects to be punished for poor performance, (5) smaller groups, (6) group is cohesive. Opposite of social facilitation.
Social dilemmas
conflicts, where if individuals choose outcomes that are best for them, everyone suffers in the long run.
Prisoner’s dilemma
involves two people, each of whom has the decision to make: (1) be selfish, or (2) cooperate with partner. Selfish choices create the worst outcome for the group.
Resource dilemma
how do people share a resource. Split into two types: (1) common goods dilemma and (2) public goods dilemma
Common goods dilemma
“tragedy of the commons,” use of the common resource is below the carrying capacity of the land. All users benefit if one or more users increase the use of the commons beyond the carrying capacity, the commons become degraded. The cost of the degradation is incurred by all users, unless environmental costs are account for and addressed in land use practices , eventually, the land will be unable to support the activity.
Public goods dilemma
everyone is supposed to contribute to a common pool, if we don’t the public good in question disappears.
Solving dilemmas
more likely to cooperate when dealing with family/close others, individuals are more cooperative than groups.
process loss
any aspect of group interaction that inhibits group performace
