group processes Flashcards
define group
3 or more people who depend on one another in that their interactions are driven by needs/goals
what are the 3 perceptions of being in a group?
- triggers need for acceptance
- triggers host of social motives (eg. reciprocity, conformity, respect for authority)
- changes behaviours (eg. sharing/keeping info)
why are important decisions in today’s world made by groups?
we assume that task is handled better by group than a single person
why do humans get into groups?
- practicality (job better than in group than individual)
- fulfill basic human needs (substantial survival and reproductive advantage)
- hunt, farm, defend, mate, care
- need for social connection and belongingness
- resolve ambiguities in social world
- helps define who we are and who we are not
what were some properties of a group in the past, now changed due to technology?
- most groups had trackable number of members (large group - difficult to interact w everyone - emergence of freeriders)
- group members tended to be homogenous (in age/gendere/attitudes/beliefs)
a property of today’s groups is_______.
cohesiveness
define group cohesiveness
extent to which group members experience emotional bonds w one another
what kind of group would be more cohesive than what kind?
groups that stem from social reasons would be more cohesive than those stemming from practicality/financial reasons
eg. meet up for games vs HDB assembly meetings
the more cohesive the group is, the higher the chance members would _________ in the group and __________ to group activities.
stay; contribute
what is the bright side of cohesiveness?
when task requires close cooperation
when task requires cooperation, list 3 reasons why having a cohesive group would be effective?
- curbs selfishness
- helps distribute hardship among members
- fuels motivation to achieve collective goal
- boosts overall performance
what are 2 dark sides of cohesiveness?
- when group is too cohesive and focus shifts to harmony instead of task at hand, cohesiveness interferes with optimal performance
- when talented members fail to convince group members that they are right, because group members:
- refuse to admit they are wrong, and
- refuse to change and want to stick to whatever has been working. (status-quo bias)
what is process loss?
any action or tendency of a group that inhibits effective problem solving
process loss occurs when group members fails to share ________ and explore __________.
share; possibilities
what are 3 reasons for process loss in a group?
- incompetent members
- reluctant to challenge expert
- experts don’t do enough to encourage voices from members
- competent members find it hard to disagree w everyone else
- members focus on info they share, ignore facts known to only some members
** some of these reasons get worse when a group discussion is dominated by a member, leaving others quiet
define groupthink
when desire for harmony/conformity looms larger than concern for making good decisions
groupthink is common is groups that are:
- highly cohesive
- isolated from contrary opinions
- ruled by directive leader who makes his/her wishes known
suggest 3 ways to fend off groupthink.
- remain impartial
- outside opinions
- create subgroups
- seek anonymous opinions
- assign devil’s advocate
**devil’s advocate - someone who, given an argument, takes position they don’t agree w for the sake of debate
define group polarization
tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than initial inclinations of its members (occurs when groupthink happens)
what are the 2 explanations for group polarization?
- persuasive arguments explanation
when members pool arguments tgt, some may turn out to strengthen the initial view because they have not been considered by group initially - social comparison explanation
in order to appear useful, many people take a position that is similar to everyone else’s, but a little more extreme. snowballs into chain reaction which an initial position is supported by group members in incremental manner
doing something in the presence of others can mean 2 things that lead to social facilitation. what are they?
- others doing same thing as you
- audience
in social facilitation, if a task is easy, the mere presence of others __________ performance.
improves
what 2 experiments find that if task is easy/well-learned, presence of others improves performance?
- cockroach experiment (zajonc, 1965)
- shone torch at cockroach so it runs an easy maze
- no audience - slower
- audience - faster - winding-the-wheel experiment (triplett, 1898)
in social facilitation, in the presence of others, when a task is difficult, our performance ________.
worsens
why do easy and difficult tasks in presence of others lead to different performances?
- presence of others increases physiological arousal
- arousal affects dominant and non-dominant responses.
- performing dominant response benefits from feeling tensed
- performing non-dominant response suffers from feeling tensed
why do we feel aroused when others are present?
- become alert of potential threat/competition (fight or flight)
- feels like we are being evaluated (hyped)
**these 2 reasons are separate and can work tgt to induce arousal
define social loafing
tendency to do worse on simple tasks but better on complex tasks in the presence of others when individual performance cannot be evaluated
which experiment studies social loafing?
rope pulling study (ringelmann, 1913)
what is the result of the rope pulling study (ringelmann, 1913)?
when a group pulled on a rope, each person pulled less hard than when they were doing it alone
social facilitation vs social loafing
social facilitation is the tendency to do better on easy tasks and worse on complex tasks in the presence of others when individual performance can be evaluated causing arousal in the performer.
social loafing is the tendency to do worse on easy tasks and better on difficult tasks in the presence of others when individual performance cannot be evaluated causing relaxation in the performer.
what is deindividuation?
loosening of normal constraints on behaviours when people cannot be differentiated in a group, leading to impulsive and deviant acts
why isn’t deindividuation the same as conformity?
conformity includes socially positive or neutral behaviours while deindividuation only includes impulsive and deviant behaviours.
what causes deindividuation?
people feel less accountable because being in a group:
- reduces likelihood of being singled out and blamed (anonymity)
- creates the feeling that we are only following the group norm
