Group Processes and belonging Flashcards
because humans primarily live in groups what do we need to study
effects of groups and behavior in groups
explain evolution and group living
- living in groups and being social is our survival strategy (hunting, growing food, finding mates, etc)
- our way to evolve from Africa and the chimps was to get smarter when the physical environment changed
- we got bigger brains
what is the implication of bigger brains in humans
- require a lot of metabolic energy
- explains why infants are helpless compared to other animals because we dont have bodies to survive in nature without tools
- requires a lot to raise humans: why being social is a survival strategy
what is necessary for cooperative living to be beneficial
we must be cautious of cheaters
-so monitoring ones social status and inclusion is essential, important to us so we are not rejected we are social creatures so rejection affects our survival
give an example of rejection of strikes in the United Airlines
- “do not pick up flights if part of union in order to put pressure on airline”
- the pilots who took flights were called scabs and rejected (made fun of, taunted, excluded) called a cheater and told they were hurting goal of social group
- this was true even though some people needed the flights, like a single mother
explain interdependence vs. independence
interdependence: collectivistic cultures
independence: individualistic cultures
what makes a culture individualistic or collectivistic?
- primary form of existence is group effort (ex. growing rice in China) tend to be collectivistic
- primary form of existence is herding (western cultures) tend to be individualistic because it is independent activity
environmental factors play role
what is the belongingness hypothesis
humans have a pervasive drive to form and maintain social relationships
-lack of this is a characteristic of many disorders (ex. Autism)
what happens if the need of belonging isnt met
social rejection and social rejection is bad because it can threaten survival
-emotional pain still hurts after time passes, physical pain does not
what are some bad things rejected people can do
1) become aggressive sometimes
2) show less self control
3) feel pain
4) have distorted time and temperature perception
what are examples of rejected people becoming aggressive sometimes
ex. school or mass shootings show that those individuals were rejected
ex. in experiments (rejected someone in ball toss game) while “waiting” for experiment to start. control group was included in ball toss and experimental group was not, this led to more hostility towards the people excluding them
- food preparation experiment, making food for person who rejected or included them (person didnt like hot sauce). rejected group put more hot sauce in
what are some examples of rejected people showing less self control
ex. eat more cookies or give up faster on a task, rejected people do not have motivation for self-control
how do rejected people have distorted time and temperature perception
think time is moving slower and feel physically colder and want warm food and beverages
how can rejected people feel pain
area of the brain involved in perception, similar reaction to physical and emotional pain, medicine can help physical and emotional pain
-pain is a sign to stop, when we feel emotional pain we think about what we’re doing and stop
what does rejection show us
we must stay included
what are the benefits of being rejected
- have better memory for social information (not what did i have for lunch but likes/dislikes and behavior)
- mimic other peoples behavior which make us feel closer to people, we tend to mimic the people we like and like those who mimic us
- quick to attend to smiles and accurately distinguish real and fake smiles (smiles = potential friendship)
what are social norms
the way people act in a situation or community (people conform to them)
- help us predict one another, know what’s predictable and accepted
- when someone violates them it attracts attention, isn’t predictable and might get rejected
explain the bicyclist study and what it shows us about the effects of being around other people
cyclists beat own previous records set alone when they were in groups (go faster in groups)
-shows performance is different in presence of other people, better in terms of cyclists, but not always better you can do worse (studying in groups, performing on stage)
explain the cockroach study and what it shows us about social facilitation
put cockroaches in maze with light and dark area and see how fast they get to dark area.
easy (straight line to dark): alone they went slower than they did with another cockroach (conspecific) placed in the same maze as them
hypothesized maybe people do better in groups in easy tasks
difficult (had to make turn to dark): cockroaches got slower when other cockroaches were watching them
results: seems as though complexity of the task is the moderator
what does the moderator mean
if one variable moderates another, that means it changes the effect the other variable has (same thing as interaction)
what is the interaction in the cockroach study
2x2 (two levels)
others present, alone) x (easy, difficult
what is social facilitation as seen in the cyclist and cockroach study
tendency for people to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when they are in presence of other people (dominant response gets facilitated)
-to get good at something -> practice, when you are already good at something you’ll do better in front of other people
why does social facilitation occur?
presence of others -> increases arousal -> strengthens tendency to perform dominant or well-learned response -> if dominant response is correct performance is improved and if dominant response is wrong performance is impaired
anxiety and performance?
a little anxiety can improve performance and too much is a detriment
what are the three theories that explain why social facilitation occurs
1) mere presence theory
2) evaluation apprehension
3) distraction conflict theory
what is the difference between mere presence theory and evaluation apprehension
reason arousal exists in the first place differs, but effect of arousal is the same
what is the mere presence theory
the mere presence of others increases arousal and strengthens dominant response
what is evaluation apprehension
the concern that being judged creates arousal
-adds another step in social facilitation (concern of being evaluated adds more arousal)
presence of others -> concern about being evaluated -> increased arousal
which theory (mere presence or evaluation apprehension) is correct
mere presence is correct- enough to add arousal, dont need evaluation apprehension
what experiments prove mere presence theory is correct
interaction 2x3 study
( easy, difficult) x (others and can evaluate, others and cant evaluate, alone)
- take on an everyday behavior (suit up in booties and lab coat) and told to change into normal clothes
- easy task: seconds to change in and out of clothes
- difficult task: put on lab coat and booties and take off
- within subjects everyone did both
- one group was alone, one group was with another participant, one group had someone fixing ceiling
results: slower on difficult task with others present, faster on easy task with other present, shows presence increases arousal on its own and evaluation apprehension adds to it
