Group Psychology

Question 1

What is the term for the improvement in performance that occurs simply due to the presence of others?

Answer 1

social facilitation

Social facilitation occurs when people perform tasks better when in the presence of others. This is true of simple or highly familiar (well-rehearsed) tasks.

Question 2

What is the term for the decrease in an individual’s sense of self that occurs when joining a group?

A common example of this phenomenon is the mentality in mobs.

Answer 2

deindividuation

Deindividuation is the concept that in a large group, there can be a loss of self-awareness. When in a mob, one no longer feels as much like an individual and can end up behaving in ways that would never occur when alone.

Question 3

Explain the role of group size in deindividuation.

Answer 3

The larger a group, the more likely deindividuation is to occur.

Deindividuation refers to the loss of self-identity in a group, which is more likely in a large crowd or mob than in a small gathering of people.

Question 4

Which aspect of deindividuation explains why wearing masks often is associated with deindividuation within a group?

Answer 4

Anonymity

Deindividuation has been proposed to arise when group members no longer feel like they can be identified in the group. This can lead to a perception of decreased personal responsibility for the events.

Question 5

What phenomenon is most likely being countered when medical professionals are taught to specifically point at someone and tell them to call emergency services during a public emergency?

Answer 5

bystander effect

The bystander effect is the psychosocial phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The more bystanders there are, the less likely someone offers help.

Question 6

What behavior do students fear their partners might engage in during group projects, leading to them being burdened with more work than normal?

Answer 6

social loafing

Social loafing occurs when people exert less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than if they were working alone.

Question 7

What form of social control is exerted to prevent individuals from talking loudly in a church?

Answer 7

Informal social control

Informal social controls are those that are not enforced explicitly through laws or regulations. There’s no law against talking loudly at church! However, these controls are enforced through other means, such as disapproval and criticism.

Question 8

What form of social control is exerted when a police officer arrests a man for committing a robbery?

Answer 8

Formal social control

Formal social control is enforced through laws and other explicit rules. Robbery is illegal, so when the police officer arrests the man, formal social control is being exerted.

Question 9

What is the term for the informal effect on behavior caused by the desire to fit in with friends or classmates, as seen when adolescents take up smoking?

Answer 9

peer pressure

Peer pressure is the direct influence on an individual by his or her peers, making the individual more likely to behave in a certain fashion (often similarly to the peers’ behavior).

Question 10

Fill in the blank.

An adolescent takes up smoking due to peer pressure. By changing his behavior in order to fit in with his peers, this teen has _______ to what he thinks is expected of him.

Answer 10

conformed

Conformity is any behavior which is engaged in to remain in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards.

Question 11

What is the term for altering one’s behavior in response to direct demands, as demonstrated if Gigi stops smoking after her parents demand she cease?

Answer 11

obedience

Obedience is changing one’s behavior in response to a request/demand from a social authority or an authority figure.

Question 12

What is the term for the adjustment of one’s views to a more extreme position when in a group of like-minded individuals?

Answer 12

group polarization

Group polarization occurs when the decisions and opinions of individuals in a group become more extreme than their typical personal beliefs.

Question 13

Some high school seniors are unhappy with the class president. If these students talk to each other about the class president for an hour, what is likely to occur to their views?

Answer 13

They will become more extreme (as in, more unfavorable of the class president).

This exemplifies group polarization, which is the tendency of group members’ views to become more extreme after discussion within a group who agrees.

Question 14

What is the term for illogical decision-making in groups that occurs to maintain group solidarity?

Answer 14

groupthink

This is the phenomenon in which people who are a part of a cohesive group value the maintenance of group solidarity over reality or logical reasoning. Personal doubts are set aside, people want to go along with the group, and the group may end up making poor, hasty, irrational decisions.

Question 15

Irving Janis, a Yale psychologist, proposed eight characteristics of groupthink. Which of these characteristics is exemplified by all group members believing that the group is doing “the right thing” or “God’s work”?

Answer 15

Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group.

This characteristic of groupthink may lead the group to make poor or unethical decisions in the name of morality.

Question 16

What term is used for self-appointed members of a group engaged in groupthink who suppress or avoid sharing negative information about the group?

Answer 16

mindguards

The presence of mindguards is one of Janis’s eight characteristics of groupthink.

Question 17

Irving Janis, a Yale psychologist, proposed eight characteristics of groupthink. Which of these characteristics is exemplified by a group member who is worried about some of the group’s extreme views but does not speak up?

Answer 17

self-censorship

It’s important to understand that groupthink does not mean that all group members agree. However, members who do not agree are likely to undergo self-censorship and avoid speaking about their concerns.

Question 18

Irving Janis, a Yale psychologist, proposed eight characteristics of groupthink. Which of these characteristics is exemplified by the belief that everyone in the group agrees on a certain concept?

Answer 18

illusion of unanimity

Group members engaging in groupthink are likely to falsely believe that everyone agrees on the group’s stances. This is contributed to by another of Janis’s characteristics, self-censorship (avoidance of speaking up when one disagrees).

Question 19

Members of a rural cult believe that they are destined to succeed, so they break multiple laws with the thought that they will never have to pay the consequences. Which of Janis’s eight characteristics of groupthink does this exemplify?

Answer 19

illusion of invulnerability

This characteristic of groupthink describes the false perception that the group will never be harmed, which can lead to excessive risk-taking.

Question 20

What, according to Irving Janis, will a member of a group engaged in groupthink experience if they attempt to openly disagree?

Answer 20

direct pressure

This (direct pressure on dissenters) is one of Janis’s eight characteristics of groupthink. This pressure is generally social (pressure to agree or face exclusion) but may rise to the level of threats or force.

Question 21

Groupthink can cause a group to ignore warnings by explaining them away. Which of Janis’s eight characteristics of groupthink does this exemplify?

Answer 21

collective rationalization

For example, if members of the group begin to get arrested, the group may rationalize this by saying that those group members were weak or didn’t truly believe in the group’s mission.

Question 22

Which of Janis’s eight characteristics of groupthink involves often-negative views about outgroup (non-group) members?

Answer 22

stereotyping

While stereotyping can certainly occur in contexts other than groupthink, it is common in groupthink situations, where outgroup members are viewed negatively and often demonized.

Question 23

The employees at a small tech startup intensely believe in the company’s mission. When employees occasionally attend conferences, they hear information that indicates that the company likely won’t succeed long-term, but they avoid passing this information on to the rest of the group. What is the role of these employees in the context of groupthink?

Answer 23

They are serving as mindguards.

According to Irving Janis, mindguards are group members who filter out negative information about a group engaged in groupthink, thereby preventing this information from reaching the rest of the group.

Question 24

What is the term for the social phenomenon where individuals, often adolescent girls, are ostracized, ridiculed, or shamed for perceived sexual behavior?

Answer 24

sanction

Sanctions are informal punishments for violating social norms, such as being a “proper lady.”

Question 25

Identify the social norm illustrated below:

“Do not discuss religion or politics when meeting new people, as it is not polite.”

Answer 25

folkway

Folkways are casual social norms with little to no consequence if violated.

Question 26

Identify the social norm illustrated below:

“A 50-year-old man should not be dating or pursuing a 19-year-old woman, even if it is legal.”

Answer 26

more

Mores are more formalized than folkways and are set by society, largely for appearance and behavior. Individuals who do not follow social mores are often considered deviants.

Question 27

Identify the social norm illustrated below:

What is the term for the violation of deeply ingrained social norms, as demonstrated by the shunning, shaming, and legal actions faced by the farm owners involved in the 2005 bestiality case in Enumclaw, WA?

Answer 27

taboos

Taboos are the strictest social norms, for which the penalty for violation is the most severe. Sometimes, legal consequences result (though not necessarily).

Question 28

Place mores, folkways, and taboos in order from the strictest to the least strict social norms.

Answer 28

Taboos are the strictest, followed by mores. Folkways are the least strict of the three.

Question 29

Identify the social phenomenon illustrated below:

In the novel The Lord of the Flies, several young boys are stranded on an island with no adults. The boys experience a breakdown of social standards necessary for regulating behavior. They descend into a more feral state as common values from society are no longer understood or accepted.

Answer 29

Anomie

Anomie is the lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group.

Question 30

What is the term for individuals who do not adhere to social norms, including taboos, mores, or laws?

Answer 30

deviants

Question 31

What is the term for the process by which individuals become more deviant due to their interactions with other deviant individuals, as seen when non-violent offenders emerge from prison as more skilled criminals?

Answer 31

differential association

This occurs when association with deviant people causes you to become deviant too. This phenomenon can be harnessed to bring about social change.

Question 32

An debate arose in American politics in 2017 over when to use the description “Nazi” for those espousing unpopular or offensive views about race, religion, gender, etc. The argument against use of the word posited that calling people by this name would only embolden them, while those for the use of the word claimed its strongly negative associations from the past would cause individuals to question their speech and change their minds and/or behavior. Both groups were subscribing to which theory of deviance?

Answer 32

Labeling theory

This theory posits that labeling people affects their self-image and can lead to either deviance or conformity. For example, labeling someone a Nazi can either cause them to stop their actions due to shame, or cause them to embrace the label (“I guess I am a Nazi, then.”).

Question 33

Fill in the blank.

The 1980s saw an increasing number of youths turn to drug dealing and gangs as a means of making a living. Sociologists looking for support for ________ theory would be likely to examine the socioeconomic status of these individuals and interview them about how they felt about their position in society and their money-earning options.

Answer 33

strain

Strain theory posits that the structure of society can pressure people to commit crime or other deviant behavior.

Question 34

Identify the collective behavior phenomenon illustrated below:

In the late 1990s a “Tickle-me-Elmo” doll was the most highly-sought-out Christmas gift, with people fighting over them in stores and paying up to 20 times the retail price for one.

Answer 34

fad

Fads are short-lived trends, such as the Elmo example, dabbing, planking, and most fashion trends.

Question 35

Identify the collective behavior phenomenon illustrated below:

In the 1950s, Americans were paranoid about the presence of communists in society. People were suspicious of those around them, artists were blackballed by executives in Hollywood, and rumors about invasions were ever-present.

Answer 35

mass hysteria

Mass hysteria is large-scale behavior by crowds, often due to rumors and fears affecting the group. The Salem witch trials and looting/frenzied shopping in advance of major events due to media coverage are other examples of mass hysteria.

Question 36

Identify the collective behavior phenomenon illustrated below:

In response to the Rodney King trial verdict in April 1992, thousands of people in Los Angeles gathered to protest in the streets and eventually set fires, destroyed property, and assaulted people in response to what they perceived as a miscarriage of justice.

Answer 36

riot

A riot involves a group of people who vandalize property, commit acts of violence, or otherwise lash out physically in the streets or a specific location. This is typically due to frustration with society.

Question 37

Which of the following can serve as agents of socialization?

• Family
• Mass media
• Peers
• School

Answer 37

All of the factors listed can serve as agents of socialization.

Socialization occurs throughout one’s life, but some of the most crucial socialization occurs in childhood. Family is often considered the most important agent of socialization.

Question 38

What is the term for the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society?

Answer 38

socialization

Question 39

Which type of socialization occurs in young children and is mainly influenced by close family members?

Answer 39

primary socialization

During this phase, children first learn which behaviors and values are appropriate in their society.

Question 40

Which type of socialization would occur when Pete, a high school student, gets his first job?

Answer 40

secondary socialization

This occurs when an individual joins a smaller group within society (such as a school or professional environment) and must learn the behaviors and values appropriate to that group.

Question 41

Which type of socialization is occurring when Marla, a college senior who desperately wants to work at Google, reads everything she can about Google workplace culture in her free time?

Answer 41

anticipatory socialization

This occurs when an individual begins to adopt the beliefs and behaviors appropriate to a group that he or she has not yet joined but expects or wants to join in the future.

Question 42

Which type of socialization is undergone by individuals in prison?

Answer 42

resocialization

Resocialization refers to the process of replacing one’s prior socialization with the expected behaviors and values of a new (and often dramatically different) environment. Classic examples include prison systems and military boot camp.

Question 43

True or false.

Primary socialization always begins before secondary socialization.

Answer 43

True

Primary socialization begins very early in life, while secondary socialization by nature is not initiated until the individual must socialize to a new environment (such as school).