group structure and processes lecture 1

Question 1

what is the main question we are looking into

Answer 1

what is it about a collection of people that makes it a group

Question 2

what are some differences in groups

Answer 2

small vs large
organised vs loose
formal vs informal
long lived vs short lived

Question 3

what is a group according to johnson and johnson 1987

Answer 3

groups…
-collective of interacting individuals
-two or more people
-collection of interdependent individuals
-individuals work toward a common goal
-roles and norms
-influence between individuals in a collection

Question 4

what is group cohesiveness

Answer 4

how the group ‘hangs together’
hogg and vaughn 2018: property of group that binds people as group members to one another and to the group as a whole, giving solidarity and oneness

Question 5

what is cohesiveness according to festinger 1950

Answer 5

-total field of forces which act upon a member to remain in the group
-looked into the bonds, attraction, friendships etc which is key to group solidarity

Question 6

how did festinger look into group cohesiveness and what are the criticisms of the concept

Answer 6

evaluating how much each member likes others in the group
criticisms
-reducing cohesion to interpersonal attraction removes idea of the group
-focuses on individual bonds not group (Hogg and Turner)
+ Mudrack: psychology looks at individuals
-Hogg: individual attraction does not explain group solidarity, not everyone in the group will know each other e.g football fans (festinger)

Question 7

self categorisation can account for…

Answer 7

(Turner 1985) group cohesiveness

Question 8

what is the basic unit of categorisation

Answer 8

prototype

Question 9

what is a prototype

Answer 9

fuzzy representation of an average or ideal object/group

Question 10

how do groups and prototypes work together

Answer 10

people categorise based on how similar they are to the group’s prototype
-categorisation of people into groups de-emphasises individual differences between people due to depersonalisation
-allows us to perceive ourselves and others as part of a group

Question 11

what is depersonalisation

Answer 11

people in a group are perceived as more similar than they actually are

Question 12

how does the cognitive system facilitate categorisation

Answer 12

Turner
-maximising similarities between individuals who match a prototype (assimilation)
-maximising differences between individuals who match different prototypes (contrast) - people in diff groups seem more diff than they are

Question 13

how does cognition and evaluation operate

Answer 13

-category relevant lines
-the category matters to the way info is processed and evaluated
-this accounts for prejudice to out groups members and favouritism to in group members

Question 14

advantages of self categorisation for group cohesiveness

Answer 14

+ cohesiveness is not simply reduced down to interpersonal attraction
+ applicable to groups of all size
+ although its at the individual level it does not lose the group concept

Question 15

what is group socialisation

Answer 15

-looks into the effect of group on behaviour
-Hogg and vaughn 2018: relationship between group and members describes passage of members through group with changing roles

Question 16

what is moreland and levines 1982/1984 group socialisation model

Answer 16

-how people pass through groups
-bell shaped curve
-4 markers: entry, acceptance, divergence, exit
-5 stages: investigation (to be member), socialisation (new member), maintenance (full member), resocialisation (marginal member), remembrance (ex member)

Question 17

what are norms 2008

Answer 17

-shared beliefs about appropriate conduct of group member (Hogg and vaughn)

Question 18

definition for norms 2018

Answer 18

hogg and vaughn
-attitudinal and behavioural uniformities that define group membership and differentiate between groups

Question 19

are norms influential in groups

Answer 19

yes, strongly influence behaviour
-framework of acceptable behaviours for group members

Question 20

effects of group norms study

Answer 20

Newcomb 1965
-looked into political attitudes at liberal US college
-1st yrs favoured conservative candidate (parental/hometown influence)
-3rd and 4th yrs favour liberal candidate (taken the liberal norms of the college on board influencing voting behaviour)

Question 21

2 studies showing norms and social influence

Answer 21

sherif autokinetic effect
asch line study

Question 22

sherif autokinetic effect

Answer 22

1936
frame of distance closer to estimates of group than to personal frame of reference
-we look to other for cues in unknown situations and use them as a source of info

Question 23

asch line study

Answer 23

1952
unambiguous task
-first few trials confederates call out correct answer, then all make the same mistake
-25% pp made no errors (no conformity to norms)
-28% pp made 8/12 errors
-47% made 1-7 errors

Question 24

what are explicit norms

Answer 24

formalised rules governing behaviour of group

Question 25

what are implicit norms

Answer 25

unwritten rules of social conduct

Question 26

study for implicit norms

Answer 26

Harold Garfinkel 1967
-student pp violate everyday norms
-40 pp act as lodgers in their own home and engage in the act for 15 mins to 1hr
-pp instructed to conduct themselves in polite way, use formal address, speak only when spoken to in their own homes amongst their families
-caused rapid breakdown of cordial family relations

Question 27

what are roles

Answer 27

differentiate group members/ division of labour in group eg. leader and followers
-roles function to further group goals

Question 28

hogg and vaughn roles

Answer 28

patterns of behaviour that distinguish different activities within the group that interrelate to one another for the greater good of the group

Question 29

roles and behaviour

Answer 29

-leadership is a group based role:influences leaders behaviour with respect to subordinates

Question 30

gersick and hackman 1990

Answer 30

-describe how roles become routine which may cause a problem
-being in a role habit can cause mistakes eg. flight crew so into their given role they couldnt get out of the fixed role resulting in plane crash

Question 31

study demonstrating roles and behaviour

Answer 31

zimbardo prison experiment