Lecture 8 - Intragroup & Intergroup Dynamics Flashcards
What is a social group?
2 or more people who share some common characteristic (or goal) that is socially meaningful to themselves or others
How do groups differ?
they differ with regard to how much INTERACTION & INTERDEPENDENCE exists between members
What is interdependence?
the extent to which each group member’s thoughts, feelings and actions impact the others
What are the 2 types of interdependence?
task interdependence - where group members rely on each other for mastery of material rewards through the performance of collective
tasks
social interdependence - where group members rely on each other for feelings of connectedness, respect & acceptance.
What are the 2 main types of grouos?
1) primary / intimacy groups - family, friends; focused on social interdependence
2) secondary / task groups - work teams, committees; but social interdependence can influence their performance of tasks (e.g if group members don’t get along)
What did Tuckman (1985) describe?
the typical stages of efforts to coordinate task and social interdependence
- forming
- storming
- norming
- performing
- adjourning
Fat Sam Navigates Peaceful Alleyways
What is 1. Forming?
where individuals come together to form a group
members try to understand the nature of their interdependence, group structure, and group goals
usually have a group leader
What is 2. Storming?
negotiations occur around nature of group member roles + responsibilities
involves conflict (relationship, task, process conflict)
How do conflicts impact performance?
Relationship and process conflict DECREASE performance
Task conflict INCREASES performance
What is 3. Norming?
where group norms emerge
characterized by consensus, harmony, stability, commitment, and cohesion + group related social identity
trust + commitment are high; leadership viewed as normal + acceptable
What is 4. Performing?
where members cooperate to solve problems, make decision, or produce outputs
involves exchange of info, productive resolution of disagreements, and a continued commitment to group goals
What is 5. Adjourning?
the dissolution of the group
when the group has fulfilled its purpose, or was set to end at a particular time
often marked by a period of evaluating wok, sharing feelings about group
can be difficult if commitment made is important to identity of group members
What is group socialization?
refers to the cognitive, affective, and behavioural changes that occur as individuals join and leave groups
What were the 3 mutual processes proposed by Moreland and Levine (that occur when the individual leaves and joins groups)?
1) investigation - trying to seek out info about the group & group seeking info about potential member
2) socialisation - where group tries to mould the individual into one of them (team player); member acquires and internalizes group knowledge, adopts norms, becomes fully committed + identity
3) maintenance - now a fully committed group member, the individual takes on a specific role in the group
What is social facilitation?
an increase in the likelihood of highly accessible responses due to the presence of others - we show an increased effort in the presence of others
What did Markus (1978) find about social facilitation?
that mere presence (others simply being present) and being watched (attentive audience) improves the performance of familiar actions but impairs the performance of unfamiliar actions
Why does social facilitation happen?
- the presence of others can INCREASE AROUSAL - being watched can lead to EVALUATION APPREHENSION, or DISTRACTION
- increased arousal can lead to better performance for well-rehearsed, accessible responses (DOMINANT RESPONSES) but worse performance for novel, complex, inaccessible responses (NON-DOMINANT RESPONSES)
What is social loafing?
the tendency to exert less effort on a task when done in a group that when done alone
Social loafing and social facilitation describe the ___________ and not the performance itself
motivational process
What did Latane, Williams, and Harkins (1979) find about social loafing?
There was a decrease in clapping / cheering loudness as group size increased - performance was highest when participants were alone
How can social loathing be reduced?
- make the task more interesting / involving
- increase participant accountability
- reduce group size
- increase commitment to / identification with the group
Do collectivist or individualist cultures show more loading?
People from collectivist cultures show less loafing than those from individualistic cultures
What is de-individualization?
refers to the psychological state in which group or social identity completely dominates personal / individual identity so that group norms become maximally salient
one acts as a prototypical group member
What causes de-individualisation?
caused by anonymity, wearing uniforms, being in a crowd of group members, or just being one amongst similar others
INCREASES accessibility of group norms, decreases accessibility of PERSONAL standards
What did Johnson & Downing (1979) find about de-individualisation?
They found that deindividualisation (anonymity) exacerbates the effects of group norms on behaviour – people were more likely to administer shocks (adhering to group norms) when deindividualized (more anonymous) or wearing uniforms
What is social categorization?
refers to the basic human tendency to classify stimuli in different categories
social groups influence what we think, feel & do, & form one of the key bases of social perception
can be automatic (we view others based on gender, age, race. . .)
What is self-categorization?
refers to the process of seeing oneself as a group member
- esp when accessibility is high (experiencing direct reminders of group membership - i’m a unimelb student)
- esp when salience is high (when we are the minority)
What are some processes that make up group socialization?
1) social facilitation
2) social loafing
3) de-individuation
4) social categorization
5) self-categorization
What is the category differentiation model proposed by Doise (1978)
we tend to over-estimate differences b/w our group and other groups (intergroup differentiation) as well as overestimate similarities b/w ourselves & other group members (within group homogeneity)
What did Platz & Hosch (1988) find about outgroup homogeneity?
convenience store clerks were better at remembering members of their own racial group
outgroup homogeneity = seeing outgroup members as all alike makes it difficult to identify a single member of that group
Define stereotype
a cognitive representation of impressions/expectancies about a social group (probable behaviour, traits, features)
Distinguish between stereotypes and prejudices
stereotype = belief
prejudice = evaluation (attitudes) of a social group
or its members
discrimination = behaviour
What did Duncan (1976) find about stereotyping?
had white American participants witness an ambiguous shove
(aggressive or playful) between confederates of different social categories (white vs African American). The stereotype of the group to which the shover belonged
influenced their interpretation – aggression was part of the African American stereotype.
What is the stereotype content model (Fiske et al, 2002)?
suggests that stereotypes tend to be formed around 2 broad dimensions of content - WARMTH, and COMPETENCE
4 types of stereotypes:
1) paternalistic
2) admiration
3) envious
4) contemptuous
What is enough to activate a stereotype?
can be automatically activated
even the mere presence of a social category cue (e.g. category label, salient category feature) can be enough
What is the implicit associations test (IAT)?
an implicit measure of the associations between social categories + attitudes (prejudice, self-esteem)
work on a response-time paradigm which tells us something about the underlying stereotypes
What is ingroup favouritism?
we tend to have more favourable attitudes and behaviours towards groups to which we belong than to groups to which we don’t belong
When does ingroup favouritism occur?
under minimal conditions (minimal group paradigm)
Tajfel et al – mere categorization based on minimal group conditions elicited ingroup favouritism
linked to social identity theory
What is social identity theory?
we are composed of personal and group-related (social) identities
we tend to have a positive self-concept (valuing me and mine) - in order to maintain positive self-esteem
motivated to increase positivity of ingroups
What is an example of group serving biases? (What did Oskamp & Harty propose)
actions are deemed positive when performed by ingroup, but not when performed by outgroup (killing when conducted by the ingroup versus conducted by the enemy outgroup)
What is the ultimate attribution error (group serving bias)?
ingroup positive behaviours are attributed to disposition (internal factors) whereas outgroup positive behaviours are attributed to situation (external factors). AND VICE VERSA
Pettigrew, 1979
Ariyanto et al (2009) - what did they find about ultimate attribution error?
a study where Muslims or
Christians read about either Muslims or Christians doing bad things to one another.
Participants attributed the violent behaviour of their ingroup to a history of conflict in the area, self-defence etc (situational explanations), whereas when asked to attribute the behaviour of the outgroup their explanations were all dispositional (e.g.
because the outgroup are bad people, because they are fanatics).
This was done to
enhance/maintain the positive image of the group, and therefore maintain/enhance
their own self-esteem.
What is escalation?
group categorization lays the groundwork for conflict
other factors escalate the US vs THEM mentality (threat, competition)
What does realistic conflict theory say about competition?
suggests that intergroup hostility arises from competition amongst groups for scarce (& thus valued) material resources
What did Taylor & Moriarty find about realistic conflict theory?
divided participants into two groups, and asked them to
problem solve for reward.
There were two conditions
– interdependent vs competitive.
Ingroup favouritism was exacerbated under the
competition condition.
What is intergroup threat? And what does integrated threat theory suggest?
suggests that outgroups pose a range of threats:
1) REALISTIC - material wellbeing
2) SYMBOLIC - threat to system of values
3) INTERGROUP ANXIETY - feelings of anxiety people experience during intergroup interactions associated with negative outcomes for the self (embarrassed, rejected, ridiculed)
What is a good method of prejudice reduction?
CONTACT
the more contact one has with an outgroup, the less prejudice one expresses - can either be extended contact or imagined contact
When is contact (as a method of prejudice reduction) most effective?
when people are of equal status, have shared goals, and the contact is sanctioned by an authority, and there is an absence of competition
How does contact help to reduce prejudice?
reducing anxiety about the outgroup, and increasing empathy / perspective taking
however, direct contact does NOT help by increasing knowledge about the other group
What is extended contact?
knowing that other ingroup members have outgroup friends can reduce intergroup bias
Wright et al found that friendliness was the only condition out of 3 that led to less prejudice towards outgroup
What did Galinsky & Moskowitz (2000) find about empathy & perspective taking in reducing prejudice?
formed groups based on the minimal group paradigm,
and found that taking the perspective of an outgroup member reduces ingroup
favouritism.
How does changing categorization of outgroup members reduce prejudice?
RECATEGORIATION = us vs them becomes ‘we’
DECATEGORISATION = ‘they’ becoming individuals
What did Gaertner et al find about changing categorisation and prejudice?
Gaertner et al. (1989) found that in-group favouritism decreased both when participants
were re-categorized into one new, subordinate group with new structure & identity, as well as when decategorized into separate individuals with nicknames. Reductions in favouritism were highest in the de-categorization (separate individuals) condition
What is one final method of reducing prejudice?
PROMOTING COOPERATION (positive interdependence / shared goals)
ROBBER’S CAVE: When cooperative interaction was introduced, with superordinate goals (shared
goals that can only be achieved if the groups work together), intergroup conflict was markedly decreased
