Psy15 Chapter 12: Groups

Question 1

social facilitation

Answer 1

Initially a term for enhanced performance in the presence of others; now a broader term for the effect - positive or negative - of the presence of others on performance

Question 2

dominant response

Answer 2

In an individual’s hierarchy of responses, the response he or she is most likely to make

Question 3

evaluation apprehension

Answer 3

People’s concern about how they might appear in the eyes of others - that is, about being evaluated

Question 4

distraction-conflict theory

Answer 4

A theory based on the idea that being aware of another person’s presence creates a conflict between attending to that person and attending to the task at hand, and that this attentional conflict is arousing and produces social facilitation effects

Question 5

social loafing

Answer 5

The tendency to exert less effort when working on a group task in which individual contributions cannot be monitored

Question 6

groupthink

Answer 6

A kind of faulty thinking by highly cohesive groups in which the critical scrutiny that should be devoted to the issues at hand is subverted by social pressures to reach consensus

Question 7

self-censorship

Answer 7

The tendency to withhold information or opinions in group discussions

Question 8

risky shift

Answer 8

The tendency for groups to make riskier decisions than individuals would

Question 9

power

Answer 9

The ability to control our own outcomes and those of others; the freedom to act

Question 10

status

Answer 10

The outcome of an evaluation of attributes that produces differences in respect and prominence, which in part determines an individual’s power within a group

Question 11

authority

Answer 11

Power that derives from institutionalized roles or arrangements

Question 12

dominance

Answer 12

Behavior enacted with the goal of acquiring or demonstrating power

Question 13

approach/inhibition theory

Answer 13

A theory that maintains that high-power individuals are inclined to go after their goals and make quick judgments, whereas low-power individuals are more likely to constrain their behavior and attend to others carefully

Question 14

deindividuation

Answer 14

The reduced sense of individual identity accompanied by diminished self-regulation that comes over people when they are in a large group

Question 15

individuation

Answer 15

An enhanced sense of individual identity produced by focusing attention on the self, which generally leads people to act carefully and deliberately and in accordance with their sense of propriety and values

Question 16

self-awareness theory

Answer 16

A theory that maintains that when people focus their attention inward on themselves, they become concerned with self-evaluation and how their current behavior conforms to their internal standards and values

Question 17

spotlight effect

Answer 17

People’s conviction that other people are attending to them - to their appearance and behavior - more than they actually are