Psychology A2 - concept four - social

Question 1

group cohesion

Answer 1

-cohesive groups members stick together to pursue common goals – enjoy being in group
-group cohesion = greater when group members perceive themselves to be similar in external and internal characteristics
-creates trust and communication which leads to more cohesion which leads to more trust and communication (virtuous cycle)
-however, groups are susceptible to group think

Question 2

three categories of roles

Answer 2

-increases group cohesion (Benne and Sheats, 1948)
1. task roles – focus on getting work done
2. social roles – focus on creating harmony in group relationships
3. procedural roles – keeping the group ‘on task’
-weakens group cohesion
1. individualist roles – seek to undermine the group

Question 3

common goals

Answer 3

-well-functioning groups share goals
-dynamic that makes groups more cohesive, increases sense of ‘working together’
-goals = beneficial, motivate group members to increase their efforts, provide direction and focus, give meanings to tasks
-goals also provide standard against which to measure progress, evaluate performance and resolve conflicts

Question 4

groupthink

Answer 4

-Janis (1982), investigated decision making in cohesive groups
-found a strong need for members to agree with each other, regardless of whether decisions are correct or not
-members stop analysing decision and look for weaknesses, convince themselves reasons for decisions are sound
-refuse to listen to alternatives
-more likely in situations of stress and when decision is important and when group members are isolated from external influences

Question 5

social facilitation

Answer 5

-when working on simple tasks, presence of others can enhance individual’s performance
-Zajonc (1965), believe other people are observing our task performance we become psychologically and physiologically aroused
-arousal is greater wen we believe it is being evaluated by others
-state of arousal enhances our performance of simple, learned responses
-unhelpful in complex tasks

Question 6

evaluation: practical applications (+)

Answer 6

-each concept has produced practical applications in various real-world situations
-Janis (1982), suggested ways to avoid groupthink = encouraging criticism, involving people from outside the group and breaking the group into subgroups
-greater cohesion in therapy groups can reduce symptoms of depression (Crowe and Grenyer, 2008)
-findings show that improving intra-group dynamics can have benefits for individuals, groups and organisations

Question 7

evaluation: contrary evidence (-)

Answer 7

-evidence to challenge intra-group dynamics
-example, group roles are rarely clear-cut
-can be vague and overlap between members who don’t understand role in group
-Gowen (1985) found that group performance on a task improved by 12% when members worked towards group goals
-when allowed to work towards group and individual goals, there was a 31% improvement
-findings show that the links between intra-group dynamics and performance are complex and not fully understood

Question 7

evaluation: research support (+)

Answer 7

-evidence to support some of intra-group dynamic
-Thürmer et al (2017) found that when group members believe their contribution to shared goals is recognised by others, group preforms better
-members focus on the group’s goals rather than their own personal goals
-groupthink can be avoided by assigning a group member the role of ‘devil’s advocate’, challenge the group consensus by asking awkward questions (MacDougall and Baum 1997)
-strong evidence that intra-group dynamics have a real impact on functioning of groups