S1 Topic 2 - Groups

Question 1

What do group dynamics rely on? (5)

Answer 1

Type of group
Personality of members
Environment
Aims
Type of leadership

Question 2

What are the 3 types of roles within a group?
Give examples (9)

Answer 2

Task roles - e.g., initiates conversation/gives opinions/asks for info

Maintenance roles - e.g., encourages/facilitates participation of others/makes compromises

Individual roles - e.g., dominates/uses sarcasm/prevents consensus

Question 3

Explain the social cohesion model in terms of:
1. How the group is formed
2. The underlying basis of group formation
3. What the group becomes

Answer 3

1. a group is formed after individuals come together, interact and develop relationships
2. the mutual attraction and cohesion between members
3. face-face interactions, attraction and influence

Question 4

Explain the social identification model in terms of:

1. definitions of a social group (2)
2. what the group consists of
3. the basis of the group

Answer 4

1. 2 or more individuals who share a common social identification of themselves OR individuals who perceive themselves to be members of the same social category
2. a collective perception of their own social unity
3. categorization and identification

Question 5

What are the 5 principles of the social identity theory?

Answer 5

1. Categorization
2. Identification
3. Social Comparison
4. Psychological distinctiveness
5. Competition and intergroup conflict

Question 6

What was the purpose of minimal group experiments?

Answer 6

showing how minimal conditions which are virtually meaningless, distinguish between groups and bring out the tendency to favour one’s own group at the expense of others

Question 7

What are the 4 stages of group development?

Answer 7

1. Forming
2. Storming
3. Norming
4. Performing

Question 8

When presenting in front of a group, what does a dominant or non-dominant response result in? (2)

Answer 8

Dominant - social facilitation
Non-dominant - social inhibition

Question 9

When performing a task with other people, how will performance be in each of these conditions:

1. competing with someone somewhat better
2. competing with someone worse
3. competing with someone vastly better

Answer 9

1. better or worse
2. normal
3. normal

Question 10

What are 5 group processes?

Answer 10

Group polarization
Minority influence
Groupthink
Intergroup conflict
Group biases

Question 11

Explain the Risky Shift Hypothesis (group polarization) (2)

Answer 11

groups are more conservative in their decisions than their individual members are

if the initial group opinions are conservative, the shift will be towards a more extreme conservative opinion

Question 12

Why does group polarization happen? (2)

Answer 12

members of a group associate particular attitudinal positions with their group membership

these positions are perceived as more extreme than they actually are - these perceptions lay the ground work for group polarization

Question 13

Explain minority influence

Answer 13

if the minority of the group presents a united front, the majority will attribute strong commitment to the minority - leading the majority group to be less resistant to change

Question 14

What conditions are necessary for groupthink to occur? (5)

Answer 14

• High cohesiveness
• Insulation of the group
• Lack of methodical procedures
• Directive leadership
• High stress with low hope for a better solution

Question 15

Distinguish between fraternal relative deprivation and egotistical relative deprivation

Answer 15

Fraternal RD - individual fells that their group is deprived compared to another group

Egotistical RD - individual feels deprived compared to other individuals