Small Group Processes Flashcards
What is a group? !
The term “group” is an inference to a “social group” –> social groups share some form of connectedness or unity.
Group: Two or more people who INTERACT AND INFLUENCE (Shaw 1981)
BUT:
John Turner (1987) argues that group members do not need to INTERACTin order to feel being a “group”.
–> They even don’t need to be in one another’s presence.
–> Group members simply have to IDENTIFY as a group and perceive themselves as “us” in contrast to “them”.
Why do groups exist and what holds them together? (include: group cohesiveness)
Why do groups exist?
* To meet a need to BELONG
* To provide INFORMATION and decrease the uncertainty
* To supply REWARDS that are not easy to gain as an individual
* To accomplish GOALS that are hard to reach as an individual
What Holds a Group Together?
* Group cohesiveness: a sense of team SPIRIT and ”we-ness”
* Group cohesiveness is about PERCEIVING THINGS IN COMMON with other group members.
–> It is attraction to the GROUP as a whole, rather than simply liking some individuals within it (an emotional investment)
–> The more cohesive the group = more likely it is to remain together
–> More likely to follow group norms in a cohesive group, as well as more likely to receive punishment for disobeying the group norms
What are the two examples of influence
1. Collective influence OF a group
2. Collective influence IN a group
Influence OF a group - social facilitation and social loafing
IN a group - group polarisation and minority influence
What is Triplett’s Social Facilitation theory !
Norman Triplett (1898) noticed cyclists’ times were faster when they raced together than when each raced alone against the clock and designed one of the first social psychology experiments.
–> when we do something in the PRESENCE of others, it can BOOST our performance
Triplett (1989) EXPERIMENT: asked children to wind string on a fishing reel as rapidly as possible. They wound faster when they worked with non-competitive individual co-participants than when they worked alone.
→ Others’ mere presence improves the speed and the accuracy of simple motor task performance.
→ Social facilitation also occurs with animals: in the presence of other animals, ants excavate more sand, chickens eat more grain, and rats pair mate more often.
Social Facilitation Effect: our performance increases in the presence of others
BUT: Other early studies revealed that on some tasks the presence of others HINDERS performance: cockroaches and parakeets learn mazes more slowly, and people were bad at learning nonsense syllables, completing a maze, and performing complex math problems.
After years of seemingly contradictory findings, Robert Zajonc (1965) improved the theory and reconciled the findings
What is Zajonc’s (1965) updated social facilitation theory !
Increased AROUSAL enhances performance (CORRECT RESPONSES) on EASY tasks for which the most LIKELY- dominant- response is CORRECT.
On COMPLEX tasks, for which the CORRECT answer is not DOMINANT, increased arousal promotes INCORRECT responses.
What is social loafing? !
is a tendency for people to exert LESS EFFORT when they pool their efforts towards a COMMON GOAL than when they are individually accountable.
In social loafing, individuals believed they were evaluated only when they acted alone.
* The group situation decreased evaluation apprehension; therefore RESPONSIBILITY IS DIFFUSED across all group members.
When being observed increases evaluation concerns, social facilitation occurs; when being lost in a crowd decreases evaluation concerns, social loafing occurs
Whether in a group or not, people exert more effort when their outputs are individually identifiable.
Examples of social facilitation and social loafing in everyday life !
Study Groups - when you’re sat with others working you more more (facilitation)
Group Projects - when you are graded as a group likely to do less work (loafing)
Cultural Phenomenon:
o Collectivist cultures less likely to be influenced by social loafing in group work (in some studies)
o Success of the group is as important as individual success
In the same situation BOTH can occur: depending on how much arousal is being created!
- Being monitored = higher arousal produced = increased performance = social facilitation occurs
- Lost in the crowd = lower arousal produced = decreased performance = social loafing occurs
What is group polarisation !
- A principle that helps to explain both bad (e.g., conflict) and good (e.g., risk aversion) outcomes of small group dynamics: in-group discussion typically enhances group members’ initial learnings and the average inclination of group members.
–> does discussion with like-minded people amplify pre-existing attitudes
Theory predicts that discussion with strengthen an attitude shared by its group members
Polarisation in everyday life:
Like-minded groups & echo-chambers → In everyday life people associate mostly with others whose attitudes are similar to their own. !Nerds become nerdier!
What three spaces does group polarisation often occur? !
- Schools
- * “Accentuation” effect: Over time, initial differences among groups of college students become accentuated. If the first-year students at College X are initially more intellectual than those at College Y, that gap is likely to increase by the time they graduate.- The gaps between the sets widen, not just educationally but also socially!
- Communities
- Where you live, and who you live close to, can influence your beliefs and values.
- Liberal places attract liberals and become more so.
- Neighbourhoods become echo chambers. - Internet
- The lack of visual cues and the increase in anonymity led to raised group polarization.
- Fake news, misinformation, and conspiracy theories → impact of group polarization and small-group discussions → discussing a rumour with our online friends give it credibility and lead to group polarization
What is informational influence?
–> Conformity occurring when PEOPLE ACCEPT EVIDENCE about reality provided by other people
* Willingness to accept information offered by someone else (we consider to be a credible and reliable source) as accurate evidence of the truth → SHIFT IN ATTITUDE
Active participation in discussion produces more attitude change than does passive listening.
* Participants and observers hear the same ideas, but when participants express them in their own words, the verbal commitment magnifies the impact.
Examples of informational influence:
- Jury duties
- Online shopping
- What else?
What is normative influence? ! (Highlighted: Injunctive and Descriptive Norms)
- Conformity occurs when we conform to the expectations of others and do what we “OUGHT” to do → norms of groups SHAPE OUR BEHAVIOURS
- Seeking rewards such as social acceptance and APPROVAL and avoiding PUNISHMENT such as social exclusion
Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory suggests that “we humans want to evaluate our opinions and abilities, something we can do by COMPARING our views with others” → We’re most persuaded by people in our “reference groups” – groups identify with.
Injunctive group norms → perception of the APPROVAL of behaviour by others (e.g., perceived approval of drinking behaviour by family and friends are associated with actual drinking behaviour)
Descriptive group norms → perception of the PREVALANCE of behaviour among others (e.g., the perception that others are following COVID-19 health measures predicted compliance with health measures)
–> issue: strong descriptive group norms may lead to social loafing
*Injunctive Norms: These norms represent what individuals should do, reflecting the group’s values, moral standards, and approval of behaviors.
Descriptive Norms: These norms reflect what individuals actually do, providing a model of typical behavior observed within the group.*
What is minority influence (include: the three determinants)
Minority influence is the process by which a smaller group or individual persuades the majority to accept their perspective, leading to changes in attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors. It typically requires:
1: CONSISTENCY
2. SELF-CONFIDENCE
3. DEFECTION
- Consistency
Consistency:
A minority that consistently maintains its position over time demonstrates commitment and coherence, which makes their perspective more credible and persuasive to the majority.
* People do not like INCONSISTENCY, CONFLICT and disagreement. When a minority tries to influence a majority, they capitalize on this by CREATING UNCERTINATY and anxiety among majority group members.
- Moscovici et al., 1969 → the blue-green studies concluded that minority consistency creates doubt and offers a possible alternative way of looking at things. (showed that a consistent minority labeling blue slides as green influenced 8% of the majority)
The only way to restore certainty and consistency is for the majority to shift to the view of the minority
- Self-Confidence
Confident and assertive presentation of their views signals that the minority is certain and knowledgeable, which can inspire others to reconsider their own stance.
- Defections from the Majority
When individuals from the majority switch to the minority’s position, it weakens the majority’s perceived unanimity and reinforces the minority’s legitimacy and influence.
