Social Influence – Group Influences Flashcards
As described by Steiner (1972), when working on a __________ problem-solving task, each group member submits his/her solution to the problem and the group chooses the best solution from those submitted.
A. conjunctive
B. disjunctive
C. compensatory
D. discretionary
Answer B is correct. Steiner (1972) distinguished between five types of group tasks: additive, compensatory, disjunctive, conjunctive, and discretionary. A disjunctive task requires group members to choose the best solution, decision, or judgment from those offered by each group member, which is usually the one offered by the most competent member.
The risk for social loafing is greatest when:
A. the group is large and only the final group product will be evaluated.
B. the group is large and each group member’s contribution will be evaluated.
C. the group is small and only the final group product will be evaluated.
D. the group is small and each group member’s contribution will be evaluated.
Answer A is correct. Social loafing occurs when members of a group exert less effort when working on a task than they would have exerted if working alone. It’s more likely to occur when a group is large and the contributions of individual group members will not be identified or evaluated.
Albert is usually a quiet person who abhors violence but, when he attends a large political rally and many of the protesters start yelling loudly and acting violently, Albert becomes uncharacteristically loud and aggressive. Albert’s behavior at the rally is best explained by which of the following?
A. social facilitation
B. bystander effect
C. groupthink
D. deindividuation
Answer D is correct. Deindividuation is “the loss of a person’s sense of individuality and the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior” (Kassin, Fein, & Markus, 2016, p. 321). It occurs when people can act anonymously because they’re in a large crowd or because their identities are disguised.
Social inhibition is more likely than social facilitation to occur when:
A. the crowd is large.
B. the crowd is small.
C. the task is easy.
D. the task is difficult.
Answer D is correct. Social inhibition is a decrease in performance that’s caused by the mere presence of others and affects difficult and unfamiliar tasks.
