Week 12 Flashcards
Define group
- a collection of individuals who have relationships to each other that make them interdependent to some significant degree
Purposes of group living
- protection from predators
- efficiency in acquiring food
- assistance with rearing children
- defense against human aggressors
Social facilitation
- the effect of presence of others on performance
Evidence supporting that having people around enhances performance
- Triplett - brought 40 kids and had them turn fishing reels as fast as they could
- they turned reels faster when they were around other kids doing the same thing
Evidence supporting that having people around impedes performance
- Allport - students asked to refute philosophical arguments as best as they could in a 5 min period, they did better when working alone than with a group of
When does social facilitation occur?
- when a task is simple or well-learned.
Dominant response
- the most likely response of an individual that is in a person’s hierarchy of possible responses in any context
Zajonc’s model of social facilitation
- when the mere presence of others acts as arousal, which causes an increase in dominant response tendencies
- depending on wether its simple task or difficult, performance is facilitated, or is impaired.
Micheals et al study
- researchers secretly watched pool players who were playing alone at a student union; rated as “skilled” or “unskilled”
•The researchers then walked up to the pool table and watched them
•Skilled players started playing better
•Unskilled players started playing worse
Why does social facilitation occur?
- Evaluation apprehension - we dont wanna look bad, so if others can evaluate us, we have increased arousal
- mere presence - simply having other people around makes us very alert and vigilant, and we need to be able to act fast.
Social lofting
- exerting less effort when working on a group task in which individual contributions cannot be monitored because other people are around
Free riders
- people who benefit from the group give little in return.
Culture/gender differences in social loafing
- women do it less than men
- east asains do it less than westerners
Groupthink
A style of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering facts realistically.
Elements of Janis’ groupthink hypothesis
- antecedent conditions
- motivation
- symptoms of groupthink
- symptoms of defective decision making
Even if a group’s most important goal is a correct decision, individual members may be more concerned with what? (4)
- being judged by others
- pleasing the leader
- not hurting other people’s feelings
- avoiding responsibility if things go wrong
Examples of antecedent conditions
- directive leadership
- high cohesiveness
- lack of procedures for info search and appraisal.
How was JFK and the Bay of pigs an example of groupthink?
- many serious flaws present, as top advisors were unwilling to challenge bad ideas cus it might disturb perceived group agreement - but they still approved it.
- shows that logical thinking was not in play. - it was mainly how advisors perceived that info - cohesive thinking overrides logical thinking.
How do you prevent groupthink?
- group leaders need to remain impartial. - members try to please them if they make their opinions known
- group members must seek divergent opinions
- create subgroups that meet separately beforehand
- seek anonymous opinions.
Group polarization
Group decisions tend to be more extreme than those made by individuals - people are more inclined to go in the direction they are already inclined to go
Moscovici and Zavalloni
- French participants expressed opinions about (a) General Charles DeGaulle and (b) Americans
•First, individually
•Then, as a group
•The group opinion of CDG was even more positive as a group
•The group opinion of Americans was even more negative as a group
•Group polarization more likely occurs when individuals already have strong opinions
Why does group polarization occur?
- when people share their ideas, everyone gets exposed to new arguments
- you probably dont think of all possible argument in favor of your opinion, so these new arguments will strengthen your original opinion.
Why does group polarisation occur in context of social comparison?
- if the decision is risky, you wanna think you were slightly riskier than the avg person.
What problems do hierarchies solve for living?
- provide rules for dividing resources
- Guide group discussion and decision making
- provide order
- motivated selfless action
How do leaders benefit their group?
- provide skills and expertise
- socially skilled
- extroverted
- emotional intelligent
- generous/selfless
Elements of power
- power
- status
- authority
- dominance
Approach-inhibition theory of power
- power comes with a sense of control and freedom
Eg high power would be taking quick actions and approaches, sometimes rash, whereas low power would be inaction, careful judgments, inhibition etc
What is the influence of power on perceptions?
Powerful people:
- stereotype more
- less accurate in judging emotions
- power explains gender differences in empathic accuracy
- are more flexible in their thoughts and are better able to shift attention between tasks.
Characteristics of high power individuals
- less likely to take other people’s perspectives
- less careful in judging others
- less emotional intelligence
Characteristics of low-power people
- less likely to speak up and more likely to inhibit their speech
- more likely go make careful judgments
Deindividuation
- a reduced sense of individual identity within a group, diminished sense of individual responsibility and increased chance of impulsive behaviour
What can happen in deindividuation in a large group
- lower chance of a person being singled out
- people feel less accountable for actions
- there is more compliance to group norms
Zimbardo’s model of deindividuation
Spotlight
The assumption that our own appearance and behaviors are being carefully evaluated by others at all time, when in fact, most of the time they aren’t
Spotlight effect study
Participants arrived individually; asked to put on an unflattering t-shirt with a large image of Barry Manilow
•They then had to enter another room with a group of students filling out questionnaires; left the room shortly after
•What percent of those other students would remember what was on your shirt?
•What they thought: 50%
•How many really remembered: 25%
Aggression
Any action with the intent to harm
Hostile aggression
Motivated by anger, hostility, or genuinely wanting to hurt others
Instrumental aggression
- motivated by something other than hostility, like wanting to get attention
Situational determinants of aggression (5)
- hot weather
- video games/media
- weapon presence
- social rejection
- income inequality
Dehumanization
Tendency to attribute nonhuman characteristics to outgroup members
2 types of dehumanization
- human nature - qualities that distinguish us from inanimate objects
- human uniqueness - things that distinguish us from other nonhuman species
How does dehumanization increase aggression?
- its easier to harm others who are seen as less human - eg using dehumanizing language in things like ‘illegal aliens’
Catharsis
- the release of a strong emotion, like anger, to purge oneself of the impulse to behave inappropriately
WHY is aggression heightened when the wether is hot
- increased temp = increased arousal, acts as a primer for anger and aggression
When is violent behavior increased when people are exposed to media violence
- when people identify with perpetrator
- violence is portrayed against bad people
Media violence limits in lab setting
- measure of aggression (electric shocks) dont mimic real world examples
- studies only capture short term effects on aggression
- contradictory results
How does social rejection increase aggression
It activates a threat defense system - increasing cortisol, distress etc, as it a strong evolutionary benefit to social groups puts pressure on those who are not in them.
How does income inequality increase aggression
- might pressure males into fiercer competitions for access to economic resources and mates
- social rejection - people at the bottom tend to feel left out
- lack of cohesion - creates an us vs them mentality
What are the construal processes that have a role in aggression
- anger
- dehumanization
- distancing from the causes of aggression
;Once anger, what do people tend to do
- think that:
- things are more unfair
- have more negative intentions towards them
- of more ways of inflicting harm onto others
Underlying theory of anger affecting aggression
- the effects of anger influence the way we construe certain things - so situational determinants will produce aggression only when angry
What is the role of loyalty in dehumanization
- more likely to dehumanize others when we feel strongly committed to a social group, even if benign
What is a culture of honor
- when its members have a strong concern about their reputation for toughness etc.
What can a culture of honor lead to?
- a hypersensitivity of insults and a willingness to use violence to avenge anything that is perceived as an insult, or wrong.
How is evolution linked to aggression?
- men have to compete for resources more
- behaviors of parental care can help offspring survive - increasing inclusive fitness
Link between gender and aggression
- Men tend to be more violent than women - accounting for most rape, murder and assault arrests.
- whereas women are more relationally aggressive
- men are also socialized to be more aggressive physically - eg parents, media, social institutions
Precarious Manhood hypothesis
- a union of cultural and evolutionary perspectives
What do men tend to do when there is a perceived threat to their masculinity
- take public action to prove masculinity
- competition, status contests, violence etc make male identities elusive and tenuous.
What does dehumanization justify?
- aggression
What problems arise from misperception and polarisation construals - that dehumanization justifies things
- leads people to think that conflict is polarized, it causes them to overlook common ground
- reactive devaluation
Reactive devaluation
- A bias that attaches little value to any offer made by the counterpart in a feud
Why are 3 examples of how reconciliation and communication can reduce conflict/negative emotion
- imaging act of forgiveness reduces cortisol
- actual apologizing and forgiving can help mend relationships
- chimps share reconciliation tendencies
How is restorative justice helpful for victims
- they report fewer thoughts of revenge
- they are twice as likely to forgive
- twice as likely to say that the justice system is fair
