week 8 Group Processes

Question 1

What is a group, and what types exist?

Answer 1

A group is 2 or more people as a category. The definitions of the category may be fuzzy. Groups vary widely in size, function, durability and success.
2 group types are:
a)Common-bond-group; requires interaction between members. Each member linked to the others in some way. eg friends, families, work groups.
b) Common-identity group;members may interact but don;t need to. Memebers are linked to the category as opposed to other members.eg Nationality, ethnicity, gender.

Question 2

What do social psychologists mean when they discuss: a) fuzzy sets?; and b) entitativity?

Answer 2

Fuzzy sets; category with fuzzy features set around a prototype.
Entitativity-level of group distinctiveness. ie high entitativity of a group means the group is easily perceived as distinct from other groups. High level of cohesion, relatively homogenous with clear internal structure.

Question 3

Describe Triplett’s (1898) classic study. What is meant by the term ‘social facilitation’?

Answer 3

Had children perform a pulley at pace alone or in presence of others. Some competed and performed better when others present and some performed worse.
Social Facilitation=when others are present, one may perform better at easy tasks.
The opposite is social impairment or social inhibition where perform more poorly in presence of others (usually more difficult tasks)

Question 4

What is Zajonc’s (1965) drive theory of social facilitation?

Answer 4

Proposes that it is an advantage to be alert and ready for action when others are around. Thus there is an instinctive arousal when there are others.This works well to improve performance of a well learnt task but reduces performance by “rushing” a difficult or unfamiliar task.

Question 5

What is Cottrell’s (1972) evaluation apprehension model? How does this differ from Zajonc and Triplett?

Answer 5

Drive theory says presence of others arouses us.

Cottrell’s Evaluation Apprehension Model says it is our own apprehension of being evaluated by others that arouses us.

Question 6

What did Steiner (1972; 1976) propose? Be sure to use the term ‘coordination loss’ in your answer.

Answer 6

Steiner proposed that some people in groups do not get to contribute as overlooked by others. This is Coordination Loss and means that the group performance has decreased, compared with individual performance.

Question 7

What is ‘social loafing’ and what reasons have been given to explain this phenomenon?

Answer 7

Social Loafing=reduction in individual performance when working as part of a collective. Explanations for this include;

a) coordination loss
b) loss of motivation; i) Output Equity-others loaf, therefore to be on par, we do too
ii) Evaluation Apprehension-if anonymous can hang back, therefore avoiding evaluation (which may be negative)
iii) Matching to Standard-we don’t have a clear idea of the group’s standards or methods, so hang back.
c) lazy-some one else will do it.

Question 8

Sometimes people do work harder when they are in a group. What factors have been found to affect this?

Answer 8

Social Compensation=increased effort by individuals in a collective because they anticipate/believe that they need to compensate for others who will/do social loaf. Factors contributing top this occurring are:
team motivation, competing against an outgroup, collectivist culture, believe in group goal, strong group identity/cohesiveness

Question 9

Briefly describe Steiner’s task taxonomy dimensions.

Answer 9

1.Is division of labor possible;
divisible task -can be divided into sub tasks
unitary task-cannot be broken into sub tasks
2. maximising vs optimising
maximising task=aim is to do as much as possible, no limit.
optimising task=aims to meet a certain standard, but not to exceed it.
3. how does individual effort effect task performance/
additive task=group product is sum of all members’input
Compensatory task=group’s product is average of members’input (eg 2 people provide estimates , thus group adopts average as answer)

Question 10

further task classifications

Answer 10

Disjunctive task=group product is actually one member’s input (eg what to do one weekend? 1 person’s suggestion adopted by all).
Conjunctive task=group product determined by slowest individual’s rate.
Discretionary task=no dictates of what is required, but individuals in group each decide to participate.

Question 11

What is group cohesiveness? What distinction was made by Hogg (1992) and why?

Answer 11

how much group is united in purpose and how efficient it is. Hogg made the distinction that “social attractiveness” is felt when someone likes someone based solely on group membership. Group cohesion can be based on this too, where members all feel united in eg love for Liverpool fc. This distinction was made because in large groups in is impossible to personally know everyone, yet the pull of shared similarity exists.

Question 12

What is group socialisation? Briefly describe the five phases of group socialisation proposed by Moreland and Levine (1982).

Answer 12

relationship b/n group and its members. the way members pass through the group. Stages:

1. investigation;group recruits members
2. Socialisation;group gets new members who are assimilated
3. Maintenance; roles of members are negotiated b/n members.
4. Resocialisation;members either diverge and are lost or have their roles revised and then are resolialised and reinstated.
5. Remembrance=after member leaves both parties may reflect upon time together.

Question 13

Explain how cognitive dissonance is used here to explain initiation rites in groups.

Answer 13

If an initiation rite is quite horrible, participant may remember it as really not so bad, so can feel happier about having gone through it to join the group. Also tend to further endorse the merit of the group, seeing as how went through an ordeal to join.

Question 14

What are roles and how do they help determine a group structure?

Answer 14

roles outline specific sub tasks performed by individuals or sub groups. each comes with own set of norms. should help the functionality /effectiveness of the group

Question 15

Study Research Classic 6.2. Why did Zimbardo conduct this study? What were the major findings and what explanation was offered?

Answer 15

role playing exercise done on male student volunteers assigned to be either a prisoner or a guard in a simulated prison. Conducted to see how people allown role adoption to determine their behaviour. Originallly planned to last 2 weeks, experiment stopped after 6 days as guards became increasingly brutal and prisoners, after an initial revolt, then become increasingly withdrawn, docile, and lost touch with reality, and displayed emotional disturbance.
Zimbardo explained as students adopted too well, the roles they thought they should display. But Reicher and Haslam explained it as participants being uncertain and so adopted group conformity.

Question 16

Define ‘status’. What properties tend to be associated with higher status roles?

Answer 16

Status=the regard of others. The consensual evaluation of the level of prestige a role has. Higher status roles tend to be associated with ability, attraction or achievement (not necessarily in any related field). eg head juror usually given to someone with high status job outside of the legal proceedings.

Question 17

What is expectations states theory?

Answer 17

This states that the status a member will be accorded within a group is determined by 2 assessments;
a) specific status characteristics-person’s attributes directly relating to their ability to aid the group’s function
and
b) diffuse status characteristics-attributes not directly related to achieving group’s purpose, but generally regarded by society as being +ve or -ve eg wealthy, attractive, white collar/blue collar etc.

Question 18

What is a communication network? What sort of structure is best for relatively simple tasks? What about more complex tasks?

Answer 18

how group communicates.
Centralised network-all communications go through a central hub. usually necessary in big organisations but can mean peripheral members feel less satisfied and have less autonomy. But in large businesses, even though there is a centralised network, there is usually an adjacent less formal way of communicating too.
decentralised network-no centre. anyone can communicate with anyone else.

Question 19

Describe: a) uncertainty-identity theory; and b) terror management theory.
Compare these two theories – which one is more social and which one is more sociobiological? Which do you agree with and why?

Answer 19

a) Uncertainty -identity theory;we join with groups to reduce our uncertainty about ourselves, as the group can be a guide for how we should behave/think.
b)Terror management theory; by associating with others we reduce our fear of death by raising self esteem.
Comparison:uncertainty-identy theory more social, and terror management more sociobiological.
I agree more with uncertainty-identy-theory as death avoidance is surely not a factor for young kids, and they still form groups.

Question 20

Take a moment to reflect on what you consider good leadership and effective leadership. What is the difference (if any) for you?

Answer 20

Good leadership is effective but looks after crew too, Effective leadership may get things done but may not look after crew.

Question 21

According to the research, what Big 5 personality types are most predictive of effective leadership? Do you agree with this ‘great person’ approach to leadership?

Answer 21

Extraverted, Open to Experience, and Conscietiousness. Mostly applicable.

Question 22

Describe Fiedler’s contingency theory and prediction. Note the difference between ’task-orientated’ and ‘relationship-orientated leaders’.

Answer 22

Contingency Theory of Leadership-says the effectiveness of leadership style, depends upon the situation. (no one style suits all situations).
Fiedler had a contingency theory of leadership considering;
a)the leader i)task orientated leader authoritarian, value group success and derive self esteem from accomplishment, not on whether or not are liked.
ii)relationship orientated leader who is usually relaxed, friendly, non directive and sociable.derive self esteem from having a harmonious team.
and
b) the situation;
i) high situational control (good leader-follower relations, clearly defined task, high degree of authority vested in leader
or
ii) low situational control where there are poor leader-follower relations, a poorly defined task and little authority granted to leader.
using his Least Preferred Coworker scoring method, Fiedler found low lpc scores were obtained by task orientated leaders, and high lpc scores by relationship orientated leader.
task orientated leaders most effective when there is low situational control and relationship orientated leaders do best when there is middle situational control.

Question 23

How does path-goal theory describe leadership function?

Answer 23

This is another leadership contingency theory although is sometimes also regarded as a Transactional Leadership Theory.Proposes the leader’s main function is to motivate and clarify pathways. this theory describes 2 pathways of leadership:
a) structuring-leader directs tasks
and
b)consideration-leader addresses followers’personal and emotional needs.

Question 24

Compare and contrast transactional leadership with transformational leadership.

Answer 24

Transactional Leadership Theory views leadership as an exchange process b/n leader and followers. in return for leading, leader gets prestige, power, etc. There are several Transactional leadership theories;
a) Idiosyncratic credit is gained by a leader such that he is allowed to be a bit different/innovative.
b)Leader/member exchange Theory-leader is most effective if able to develop quality personalised exchange relationships with followers ie built on trust, loyalty etc etc.
Transformational Leadership Theory proposes that the best leaders inspire their followers to not only achieve the group goal, but to internalise it as their own, Followers are encouraged to learn and challenge themselves. This leadership style is achieved largely via charisma.

Question 25

What is the social identity theory of leadership?

Answer 25

Proposes that people wish to identify with the prototype of a group, and thus someone prototypical for the group, is most likely to be made the leader, and followed. The more someone finds a group salient to them, the more likely a person will be to identify with a prototypical leader, which then facilitates effective leadership (or perceived effective leadership)

Question 26

How does leader categorisation theory and social identity theory of leadership differ from the earlier theories?

Answer 26

Leader Categorisation Theory states we have preset schemas on how a leader should behave in given circumstances and the leader characteristics that we find valuable. Such schemas influence how we select or rate leaders.

Question 27

What is Davis’ social decisions schemes model? Make sure that you can define and distinguish between the these decision-making rules in Table 6.1.

Answer 27

Davis devised a set of possible rules which a group might follow. Which rule is adhered to depends on the type of decision required and the group and setting. ie a group usually follows one of these;
1. Unanimity-all must agree, therefore deviants are pressurised to conform.
2. Majority wins.
3. Truth wins-only the correct position can be adopted (eg maths equation)
4. two-thirds majority
5. First shift-the group ultimately adopts the position which is in line with the first shift in position shown by a member.
These rules may be implicit or explicit.

Question 28

How might rule strictness and power distribution effect group functioning and satisfaction?

Answer 28

Generally, stricter rules means decision making power is spread more widely.eg Unanimity requires all to agree, and is very strict. Satisfaction is increased when members feel they have been heard in the decision making process.

Question 29

What is ‘transactive memory’? Based on the evidence, do groups remember more than individuals?

Answer 29

group members remember who rmembers what. Eg Rick knows about what maintenance was done at tennis centre.
Transactive memory also operates in couples eg Paul knows how to back up data, and a contributor to depression after spousal loss, is the loss of this transactive memory and the skills which went with it.
Truth by groups is subjective, same as for individuals, but collectively, groups tend to remember more than individuals.

Question 30

In your experience, do you think ‘brainstorming’ is effective in improving creativity? Now, after reviewing the evidence, list some of the reasons why there is an illusion of productivity when it comes to brainstorming.

Answer 30

Brainstorming=uninhibited generation of as many ideas as possible in a group, with the purpose of enhancing group creativity. Research suggests that brainstorming in a group does not enhance creativity. I think same generation of ideas can be achieved by individuals or groups, but being in a group helps to then quell any ideas that seem too far-fetched. Brainstorming helps to generate options, but consideration/investigation of ideas then needs to occur. It can feel quite invigorating to hear others’ideas though.

Question 31

What is ‘groupthink’? Study Figure 6.10 on page 208 and explain the antecedents, symptoms, and consequences of groupthink.

Answer 31

Groupthink occurs when a poor decision is made due to a group’s inability to evaluate with due diligence. a group is vulnerable to this when;
there is high group cohesion, they are insulated from external influence, there is a lack of impartial leadership, lack of norms encouraging proper procedure, idealogical homogeneity amongst the membership, a high level of stress from external threat to complete the task, possible high task complexity.
Situations which might alert that groupthink is occurring is when members feel; invulnerable, have high levels of unanimity, have a tendency to ignore or discredit information contrary to group’s position, high belief that the group is right, there is pressure to bring dissidents into line, and there is high level of stereotyping directed at external groups.

Question 32

What is ‘group polarisation’? List the major explanations that have been offered for group polarisation.

Answer 32

Group Polarisation is where members prior to discussion had fairly similar views, but after discussing, their views are even more similar AND have become more extreme. (ie were in favour, now strongly in favour…)
Explanations for group polarisations;
a) Persuasive arguments Theory-we hear a novel argument which supports our view-therefore believe our view even more correct
b).Social comparison/cultural values-we modify our position further, so as to fit in.
c) social identity theory-group forms norms which emphasise the commonality of the group position, and the differences b/n the group and other out groups.

Question 33

pluralistic ignorance

Answer 33

people may privately reject a view, but believe others accept it. Way to overcome is with group discussion.

Question 34

Note what psychologists have uncovered about the behaviours of juries and understand how psychological research can be applied it inform legal policy.

Answer 34

Juries are;

a) likely to elect a head juror based on status outside court
b) usually more reluctant to pass a guilty version if the punishment involves the death penalty
c) subject to same memory issues as everyone else-eg recency of evidence heard is often given greater weight or remembered better.
d) incapable of forgetting what they heard, even if instructed is ïnadmissable”
e) may not be able to follow and comprehend legal jargon
f) . When 2/3rds or more favor 1 outcome initially, this will likely be their decision.
g) larger jurors, by probability, are more likely to include minority groups, and if they hold dissident views, these views are likely to impact.
h) Larger juries tend to recall more info more accurately, tend to reach a hung verdict more often and tend to deliberate longer.