Week 8; Groups Flashcards
Group
Two or more people who for longer than a few moments interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as ‘us’
Social Animal
Humans are creatures that evolved to live in groups so we have adapted in ways that help us get along, fit in and thrive in group contexts
Social Facilitation
- Strengthening of dominant response in the presence of others but the reduction of weak response in the presence of others
Fishing Reel Experiment
Children pulled the fishing reel faster in the presence of other children
Cycler Observation
He cycled faster when with friends
Zajonc’s Refinement to Theory
- Arousal has an effect o our performance.
- We perform dominant or automatic tasks better in the presence of others
- We perform more challenging tasks worse in the presence of others
Evaluation Apprehension
- Our concern for how others are evaluating us
- This increases arousal but also our anxiety
- From a cognitive perspective, dividing your attention between what your doing and how its being perceived reduces performance of original task
Social Loafing
- The tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts towards a common goal than when they are individually accountable
Tug of War experiment
- Social Loafing
- Asked people to pull a rope as hard as possible
- Brought same person to repeat experiment but put a blindfold on them and told them that they were with others.
- Reported that people gave less effort in group
Situations when social loafing disappears
- When performance is identifiable
- When tasks are challenging and appealing
Deindividualisation
A state of reduced individuality, reduced self awareness and reduced attention to personal standards that may occur when people are part of a group
Factors that may increase Deindividualisation
- Perceived anonymity i.e. a crowd, a costume or being in the dark
Zambarro’s input on Deindividualisation
- Living in a city may increase anonymity and can create norms for vandalism
- Parked a car in NYC and Punto Alto in 1970 with the boot open. Within ten minutes, a crime was committed against the car and within one week there were numerous amounts of vandalism and theft. Only one person touched the car in Punto Alto and that was to put the boot down
Diener 1976 on Deindividualisation
- Kids in Halloween costumes and the camera observes
- The man at the door asks some of the kids their names and where they live (removes anonymity)
- Leaves and tells the children to take just one sweet
- When identified and alone, there was a low chance of taking more than one sweet
- 60% took more than one sweet when in a large anonymous group
Group Polarisation
-Group produced enhancement of members pre-existing tendencies
- Can increase pro- social and anti-social behaviours
- i.e. in America the middle-ground in politics is becoming less pronounced
- Can manifest itself online i.e. Andrew Tate
Myers on Group Polarisation
- Surveyed schoolboys on prejudice/ lack of in related to minorities receiving social housing
- Split responses into pro/ anti social groups
- Placed the boys into discussion groups. After the discussion, the attitudes amplified
Groupthink
- A way of thinking that people engage in when they are intensely involved in a cohesive in-group and their strivings for unanimity overrides motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of actions
- If people prioritise cohesion over everything else, decision making can be compromised
Social Conditions impacting Groupthink
- Amiable Group i.e. friends/ advisers
- A directive leader
- High Cohesiveness
- Insulation of group i.e. top secret
- Lack of methodological procedures for search and appraisal
- High Stress; not conductive to decision making
Symptoms of Groupthink
- Illusion of invulnerability i.e. overconfidence
- Unquestioned belief in groups morality i.e. communism is evil
- Rationalisation
- Stereotyped view of opponent
- Conformity Pressure
- Self Censorship
- Illusion of unanimity
Mindguards
Protect the group from information that would call into question their morality or rationality
Moving Beyond Groupthink
- Clear Communication
- Positive Group Dynamics
- Prevent under-conceptualisation
- Avoid Cognitive Overload
-Make informed choice making
To under- conceptualise
- Simplify complex problems radically
- Occurs due to limited amount of availability in working memory
Social Brain Hypothesis
Primates have large brains, particularly large prefrontal cortices because they live in complex, social groups that change over time
Features of a good group member
- Understand complex and subtle social cues
- Recognise when actions might offend others
- Control desires to engage in behaviours that might violate group norms
Risky- shift Effect
Groups often make riskier decisions than individuals do i.e. corporate boards may make relatively risky investments
