Chapter 12 - Groups

social facilitation

initially a term for enhanced performance in the presence of others; now a broader term for the effect, positive or negative, of the presence of others on performance

dominant response

in a person's hierarchy of possible responses in any context, the response that person is most likely to make

evaluation apprehension

people's concern about how they might appear in the eyes of others, or be evaluated by them

social loafing

the tendency to exert less effort when working on a group task in which individual contributions cannot be monitored

groupthink

faulty thinking by members of highly cohesive groups in which the critical scrutiny that should be devoted to the issues at hand is subverted by social pressures to reach consensus

self-censorship

withholding information or opinions in group discussions

group polarization

the tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than those made by individuals; whatever way the group as a whole is leaning, group discussion tends to make it lean further in that direction

power

the ability to control one's own outcomes and those of others; the freedom to act

status

the outcome of an evaluation of attributes that produce differences in respect and prominence

authority

power that derives from institutionalized role or arrangements

dominance

behavior enacted with the goal of acquiring or demonstrating power

approach/inhibition theory

a theory maintaining that high-power individuals are inclined to go after their goals and make quick (and sometimes rash) judgements, whereas low-power individuals are more likely to constrain their behavior and pay careful attention to others

deindividuation

a reduced sense of individual identity accompanied by diminished self-regulation that can come over people when they are in a large group

individuation

an enhanced sense of individual identity produced by focusing attention on the self, which generally leads people to act carefully and deliberately and in accordance with their sense of propriety and values

self-awareness theory

a theory maintaining that when people focus their attention inward on themselves, they become concerned with self-evaluation and how their current behavior conforms to their internal standards and values

spotlight effect

people's conviction that other people are paying attention to them (to their appearance and behavior) more than they actually are