Module 10 - Behaviour in Groups

What is a group?

Collection of individuals with shared characteristics

What is an ingroup?

Group you identify with

What is an outgroup?

Group you do not identify with

What is a stereotype?

Beliefs about a group (cognitive component)

What is prejudice?

Negative feelings toward a group (affective component)

What is discrimination?

Behaviour toward a group

What is the bystander effect?

Helping decreases as group size increases

What is diffusion of responsibility?

Responsibility spread across people

What increases helping behavior in social loafing?

Awareness and emergency training

What is social loafing?

Reduced effort in group work

What increases social loafing?

Larger group size

How can social loafing be reduced?

Task importance, collectivistic orientation, group cohesion, and specialization

What is social facilitation?

Improved performance on easy tasks with others present

When does performance decrease?

On difficult or unfamiliar tasks

Why does social facilitation occur?

Increased arousal primes dominant responses

What is ingroup favoritism?

Preferring and helping ingroup members

Why do humans favor ingroups?

Promotes cooperation and reduces risk

What is reciprocal altruism?

Exchanging benefits over time

What is cheating in cooperation?

Taking benefits without reciprocating

What is the prisoner’s dilemma?

Game showing conflict between cooperation and self-interest

What usually happens in prisoner’s dilemma?

People defect to maximize outcomes

Who do people cooperate with more?

Ingroup members

What causes intergroup conflict?

Competition for limited resources

What reduces intergroup conflict?

Shared goals

What is conformity?

Matching behavior to group

Why do people conform?

Social acceptance and avoiding rejection

What reduces conformity?

Presence of a dissenter

What is obedience?

Following authority commands

What did Milgram show?

People obey authority even when unethical

What affects obedience?

Proximity to authority and others’ behavior

What is social cognition?

How we think about others

What are heuristics?

Mental shortcuts for quick judgments

What is an attitude?

Evaluation of people or ideas

What are attitude components?

Cognitive, affective, behavioral

What are implicit attitudes?

Automatic, unconscious evaluations

What is persuasion?

Changing attitudes through communication

What is the central route?

Logical, effortful persuasion

What is the peripheral route?

Superficial cues influence persuasion

What is reciprocity?

Returning favors

What is social proof?

Following others’ behavior

What is scarcity?

Valuing limited resources

What is commitment?

Sticking to prior decisions

What is implicit bias?

Unconscious attitudes

What is explicit bias?

Conscious attitudes

What is ingroup bias?

Favoring one’s own group

What reduces prejudice?

Contact, cooperation, awareness