Social psych chapter 12 - groups

What makes a collection of individuals into a group?

interdependance on one another

What are three benefits of groups?

1. protection

2. sharing resources

3. defense

What are three elements of Zajonc’s mere presence theory?

1. mere presence leads to arousal

2. arousal leads to increased focus

3. dominant response, easy usually right, hard usually wrong

What is the difference between mere presence and evaluation apprehension hypothesis?

mere presence is someone else just being there and EAH is concern that you will look bad to that person

What is social loafing and how is it different from mere presence?

social loafing is not doing the work and expecting the group to carry you. When you don’t think you are valuable to the group

social facilitation

the general term for the effect that presence of others has on performance

dominant response

the response a person is most likely to make

evaluation apprehension

concern of how you appear to others

social loafing

putting in less effort when no one can tell who did the work

What is groupthink and two conditions for it?

strong leader, new group that doesn’t want to step on each other’s toes. Ways to stop groupthink: critical thinking, debates, devil’s advocate

What is group polarization and how is it produced?

When the big group is more extreme than individuals

Groupthink

when there are very cohesive groups and there is no room for critical thinking in order to reach consensus

Self-censorship

withholding information in group discussions (leads to groupthink)

group polarization

group decisions tend to be more extreme than individual decisions

What is power?

being able to control your own outcome and the outcome of others

What is the virtue based approach to gaining power?

being good for the group and a good person, they will put you in power

What is the vice based approach to gaining power?

getting power through manipulation, narcissism, and aggression

What is the approach/inhibition theory of power?

that powerful people make rash decisions and less powerful people are inhibited

How does power influence cognition and action?

more power leads to less cognition and more action

Power

the ability to control one’s outcomes and the outcomes of others

Social hierarchy

the arrangement of people within a group based on who has the most power

approach/inhibition theory

the more power you have, the more rash decisions you make. lower power people tend to consider others better

What are the three properties of the deindividuated state?

1. less self evaluation

2. less concern with others

3. less shame, guilt, fear

What are the two conditions that lead to deindividuation?

1. blending in the with group

2. diffusion of responsibility

Deindividuation

when you’re in a large group, your sense of individual identity reduces and you are less regulated/rational

individuation

enhancing the sense of self by focusing on individual and leads to more careful and delibrate acts

self awareness theory

when people focus on themselves, they are concerned with how they conform with thier own individual values

spotlight effect

you think people are paying more attention to you than they actually are