Social Psych Ch. 8

Group

A group consists of several interdependent people who have emotional ties and interact regularly.

Reasons people join groups

People join groups to accomplish instrumental tasks and satisfy socioemotional needs.

Instrumental tasks

Tasks that involve working together to achieve specific goals, like a sports team trying to win a game.

Socioemotional needs

Emotional connections and support gained from interacting with others, such as friendship and sharing experiences.

Group structure development

Group structure develops quickly and changes slowly, characterized by norms, roles, and status systems.

Social norms

Expectations for how people should behave within a group.

Social roles

Specific roles that individuals play in the group, such as mediator or leader.

Status systems

Hierarchy within a group where some members have more influence or authority.

BIRGing

Basking in reflected glory; merging or identifying with a successful group.

CORFing

Cutting off reflected failure; socially distancing from a group that is failing.

Social facilitation

The enhancement of dominant responses due to the presence of others, leading to better performance on easy tasks.

Evaluation apprehension

Nervousness about being evaluated by others, which can enhance performance on simple tasks and hinder on difficult ones.

Distraction-conflict

The presence of others can be distracting, leading to a conflict between focusing on the task and attending to others.

Social loafing

Group-induced reduction of individual output when performers’ efforts are pooled and not individually judged.

Diffusion of responsibility

The feeling that no one individual is solely responsible for the outcome, leading to less individual effort.

Deindividuation

A loss of individual identity and a loosening of inhibitions against engaging in behavior inconsistent with personal standards.

Important factors of deindividuation

Zimbardo identified three factors: arousal, anonymity, and diffused responsibility.

Groupthink

A phenomenon where group decision-making deteriorates, characterized by a desire for consensus that overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Contributing factors to groupthink

Factors include high group cohesiveness, isolation from dissenting opinions, directive leadership, and high stress from external threats.

Symptoms of groupthink

1. Overestimation of the ingroup, 2. Close-mindedness, 3. Increased conformity pressure.

Overestimation of the ingroup

An illusion of invulnerability and an unquestioned belief in the group's inherent morality. The group assumes it is always right and doesn't need to consider outside opinions.

Close mindedness

Collective rationalization of the group's decisions and stereotyped views of outgroups. The group dismisses any information that contradicts its views and negatively stereotypes those outside the group.

Increase conformity pressure

Direct pressure on dissenters to conform to the group's views, self-censorship of doubts, and the illusion of unanimity. Members who disagree are pressured to remain silent, leading to a false sense that everyone is in agreement.

Arousal

A state of being amped up or excited

Anonymity

A situation where individuals feel that no one will identify them