12. social facilitation + motivation and performance

2 aspects of motivation

strength and direction

what does strength of motivation predict?

amount of effort

what does direction of motivation predict?

effort on specific tasks, emotions

intrinsic motivation

desire to engage in tasks that person finds inherently satisfying and enjoyable, novel, or optimally challenging

extrinsic motivation

desire to engage in tasks because of external influences on behavior, such as rewards, social evaluations, rules, and responsibilities

3 aspects of extrinsic motivation

• works well as a motivator

• reduces creativity

• keeps the person working hard UNTIL they achieve the reward

ppl tend to __ the importance of extrinsic motivators

overestimate

overjustification effect

an external reward for a task that was once intrinsically enjoyable causes a person’s intrinsic motivation to decrease

3 ways to reduce overjustification

• make rewards unexpected

• make rewards performance contingent, not task contingent

• internalize the achievement by making it a challenge for yourself

Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory

suggests that there are 3 aspects which form intrinsic motivation: autonomy, competence, relatedness

autonomy

the need to determine, control, and organize one’s own behavior and goals so that you are in harmony with one’s own interests and values

competence

the need to learn and master appropriately challenging tasks

relatedness

the need to feel attached to others and experience sense of belonging, security, and intimacy

evaluation apprehension

ppl are strongly motivated to receive a positive evaluation or to be judged positively by others

social facilitation

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

3 components of Zajonc’s Theory of Mere Presence

• the mere presence of others makes us more aroused

• arousal tends to make us more rigid and narrowly focused, in that we become more inclined to do what we’re already automatically inclined to do

• the increase in dominant response tendencies facilitates performance on simple tasks and inhibits performance on complex tasks

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

3 things groupthink is fueled by

• shallow examination of info

• narrow consideration of alternatives

• sense of invulnerability or moral superiority

self-censorship

withholding info or opinions in group discussions

3 ways to prevent groupthink

• group leaders refrain from making their opinions or preferences known at the beginning

• make sure the group isn’t cut off from outside input (so let newcomers in to provide fresh perspectives)

• designate a devil’s advocate in the group

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

2 causes of group polarization

• “persuasive arguments” account

• “social comparison” interpretation

“persuasive arguments” account

when people are predisposed to favor one course of action in a given situation, they can think of more and better arguments for that action. group discussion increases exposure to more arguments in favor of said initial position → group polarization

“social comparison” interpretation

ppl tend to think that they’re farther out on the correct side of the opinion distribution on most issues. so if they hear someone who says something similar to what they think, they want to go even more extreme in what they consider the “right” direction → group polarization