PSYC3430 MIDTERM

Group

Two or more individuals who are connected to one another by and within social relationships.

Size

The number of individuals in a group, ranging from dyads and triads to large collectives.

Connected

Members of a group are linked and have a social and interpersonal connection with one another.

Influential & purposeful

Groups have an influence on their members and serve a specific purpose.

Categories

A collection of people or things that share a common attribute or are related in some way.

Ex. psychology university student

Aggregate

A collection of individuals who are present in the same time and place but do not form a unit.

• Ex. walking through vari hall at any given time 

Collective

Any aggregate of two or more people that forms a larger, spontaneous, and loose association.

• Ex. going to movies by yourself and everyone reacts to a funny part together

Primary Groups

Small, long-term groups characterized by face-to-face interaction, high levels of cohesiveness, solidarity, and member identification.

ex. Families, close friends, tight-knit peer groups, gangs, elite military squads

Secondary Groups

Larger, less intimate, and more goal-focused groups typical of more complex societies.

ex. Social groups such as congregations, work groups, unions, professional associations

Emergent Groups

Groups that form spontaneously as individuals repeatedly interact with the same subset of individuals over time and settings.

• circumstantial and self-organizing

Cohesion

The strength of the bonds linking individuals to the group.

Perception of Membership

The amount someone perceives themselves to be part of a group.

Group Dynamics

The influential actions, processes, and changes that occur within and between groups.

Objectivity

The need for unbiased and impartial research in studying groups.

Reliable and Valid Measurement

The use of reliable and valid methods to measure variables in group research.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to overestimate the influence of dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors in explaining behavior.

Lewin's Field Theory

Behavior is a function of the person and the environment, represented by the equation B = f(P, E).

Action research

Integrates theory and applied research, using a spiral of planning, action, and fact-finding to bring about change.

Multi-Level Perspective

Examines group behavior from micro-level (individual members), meso-level (group factors), and macro-level (larger group qualities) of analysis.

• Micro-Level – qualities, attributes, actions of individual members

• Meso-Level – group level factors – size of group, cohesiveness, structure, norms

• Macro-Level – larger group qualities such as: communities, societies

Reliability

The accuracy and consistency of a measure over time.

Internal Consistency

Measures the reliability of a test based on the intercorrelation among its items.

• Measures the reliability of a test solely on the number of items on the test and the intercorrelation among the items. Therefore, it compares each item to every other item.

• If a scale is measuring a construct, then overall the items on that scale should be highly correlated with one another.

• Item-Total Correlations: the correlation of the item with the remainder of the items

Test-Retest Reliability

Measures the consistency of a test by comparing scores from two administrations.

• Measures more than one time and should not be significantly different

Inter-Rater Reliability

Measures the consistency of results when different raters score the same scale using the same rules.

Validity

The extent to which a test measures what it intends to measure.

Predictive Validity

The extent to which scores on a scale are related to and predictive of future outcomes.

• e.g., If higher scores on the SAT are positively correlated with higher G.P.A.’s and visa versa, then the SAT is said to have predictive validity.

Personality

Refers to the sum total of an individual's typical ways of acting, thinking, and feeling that makes them unique.

Trait Theory

People differ based on stable attributes or traits.

Type Theory

People can be sorted into categories or types.

The Big Five OCEAN

Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.

Emotions

Positive or negative experiences accompanied by physiological arousal and characteristic behavior.

• happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, disgust – pride, love, joy, shame, guilt, jealousy

Feeling

The subjective representation of emotions.

Affect

Observable behaviors associated with emotions, such as facial expressions and voice pitch.

Mood

A pervasive and sustained emotional response that can influence perception of the world.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to monitor and understand one's own and others' feelings and emotions.

Moreno's sociometry method

• A research technique that graphically summarizes patterns of member relations in a group.

• graphically summarizes patterns of relations (and rejections) – Who do you like? What is your experience with that person? To see how the group is comprised

• Ex. social media asks about your age, location… already basic questions which connects you to others

Sociogram

A graphical representation of sociometry. (what you do with the method/output)

Disadvantage of Self-Report Tests

Issues such as social desirability bias, faking good or bad, and random responding (build in error)

Case Studies

Research methods that involve in-depth examination of a single group or individual.

Covert observation

Observing events discreetly and without the participants' knowledge.

Hawthorne effect

The alteration of behavior by individuals being observed due to the awareness of being studied.

Qualitative measures

Measures that focus on the quality and characteristics of the data collected.

Quantitative measures

Measures that focus on numerical data and statistical analysis.

Bales's Interaction Process Analysis (IPA)

A method for classifying behaviors into task and relationship categories.

• socio-emotional area: pos/neg reactions

• task: attempted areas/ questions

Behavioral perspective

A theoretical perspective that focuses on understanding behavior through the principles of reinforcement and punishment.

Systems perspective

A theoretical perspective that views groups as complex systems with inputs, processes, and outputs.

Cognitive perspective

A theoretical perspective that examines the role of perception and thinking in group processes.

Biological perspective

A theoretical perspective that explores the influence of physiological and neurological processes on group behavior.

Need to Belong

The pervasive drive in humans to form and maintain lasting positive interpersonal relationships.

Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow's theory that certain needs have priority over others, starting with physiological needs and progressing to psychological needs.

Individualism

A cultural orientation that emphasizes the rights and autonomy of the individual.

• stresses individuality and independence

• self-serving tendencies, reliance on the equity norm (inputs and outputs are =)

• emphasis on personal identity

Collectivism

A cultural orientation that prioritizes the needs and goals of the group over individual rights.

• stresses hierarchy and reacts more negatively to nonconformity

• group-serving tendencies, reliance on the equality norm (even distribution)

• emphasis on collective, social identity

Social self

The perception of self-concept derived from relationships with people, groups, and society.

Interpersonal relations

The relationships created among group members, balancing individual needs and group demands.

Self-conception

The emphasis on either personal or collective social identity, influenced by collectivism or individualism.

Ingroup-outgroup bias

The tendency to rate one's own group positively, enhancing self-esteem.

Minimal groups paradigm

A research paradigm that divides individuals into meaningless groups to study social categorization and identification.

Self-esteem

The evaluation of one's own worth and value, influenced by personal qualities and group memberships.

Collective Self-Esteem

A person's overall self-concept is based on their membership in social groups.

Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRG)

The act of associating oneself with successful groups or individuals to enhance one's own public image.

occurs because people want to maintain “cognitive harmony” and therefore evaluate connected parties similarly – as a result, public associations with a successful group is perceived to promote positive evaluations (i.e., enhanced public image)

People have a tendency to BIRG more when their self-esteem is threatened

Cognitive Harmony

The desire to maintain consistency in evaluating connected parties, leading to positive evaluations of associations with successful groups.

CORF (Cutting Off Reflected Failure)

• Self-protective strategies

• Denying connections to groups that are performing poorly in order to increase self-esteem.

Stereotyped Threat

Anxiety provoking belief that others' perception will be influenced by negative stereotypes about one's group.

Individual Mobility

Leaving a group or reducing one's connection to minimize threats to self-esteem.

Need for Affiliation

people with high need for affiliation tend to join more groups and spend more time in them; however, they often fear rejection (extraverts?) or relationships are severed/unpleasant interactions

Self-Concept Discrepancy

The larger the discrepancies between one's self-concept and ideal self, the more psychological problems one may experience.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it, characterized by stages of alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.

Type of Stress

Various life changes and events that can create stress within individuals, such as birth, death, divorce, relocation, or war.

Anxious

People who desire intimacy but are worried or fearful about rejection, characterized by high avoidance and high anxiety.

• fear of being evaluated poorly by others

Authoritarian

A parenting style characterized by strict rules and high control over children.

Permissive

A parenting style characterized by lenient rules and low control over children.

Help to reduce ambiguity

Engaging in social comparison helps to reduce uncertainty and ambiguity in social situations.

Misery loves company

People affiliate with others in ambiguous or frightening situations, especially if they are experiencing high anxiety.

Directional comparison

Individuals engage in downward or upward social comparison to bolster their sense of competence or gain hope and motivation.

Types of social support

Approval/Belonging, Emotional, Informational, Instrumental, Spiritual.

Principles of Attraction

Proximity Principle, Elaboration Principle, Similarity Principle, Complementarity Principle, Reciprocity Principle, Transitivity, Minimax Principle.

Group Structure

The complex set of relations that organizes the group into an integrated whole, including norms, roles, and intermember relations and communications.

Norms

Emergent, consensual, and often implicit standards that describe what behaviors should and should not be performed in a given context.

Prescriptive Norms

Preferable, positively sanctioned behaviors that are encouraged in a given context.

Proscriptive Norms

Prohibited, negatively sanctioned behaviors that are discouraged in a given context.

Descriptive Norms

How people typically act, feel, and think in a given situation.

Injunctive Norms

How people should act, feel, and think in a given situation, open to sanctions.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)

Behavior that goes beyond what is expected in an organization, including altruism and generalized compliance.

Norm Development

The process of developing norms in groups through social influence and convergence in actions, thoughts, and emotions over time.

Conformity

The tendency for people to adopt the behavior and opinions presented by other group members, influenced by informational and normative influences.

Roles

The types of behaviors expected of individuals who occupy particular positions within the group, independent of individuals but flexible to an extent.

Social capital

The degree to which individuals, groups, or larger aggregates of people are linked in social relationships that yield positive, productive benefits.

•  (use tend and befriend)

Social category

A perceptual grouping of people who are assumed to be similar to each other in some ways but different in one or more ways.

Social identity

An individual’s sense of self derived from relationships and memberships in groups; also, those aspects of the self that are assumed to be common to most or all of the members of the same group or social category.

Stereotype

A socially shared set of qualities, characteristics, and behavioral expectations ascribed to a particular group or category of people.

Composition

The qualities individuals have who constitute a group.

Boundaries

Who does not belong to a group, made by psychological sense.

Social networks

A set of interpersonally interconnected individuals or groups, linked by social relationships but lack deep relationships and clear boundaries.

Dyads

Groups of 2 people that are bonded with intensity.

Task interaction

Conjointly adjusted actions of group members that pertain to the group's projects, tasks, and goals.

• As groups increase in size the more task and relationship interaction is needed

Relationship interaction

Conjointly adjusted actions of group members that relate to or influence the nature and strength of emotional and interpersonal bonds within the group.

ex. Group therapy/team building

Interdependence

Mutual dependence, as when one's outcomes, actions, thoughts, feelings, and experiences are influenced by other people.

• Structure influences interdependence

Role

A socially shared set of behaviors, characteristics, and responsibilities expected of people who occupy a particular position within a group.

Generate

Groups concoct the strategies they will use to accomplish their goals.

Choosing

Groups make decisions about issues that have correct solutions.

Negotiating

Groups resolve differences of opinion among members regarding their goals or decisions.