Groups

Non-social/Minimal Groups: Two or more people who interact minimally and are not interdependent; they do not rely on or influence each other significantly.

Real Groups: Two or more people who interact and are interdependent; their needs and goals cause them to depend on and influence each other.

Interdependence: A state in which individuals within a group need each other to achieve their goals, and their actions affect one another.

Group Identity: The shared sense of belonging and common identification among members of a group.

Group Structure: The organized pattern of relationships within a group, including norms, social roles, status hierarchies, and communication networks.

Injunctive Norms: Perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disapproved of by others in a group.

Social Roles: Socially defined expectations about how particular group members should behave.

Status Hierarchies: A ranking of individuals within a group based on power, prestige, or competence.

Stable Communication Network: Consistent patterns of information flow and interaction among group members.

Cohesiveness: The strength of the bonds among group members.

Interpersonal Cohesiveness: The extent to which group members enjoy being with each other.

Task Cohesiveness: The degree to which group members are committed to working together to achieve a common goal.

Social Facilitation: The process through which the mere presence of others influences an individual's performance.

Dominant Response: The most typical or well-learned response in a given situation.

Evaluation Apprehension: Concern about being judged by others, which can affect performance.

Social Loafing: The tendency for individuals to reduce their personal effort when working collectively in a group, especially when individual contributions are not easily identifiable.

Deindividuation: A psychological state characterized by a loss of self-awareness, reduced feelings of individual responsibility, and an increased susceptibility to group norms, which can lead to atypical behavior.

Group Polarization: The tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme (either more risky or more cautious) than the initial inclinations of their individual members.

Majority Influence: Conformity that occurs when individuals adopt the attitudes or behaviors of the majority group members due to normative or informational pressures.

Minority Influence: The process by which dissenters (numerical minorities) produce attitude change within a group, often through consistent and confident expression of their views.

Groupthink: A style of group decision-making in which the desire for harmony and conformity within the group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives, leading to poor decisions.

Need for Power: A motivational drive characterized by a strong desire to have control, influence, and status over others.

Achievement Motivation: A motivational drive characterized by a strong desire to excel, succeed, and accomplish challenging tasks.