Group Behavior and Social Influences

GROUP BEHAVIOR

SOCIAL FACILITATION

  • Definition: Social facilitation refers to the phenomenon where an individual’s performance on simple or well-learned tasks improves in the presence of others.

  • Explanation: When an individual is skilled at a task, they are likely to perform even better when in front of a friendly audience. However, the opposite is true for difficult tasks where the presence of others might cause anxiety or interference, making what might seem possible appear impossible under observational stress.

SOCIAL LOAFING

  • Definition: Social loafing is the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort towards attaining a common goal than when they are individually accountable.

  • Key Points:

    1. Latané's Findings: Research by Bibb Latané demonstrated this effect on individual task performance in the presence of others.

    2. Accountability: Individuals in a group often feel less accountable for their contributions, leading to diminished effort.

    3. Deindividuation: Members of a group may feel less judged and worry less about how others perceive them, resulting in decreased performance effort.

    4. Group Contribution View: Group members might see their own contributions as dispensable because they are not directly observable.

    5. Equal Sharing of Benefits: In situations where group members equally share benefits regardless of input, individual contributions may diminish further.

DEINDIVIDUATION

  • Definition: Deindividuation refers to the loss of self-restraint that occurs when individuals feel anonymous in a group.

  • Consequences: This situation can foster increased arousal and may lead to behaviors that individuals would not normally engage in when self-aware.

GROUP POLARIZATION

  • Definition: Group polarization is the enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

  • Implications: As discussions occur, people's preexisting views become more extreme, leading to more pronounced group opinions.

GROUPTHINK

  • Definition: Groupthink is a mode of thinking that occurs within a decision-making group where the desire for harmony and conformity overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

  • Results: This can result in poor decisions as alternative viewpoints and potential consequences are disregarded in the interest of maintaining group cohesion.

THE POWER OF INDIVIDUALS

  • Concepts:

    • Social Control: The influence of the situation on an individual's behavior.

    • Personal Control: The influence of individual characteristics and decisions on one’s behavior.

    • Minority Influence: The capacity of one or two individuals to sway the majority in a group setting.

CULTURAL INFLUENCES

  • Definition: Culture encompasses the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

  • Significance: Culture plays an essential role in enabling efficient divisions of labor and is vital for innovating new practices and ideas.

  • Norms: Norms are the expected and understood rules for behavior that are accepted in a given society.