Social Psych Ch. 8
A group consists of several interdependent people who have emotional ties and interact regularly.
8.1a: What are the two main reasons that people join groups?
People join groups to accomplish instrumental tasks and satisfy socioemotional needs. Instrumental tasks involve working together to achieve goals, such as a sports team trying to win a game. Socioemotional needs involve the emotional connections and support gained from interacting with others in the group, such as friendship and sharing experiences. Most groups serve both purposes, though some may focus more on one than the other.
8.1c: How does group structure develop and change? What are social norms, social roles, and status systems?
Group structure develops quickly and changes slowly, characterized by norms, roles, and status systems.
Social norms are expectations for how people should behave within the group.
Social roles are specific roles that individuals play in the group. For example, someone might be the mediator or the leader in a group.
Status systems involve hierarchy within a group, where some members might have more influence or say than others. This can be based on factors like experience or formal positions.
8.1d: How does group success and failure affect social identification (what is BIRGing and CORFing)?
Group success can lead to basking in reflected glory (BIRG-ing) or socially identifying with a group. This involves merging or socially identifying with a successful group, where individuals feel a sense of pride and connection to the group's achievements, even using pronouns like "we".
Group failure can lead to cutting off reflected failure (CORF-ing) or socially distancing from a group. This involves socially distancing from a group that is not doing well, where individuals may downplay their connection to the group.
8.2a: What is social facilitation, and which ones of the three explanations capture this effect best?
Social facilitation is the enhancement of dominant responses due to the presence of others. This means that people tend to perform better on easy or well-learned tasks and worse on difficult or new tasks when others are present.
The explanations for social facilitation include:
Evaluation apprehension: The nervousness about being evaluated by others, which can enhance performance on simple tasks and hinder it on difficult ones. This is considered a key factor.
Distraction-conflict: The presence of others can be distracting, leading to a conflict between focusing on the task and attending to others. This can enhance dominant responses.
It's noted that social facilitation is not simply due to others being there, suggesting that evaluation apprehension and distraction-conflict are important underlying mechanisms.
8.2b: What is social loafing, and how does it affect diffusion of responsibility?
Social loafing is a group-induced reduction of individual output when performers’ efforts are pooled and cannot be individually judged. When individuals know their contributions to a group task are not being evaluated separately, they tend to exert less effort.
Social loafing can lead to diffusion of responsibility, which means that no one person feels solely responsible for the outcome or for putting in effort. Because individual contributions are not identified, individuals may assume others will pick up the slack or that their own reduced effort will not be noticed.
8.2c: What is deindividuation in terms of how groups can induce lowering of inhibitions? What did Zimbardo say were the three important contributing factors to deindividuation? How does reduced self-awareness affect deindividuation?
Deindividuation is a loss of sense of individual identity and a loosening of normal inhibitions against engaging in a behavior that is inconsistent with internal standards, often associated with "mob mentality". In group situations where individuals cannot be identified, they may be more likely to engage in negative behaviors they would typically avoid.
Zimbardo argued that deindividuation requires three important contributing factors:
Arousal: A state of being amped up or excited.
Anonymity: A situation where individuals feel that no one will identify them.
Diffused responsibility: A feeling that responsibility is spread across the group, making it difficult to single out any one person.
Reduced self-awareness also affects deindividuation. When individuals are less focused on their own thoughts, feelings, and standards, they are more likely to be influenced by the group and engage in deindividuated behavior. Studies have shown that increasing self-awareness, such as by looking in a mirror, can reduce deindividuation.
8.3c: What is groupthink, and what factors contribute to it? What are three symptoms of groupthink?
Groupthink is when group decision-making goes awry, characterized by a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment in a group that results from an excessive desire to reach consensus. This often occurs when a group is highly cohesive and under pressure to make a decision. The desire for agreement overrides a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.
Factors that contribute to groupthink include:
High group cohesiveness and agreement.
Insulation of the group from dissenting opinions.
Directive leadership.
High stress from external threats.
Lack of methodical procedures for considering alternatives.
Three symptoms of groupthink are:
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.