Chapter 15: Groups in Context - Notes

1. Places

  • 1a. A Sense of Place

    • A group's ecology is defined as the living members of the group and the nonliving parts of its environment, with a focus on how individuals are arranged spatially.

    • Perceptions of Places: A physical setting's ambience creates a distinctive cognitive and emotional impression.

    • Cognitive Overload: A psychological reaction to situations that overwhelm an individual's capacity to process information.

      • Attention Restoration Theory (ART): Cognitive resources can be replenished through interaction with natural environments.

    • Characteristics of restorative places:

      • Fascination: The place engages interest in an easy, relaxed way.
      • Being Away: Offers an escape from everyday concerns.
      • Extent: Creates a sense of being in a world of one's own.
      • Compatibility: Allows individuals to accomplish what they need to.

  • 1b. Stressful Places

    • Stress is defined as negative responses to circumstances that threaten one’s well-being and safety.

    • Temperature: High temperatures can lead to greater irritation, negativity, and physical danger.

    • Noise: While short-term exposure to noise can be manageable, long-term exposure can have negative effects and limit communication.

    • Climato-economic theory (Van de Vliert, 2013): Argues that climate makes different demands on people depending on where they live.

  • 1c. Dangerous Places

    • Extreme and unusual environments (EUEs): Environmental contexts unlike those where humans usually live, including confined and isolated environments.

    • Groups that survive in EUEs tend to be more organized, cohesive, and efficient.

    • Unsuccessful groups in EUEs often experience breakdowns in teamwork, leadership, and cooperation.

    • Example: The Mt. Everest expedition illustrated in chapter 1, and Jon Krakauer's account detailed a disconnect among climbers due to environmental challenges.

2. Spaces

  • 2a. Personal Space

    • Personal space is the area individuals maintain around themselves, which others cannot intrude without causing discomfort.

    • Hall’s Concept of Interpersonal Zones

      • The space that a person needs to feel comfortable is influenced by individual, group, and cultural factors.

      • People who require more space:

        • Introverted people

        • Men

        • High status individuals

        • People who grew up in non-contact cultures

        • People in groups discussing sensitive subjects (the equilibrium hypothesis)

  • 2b. Reactions to Spatial Invasion

    • Density: The number of individuals per unit of space.

    • Crowding: A psychological reaction that occurs when individuals feel that the amount of space available to them is insufficient for their needs.

    • Members are more likely to respond negatively to crowding when:

      • They attribute their discomfort to crowding.

      • The situation has other negative qualities beside overcrowding (the density–intensity hypothesis).

      • Their sense of control is diminished.

      • Others interfere with task performance.

  • 2c. Seating Arrangements

    • Seating arrangements significantly influence patterns of attraction, communication, and leadership.

    • Sociopetal vs. sociofugal seating choices

    • Leadership and seating choice

    • Steinzor effect. Possible sex differences in seating preferences

    • Preference for various types of seating arrangements when individuals expected to converse, cooperate, compete, or coact.

3. Locations

  • 3a. Types of Territoriality

    • Territory is defined as an area of space defended by an animal or group as an exclusive preserve.

    • Altman (1975) describes three basic types of human territories: primary, secondary, and public.

    • In some respects, third places are territories.

      • Semipublic places such as bookstores, coffee shops, and taverns are where members of a community gather informally for conversation and camaraderie; these are often located close to individuals’ homes (first places) and their work (second places).

  • 3b. Group Territories

    • Groups tend to establish control over specific locations, and this territoriality influences adjustment and wellbeing, intergroup relations, and performance.

    • Groups actively mark, maintain, and defend territories.

    • Groups establish temporary “group spaces” (public territories) around their perimeter.

    • Individuals report improved performance and well-being when in an area their group has territorialized.

    • Competing on the home field is often an advantage.

  • 3c. Territoriality in Groups

    • Group members establish territories within their group territories.

    • Haber (1980) found that 88% of all students establish a "zone" in a class (an area of two or three seats where they regularly sit).

      • She asked volunteers to sit in someone else's seat in a class, but many could not do it.

      • 27% of the students asked for their seat back.

      • Some blushed when they saw someone in their seat.

      • Those who surrendered their seat came to next class early.

      • Strongest rebuke if invasion took place during a break in class.

    • Functions of Territories

      • Increase control over interactions

      • Maintain privacy (control over contact with others)

      • Organize and structure relations

      • Express identity

      • Claim and grant status

        • The size of one’s territory is usually an indicator of one’s status within the group.

    • Common Types of Territorial Markers:

      • Entertainment or equipment: Bicycles, skis, tennis rackets, climbing gear, soccer balls.

      • Technology: Computers, tablets, phones, monitors, screens.

      • Personal relations: Framed photographs of friends, pets, and family, letters, vacation photos.

      • Values: Religious symbols, political posters, bumper stickers, flags, sorority signs, placards.

      • Art: Paintings, prints, cartoons, statues.

      • Reference items: Calendars, schedules, to-do lists.

      • Music/theater: Posters and memorabilia of musical groups, shows, performances.

      • Sports: Items related to athletes, sports.

      • Idiosyncratic: Awards, knickknacks, coffee mugs, crafts, wall hangings, plants.

    • Altman’s (1973) studies of isolated groups found that:

      • Successful groups used territorial process to structure their interactions.

      • Unsuccessful groups used territory to isolate themselves from one another.

      • The majority of the groups he studied could not remain in isolation for more than a week.

4. Workspaces

  • 4a. The Person-Place Fit

    • Barker studied groups in their natural locations

      • He concluded most behavior is determined by fit between the place and the person
      • Ecological Psychology
        • Physically and temporally bounded social situations
        • Checkout-line, classroom, elevator
      • Behavior Setting
        • Geographically fixed
        • Boundaries
        • Components
        • Program: determine behavior in the place
        • Elements

    • Synomorphy: The quality of the fit between the human occupants and the physical situation.

    • Staffing theory: Both understaffing (not enough people) and overstaffing (too many people) can be detrimental.

  • 4b. Fitting Form to Function

    • Groups live and work best in places that are deliberately designed to match the members’ needs and the group’s needs.