8 - Dynamics of Group Behaviour

Question 1

Group?

Answer 1

Two or more people who share a common definition and evaluation of themselves and behave in accordance with such definition

Question 2

Entitativity?

Answer 2

The property of a group that makes it seem like a coherent, distinct and unitary entity

Question 3

Common bond groups?

Answer 3

based upon attachment among members. prioritise personal goals over group goals, aiming to maximise individual rewards and minimise personal cost

Question 4

Common identity groups?

Answer 4

based on direct attachment to the group. prioritise group goals, seeking to maximise group rewards and minimise its costs through individual contributions

Question 5

Individualists?

Answer 5

view group behaviour as an extension of individual behaviour, believing that group processes are merely interpersonal interactions among multiple individuals

Question 6

Collectivists?

Answer 6

group behaviour is shaped by distinct social processes and cognitive representations that emerge uniquely from within groups

Question 7

Frank Johnson (1987): 7 major emphases. According to them, the group is:

Answer 7

1. a collection of individuals who are interacting
2. a social unit of two or more individuals who perceive themselves as belonging to a group
3. a coll. of indiv. who are interdependent
4. a coll of indiv who join together to achieve a goal
5. a coll. of indiv. who are trying to satisfy a need through their joint association
6. a coll. of indiv. whose interactions are structured by a set of roles and norms
7. a coll. of indiv. who influence each other

Question 8

Social Facilitation?

Answer 8

An improvement in the performance of well learned/easy tasks and a deterioration in the performance of poorly learned/hard tasks in the mere presence of members of the same species

Question 9

Mere presence?

Answer 9

an entirely passive and unresponsive audience that is only physically present

Question 10

Audience effects?

Answer 10

impact of the presence of other on individual task performance

Question 11

Drive theory?

Answer 11

Zajonc’s theory that the physical presence of members of the same species instinctively causes arousal that motivates performance of habitual behaviour patterns. This arousan can lead to either social facilitation or social inhibition

Question 12

Evaluation apprehension model?

Answer 12

The argument that the physical presence of members of the same species cause drive because people have learned to be apprehensive about being evaluated

Question 13

Distraction conflict theory?

Answer 13

The physical presence of members of the same species is distracting and produces conflict between attending to the task and attending to the audience

Question 14

Task taxonomy?

Answer 14

Categorises group tasks based on three questions:
1. is the task divisible or unitary?
2. Is it a maximising or an optimising task? (maximising: open ended, stresses quantity, optimising has a set standard, obj. i s to meet it)
3. how are individual inputs related to the group’s product? Additive, compensatory, disjunctive, conjunctive, discretionary

Question 15

Process Loss?

Answer 15

Deterioration in group performance in comparison to individual performance due to the whole range of possible interferences among members

Question 16

Coordination loss?

Answer 16

deterioration in group performance compared with individual performance, due to problems in coordinating behaviour

Question 17

Ringelmann effect?

Answer 17

Individual effort on a task diminishes as a group size increases

Question 18

Social Loafing?

Answer 18

A reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task (one which in our outputs are pooled with those of other group members) compared with working either alone or coactively (our outputs are not pooled)

Question 19

Free-Rider Effect?

Answer 19

Gaining the benefits of group membership by avoiding costly obligations of membership and by allowing other members to incur those costs

Question 20

What three reasons could explain social loafing?

Answer 20

1. Output equity, reduction of effort to maintain perceived equity
2. Evaluation apprehension, individuals might hold back when fearing evaluation
3. Matching to standard, indiv. might not clearly understand group norms and standards

Question 21

Social compensation?

Answer 21

Increased effort on a collective task to compensate for other group members’ actual , perceived or anticipated lack of effort or ability

Question 22

Cohesiveness?

Answer 22

The property of a group that affectively binds people, as group members, to one another and to the group as a whole, giving the group a sense of solidarity and oneness.

Question 23

Personal Attraction?

Answer 23

Liking for someone based on idiosyncratic (individual) preferences and interpersonal relationships

Question 24

Social Attraction?

Answer 24

Liking for someone based on common group membership and determined by the person’s prototypicality of the group

Question 25

Tuckman's 5 stage developmental sequence for small interactive groups?

Answer 25

1. forming - familiarisation 2. storming - conflict stage 3. norming - consensus, cohesion, community 4. performing - smooth work as a unit w/ shared norms and goals 5. adjourning - dissolving, goal has been accomplished

Question 26

Group Socialisation?

Answer 26

Dynamic relationship between the group and its embers that describes the passage of members through a group in terms of commitment and of changing roles

Question 27

3 fundamental processes of group socialisation?

Answer 27

1. Evaluation - comparison between rewards from current group and other possible ones 2. Commitment - arises when both parties agree on goals 3. Role transition - different statuses of membership

Question 28

5 phases of group socialisation?

Answer 28

1. investigation 2. socialisation 3. maintenance 4. resocialisation 5. remembrance

Question 29

Initiation Rites?

Answer 29

Often painful or embarrassing public procedures to mark group members' movements from one role to another

Question 30

Three essential functions of initiation rites?

Answer 30

1. symbolism - public recognition 2. apprenticeship - help with becoming accustomed 3. loyalty elicitation - enhance commitment to group

Question 31

Cognitive Dissonance?

Answer 31

State of psychological tension produced by simultaneously having two opposing cognitions. People often motivated to reduce tension often by changing or rejecting one of the cognitions. Festinger proposed that we seek harmony in our attitudes, beliefs and behaviours and try to reduce tension from inconsistency among these elements.

Question 32

Norms?

Answer 32

Attitudinal and behavioural uniformities that define group membership and differentiate between groups

Question 33

Ethnomethodology?

Answer 33

Devised by Garfinkel, method involving the violation of hidden norms to reveal their presence

Question 34

Frame of reference?

Answer 34

Provided by norms, a complete range of subjectively conceivable positions on some attitudinal or behavioural dimensions, which relevant people can occupy in a particular context

Question 35

Moral Principles?

Answer 35

Fundamental organising principles for our behaviour, which regulate behavioural activation (approach) and behavioural inhibition (avoidance)

Question 36

Group Structure?

Answer 36

Division of a group into different roles that often differ with respect to status and prestige

Question 37

Roles?

Answer 37

Patterns of behaviour that distinguish between different activities within the group, and that interrelate to one another for the greater good of the group

Question 38

Correspondence bias?

Answer 38

General attribution bias in which people have an inflated tendency to see behaviour as reflecting (corresponding to) stable underlying personality attributes

Question 39

Status?

Answer 39

Consensual evaluation of prestige of a role or role occupant in a group, or the prestige of a group and its members as a whole

Question 40

Expectation states theory?

Answer 40

Theory of the emergence of roles as a consequence of people's status-based expectations about others' performance.

Question 41

Specific status characterstics?

Answer 41

Attributes that relate directly to ability on the group task

Question 42

Diffuse status characteristics?

Answer 42

Attributes that do not relate directly to ability ono the group task but are generally positively or negatively valued in society

Question 43

Communication network?

Answer 43

Set of rules governing the possibility or ease of communication between different roles in a group

Question 44

Schism?

Answer 44

Division of a group into subgroups that differ in their attitudes, values or ideology

Question 45

Two types of members?

Answer 45

1. those who best embody the group's attributes - core members who are highly prototypical of the group 2. those who do not - marginal or non-prototypical

Question 46

Subjective Group Dynamics?

Answer 46

A process where normative deviant who deviate towards an outgroup (anti-norm deviants9 are more harshly treated than those who deviate away from the outgroup (pro-norm deviants)

Question 47

Reasons for Joining groups?

Answer 47

Physical proximity, shared goals, mutual support, affiliation pleasure

Question 48

Uncertainty Identity Theory?

Answer 48

To reduce uncertainty and to feel more comfortable about who they are, people choose to identify with groups that are distinctive, are clearly defined and have consensual norms

Question 49

What can ostracism lead to?

Answer 49

Social pain, lack of meaningful existence and aggression