Chapter 9

Question 1

Group

Answer 1

Two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.

Question 2

Formal Group

Answer 2

A designated work group defined by an organization’s structure.

Question 3

Informal Group

Answer 3

A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; such a group appears in response to the need for social contact.

Question 4

Social Identity Theory

Answer 4

Perspective that considers when and why individuals consider themselves members of groups. Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied to whatever happens to the group.3 When your group does well, you bask in reflected glory, and your own self-esteem rises. When your group does poorly, you might feel bad about yourself, or you might reject that part of your identity, similar to fair-weather fans. If your group is devalued and disrespected, your social identity might feel threatened, and you might endorse deviant behaviors to restore your group’s standing.

Question 5

ingroup favoritism

Answer 5

Perspective in which we see members of our ingroup as better than other people, and people not in our group as all the same.

Question 6

outgroup

Answer 6

The inverse of an ingroup, which can mean everyone outside the group but is more usually an identified other group.

Question 7

punctuated-equilibrium model

Answer 7

A set of phases that temporary groups go through that involves transitions between inertia and activity.

Question 8

role

Answer 8

A set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit.

Question 9

role perception

Answer 9

An individual’s view of how he or she is supposed to act in a given situation.

Question 10

role expectations

Answer 10

How others believe a person should act in a given situation.

Question 11

psychological contract

Answer 11

An unwritten agreement that sets out what a manager expects from an employee, and vice versa.

Question 12

role conflict

Answer 12

A situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations.

Question 13

interrole conflict

Answer 13

A situation in which the expectations of an individual’s separate groups are in opposition. A Father role and a Manager Role conflicting, for example.

Question 14

norms

Answer 14

Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group’s members.

Question 15

conformity

Answer 15

The adjustment of one’s behavior to align with the norms of the group.

Question 16

reference groups

Answer 16

Important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform.

Question 17

deviant workplace behavior

Answer 17

Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and, in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization or its members. Also called antisocial behavior or workplace incivility.

Question 18

status

Answer 18

A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others.

Question 19

status characteristics theory

Answer 19

A theory stating that differences in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups.

Question 20

social loafing

Answer 20

The tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually. Research indicates that the stronger an individual’s work ethic is, the less likely that person is to engage in social loafing.

There are ways to prevent social loafing: (1) set group goals, so the group has a common purpose to strive toward; (2) increase intergroup competition, which focuses on the shared group outcome; (3) engage in peer evaluations; (4) select members who have high motivation and prefer to work in groups; and (5) base group rewards in part on each member’s unique contributions.

Question 21

cohesiveness

Answer 21

The degree to which group members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.

Question 22

What can you do to encourage group cohesiveness?

Answer 22

(1) Make the group smaller, (2) encourage agreement with group goals, (3) increase the time members spend together, (4) increase the group’s status and the perceived difficulty of attaining membership, (5) stimulate competition with other groups, (6) give rewards to the group rather than to individual members, and (7) physically isolate the group.

Question 23

diversity

Answer 23

The extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from, one another.

Question 24

Diversity doesn’t work

Answer 24

Diversity appears to increase group conflict, especially in the early stages of a group’s tenure; this often lowers group morale and raises dropout rates. One study compared groups that were culturally diverse and homogeneous (composed of people from the same country). On a wilderness survival test, the groups performed equally well, but the members from the diverse groups were less satisfied with their groups, were less cohesive, and had more conflict.

Although differences can lead to conflict, they also provide an opportunity to solve problems in unique ways.

Question 25

faultlines

Answer 25

The perceived divisions that split groups into two or more subgroups based on individual differences such as sex, race, age, work experience, and education.

Question 26

groupthink

Answer 26

A phenomenon in which the norm for consensus overrides the realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action.

Question 27

groupshift

Answer 27

A change between a group’s decision and an individual decision that a member within the group would make; the shift can be toward either conservatism or greater risk but it generally is toward a more extreme version of the group’s original position.

Question 28

Solomon Asch drew

Answer 28

Groupthink appears closely aligned with the conclusions Solomon Asch drew in his experiments with a lone dissenter. Individuals who hold a position different from that of the dominant majority are under pressure to suppress, withhold, or modify their true feelings and beliefs. As members of a group, we find it more pleasant to be in agreement—to be a positive part of the group—than to be a disruptive force, even if disruption would improve effectiveness. Groups that are more focused on performance than learning are especially likely to fall victim to groupthink and to suppress the opinions of those who do not agree with the majority.

Question 29

interacting groups

Answer 29

Typical groups in which members interact with each other face-to-face.

Question 30

brainstorming

Answer 30

An idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives while withholding any criticism of those alternatives.

Question 31

nominal group technique

Answer 31

A group decision-making method in which individual members meet face-to-face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion. Before any discussion takes place, each member independently writes down ideas about the problem. After this silent period, each member presents one idea to the group. No discussion takes place until all ideas have been presented and recorded. The group discusses the ideas for clarity and evaluates them. Each group member silently and independently rank-orders the ideas. The idea with the highest aggregate ranking determines the final decision. The chief advantage of the nominal group technique is that it permits a group to meet formally but does not restrict independent thinking. Research generally shows nominal groups outperform brainstorming groups.