Group Behaviour, Conformity, and Obedience Flashcards
(36 cards)
What did Forsyth (1998) state about groups?
= Exist when two or more people define themselves as members.
= Existence is recognised by at least one other person.
What did Brekcin et al., (2006) state about groups?
= Groups are two or more people interacting with one another (influencing one another)
What are groups based on?
= Common experience
= Implicit social structure
= Common characteristics
= Common interests/values/beliefs
What did Jetten et al., (2012) state about the ‘social cure’?
= Social groups positively impact individuals as social identification processes make them meaningful and psychologically valuable.
What did Wakefield et al., (2012) state about the ‘social cure’?
= Group identification is connected to wellbeing, even after controlling for social integration.
What is the ‘social curse’?
= Group membership and group experiences have the potential of hindering group members.
What does Kellezi & Reicher., (2012) state about the ‘social curse’?
= social curse phenomena have been identified on a multitude of contexts.
What is social loafing?
= Concept that individuals working in groups tend to exert less effort than when working alone
What does social loafing occur as a result of?
= Individuals making incorrect attributions about how labour is divided in the group.
= Goals being set lower than they should be, leading members to make less effort.
How do Karau & Williams., (1993) apply social loafing to gender?
= Review of 150 studies, showing the tendency to loaf is stronger in men than women.
(Eagly., 1987) Why is social loafing stronger in men than women?
Relational interdependence.
Why is group decision-making preferred?
= Access to more information.
= Multiple perspectives.
What is faulty decision making?
= The process of making decisions that are flawed or incorrect due to influences or lack of information.
What are the symptoms of Groupthink?
= An illusion of Invulnerability
= Rationalisation of warnings
= Stereotyped view of enemy leaders
What are two real-life examples of groupthink?
= The bombing of Pearl Harbour
= The collapse of Swissair, 2001
What is meant by the term ‘groupthink’?
= A psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group.
How can groupthink be prevented?
= Leader should assign the role of critical evaluator to each member.
= The leader should avoid stating preferences and expectations at the outset.
= Each member of the group should routinely discuss the groups’ deliberations with a trusted associate and report back to the group on the associate’s reactions.
What is meant by the term ‘group polarisation’?
= Tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of its members.
Examples of polarisation and the internet:
= Social networking sites.
= Online identities (Neo-Nazis, conspiracy theorists, terrorist groups).
= Without face-to-face discussion, therefore a loss of inhibitions.
What is meant by the term ‘deindividuation’?
= A feeling in the individual members of a group that have lost personal identities, merging into a group/crowd (becoming anonymous.
What do Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb (1952) state about ‘deindividuation’?
= A loss of responsibility.
What 4 factors cause deindividuation?
= Psychological factors.
= Weakening of inhibitions against undesirable actions.
= Increase adherence to group norms.
= Increased responsiveness to external cues.
*link to Zimbardo e.g., effects of uniform, physical anonymity
What do Johnson and Downing (1979) question about Physical Anonymity?
= Is anonymity always a pre-cursor to negative group behaviour?
What does Diener et al., (1976) state about group size?
= The larger the group, the more the anonymity.
