Group Psychology

Question 1

Social Action

Answer 1

• Decisions or Behaviours due to presence of others and/or societal norms

Question 2

Groupthink

Answer 2

• It is the tendency for groups to make decisions on ideas and solutions that arise within the group without considering outside ideas and ethics; based on pressure to conform and remain loyal to the group
• Group think occurs when members begin to conform to one another’s views without critical evaluation.

Question 3

Factors increasing the likelihood of Groupthink

Answer 3

• Group cohesion
• Poor leadership
• Pressure to conform
• stress

Question 4

Conformity

Answer 4

The change in a persons behaviour to go along with the group, even if they do not agree.

Question 5

Autokinetic Effect

Answer 5

• A visual illusion that occurs when a small spot of light is projected in a dark room.
• The light will appear to move even though it is still
• Participants who had extreme measurements on how far the dot moved brought down their answers to match with the other participants
• Sherif’s experiment showed that people who conform with the group in an ambiguous situation

Question 6

Polarization

Answer 6

• Is the tendency for individuals in a group to move towards a more extreme version of the position they held before the discussion.
• As a result of polarization, a group tends to respond in more extreme ways than one would expect, given the opinions or beliefs of the individual prior to the groups discussion.
• Group polarization can move in two dorections:
  
  • Risky Shift
  • Cautious shift

Question 7

Risky Shift

Answer 7

• Is the tendency for individuals in a group to move towards a more extreme version of the position they held before the discussion.

Question 8

Cautious Shift

Answer 8

• Is the tendency for an individual to adopt a more cautious approach following a group discussion.

Question 9

Cautious Shift

Answer 9

• Is the tendency for an individual to adopt a more cautious approach following a group discussion.

Question 10

Group Polarization vs. Group Think

Answer 10

• Group polarization is the tendency toward extreme decisions in a group
• Group Think is the tendency for groups to make decisions based on ideas that arise within the group.

Question 11

The Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 11

• Law on social facilitation that describes two ways that a social environment influences an individuals performance.
• Mental arousal refers to a state of being reactive or awake in response to stimuli, and having people actively watching you can certainly increase mental arousal
  
  • If mental arousal is high, which can happen when an individual is being watched, performance should also increase
  • This suggest that performing simple tasks when others are around watching, can actually be higher than the stressed performance without people around
  • Having people around causing heightened mental arousal, can lead to poor performance on complex tasks.
• Everyone performs lower with low mental arousal, regardless of others being around. If you’re just bored with the task that your mind wanders away, it is no surprise that performance will suffer.

Question 12

Peer Pressure

Answer 12

Being influences by peers to do something

Question 13

Compliance

Answer 13

• Is changing behaviour in direct response to a request from a peer.

Question 14

Obedience

Answer 14

It is yielding to others from authority

Question 15

Social Loafing

Answer 15

Is when an individual contributes less when they’re in a group than they otherwise would by themselves.

Question 16

Bystander Effect

Answer 16

Individual responds less quickly when they’re in a group than they otherwise would by themselves.

Question 17

Deindividuation

Answer 17

• Less sense of self, due to being part of a large part of a large anonymous group