Reference group
chosen group for conformity and norms
Membership group
can not be changed, not chosen, like gender
Definition group membership
personal definition and identification in terms of group membership, share normative attitudes, common goal, evaluation
Types of groups
- common-bond group, based on close interpersonal bonds (personal goals > group goals)
- common-identity group, attached to group as whole (group goals most important)
- social aggregates
Social facilitation
better performance on easy tasks, worse on hard tasks when presence of others
- drive theory (Zajonc)
- evaluation-apprehension model (Cottrell), presence of others only causes arousal when feeling evaluated
- distraction-conflict theory
- self-awareness theory
- self-presentation concern
- narrowed attention
Task taxonomy (Steiner)
individual performance in group, depends on whether:
divisible/ unitary or maximizing/ optimizing
Types of distribution of work in groups
- additive - group’s product sum of all inputs
- compensatory - average of all inputs
- disjunctive - adopted product of one individual’s input
- conjunctive - group product determined by least able member
- discretionary - group free to decide for preferred course of action
Ringelmann effect
individual’s effort on task diminishes as group size increases, coordinational or motivational loss
Social loafing
work less on a task when we believe others are also working on it (motivational loss)
- output equity
- evaluation apprehension
- matching to group standard
Free-rider effect
take advantage of shared public resources without contributing
Social compensation
increased effort on collective task to compensate other group member’s lack of effort or ability
Group cohesiveness (Festinger)
property of group that binds group members to one another, higher personal attachment, either personal or social attraction
Forming of groups (5 steps)
- forming
- storming
- norming
- performing
- adjourning
Forming of groups (3 steps)
- evaluation
- commitment
- role transition
Initiation rites
cognitive dissonance makes you like the group more once you’ve done a hard/ bad initiation rite to finally be a member of the group
Norms of groups
attitudinal and behavioral uniformities that define group membership, limited frame of reference, coordination towards fulfillment of goals
Ethnomethodology (Garfinkel)
making sense of world through belonging to group
Roles in a group
behavioral patterns, apply to subgroups that interrelate for good of whole group, furnishes expectations and definition of the self
Expectation status theory (Berger)
hierarchies are malleable, roles emerge as consequence of people’s status-based expectations about other’s performances
Specific vs diffuse status characteristics
specific: relate directly to useful ability on group task
diffuse: generally positive or negative, large-scale attitudes
Being prototypical in a group
more influence, higher status, leaders are very prototypical
Subjective group dynamics (Marques)
respond to deviant individuals within groups in a context involving comparisons between their ingroup and an outgroup, different attitudes and behavior when in comparison with other groups
Reasons for joining a group
realistic conflict theory, behavioral interdependence to achieve a goal affiliation proximity safety terror management theory (Greenberg) uncertainty identity theory (Hogg)
Leadership
ability to influence group to achieve a goal, either effective or good, depending on context, task specialist or socioemotional specialist
