People in Groups Flashcards
(25 cards)
What are groups?
2 or more people who interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as ‘us’
What are the types of group influence?
*Social facilitation
*Social Loafing
What are the forms of interacting group influence?
*Group polarization
*Groupthink
*Brainstorming
What is the origin of social facilitation?
*Triplett (1898) conducted an experiment including 40 children (aged 9-15) reeled fishing lines alone or in pairs, children performed faster in pairs
*Allport named this phenomenon social facilitation
What are facilitation effects?
*Presence of others improves performance
*Speed of simple multiplication
*Accuracy of motor tasks
*Word association- 93% produced more word associations with an audience
*It also observed in animals; ants dig more when others are around
What are inhibitory effects?
*Presence of others impairs performance
*Slower performance on learning nonsense syllables, completing mazes and complex multiplication
*It’s also observed in animals such as cockroaches and rats
What is Zajonc’s drive theory (1965) of social facilitation?
*Suggests that presence of others leads to arousal
*Arousal strengthens dominant responses
*Easy/Well Learned Tasks- Improved performance (social facilitation)
*Difficult/Novel Tasks- Impaired performance (social inhibition)
What are the explanations of social facilitation?
1) Mere Presence Theory (Zajonc, 1965): Presence of others leads to instinctive arousal, which activates dominant response
2) Evaluate Apprehension theory (Cottrell, 1972): Arousal caused by fear of being judged
3) Distraction Conflict Theory (Sanders): Presence of others causes conflict in attention, attend to task vs attend to audience arousal
Explain Ringelmann (1913) study
1) Men pulled a rope either alone or in groups of 2, 3 or 8
2) The rope was attached to a dynamometer (device that measures force)
3) He found that force exerted per person decreased as group size increased
What are the 2 hypotheses for decline in productivity?
Loss of Coordination: Movement inhibition, distracting, jostling
Loss of Motivation: Decreased effort when working with others
What did Ingham et al. (1974) do to study motivation loss in groups?
1) They replicated Ringelmann’s task with added conditions
2) Real Groups: 2-4 real participants pulling the rope
3) Pseudo Groups: Only the first participant was real, others were confederates pretending to pull (e.g. grunting)
Findings:
*Both real and pseudo groups showed decreased performance with increasing group size
*Stronger drop in real groups, indicating coordination and motivation losses
*Pseudo groups ruled out coordination, showing motivation as key
What is social loafing? Explain Lataneet al. (1979) research to support
Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to work less hard when they believe others are also working on the same task
1)Participants were asked to shout, clap and cheer
2) Group of 2: 29% less noise per person
3) Group of 4: 49% less noise per person
4) Group of 6: 60% less noise per person
5) Coordination wasn’t a problem, suggesting motivation was the issue
Explanations for social loafing?
*Output Equity: We expect others to loaf, so we reduce effort to match them
*Anonymity: Deindividuation and diffusion of responsibility (Being in a group reduces personal visibility and accountability)
*Lack of Evaluation Apprehension: No perceived individual judgement, reduces motivation
What are the ways to reduce social loafing?
*Make individuals outputs identifiable
*Increase Individual Commitment: Emphasize importance of each members contribution
*Increase Task Importance: If a task if valued or essential, people will compensate even if others loaf
What is group polarisation?
The tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of its individual members
Explain Stoner (1961) study
1) Participants acted as advisors
2) They chose between risky but rewarding options or safe but less desirable options
3) Findings: Groups were more likely to recommend riskier decision than individuals
Explain Moscovici and Zavalloni’s (1969) experiemnt
Procedure:
1) Participants consisted of 140 male French secondary students
2) They gave attitude scales on Charles de Gaulle (French president) and Americans
3) Rated attitudes before and after group discussion
4) Groups of 4 students discussed topics and reached consensus
Results:
*More favorable views of de Gaulle post discussion (initially favorable)
*More negative views of Americans post discussions (initially negative)
Conclusion: Group discussion enhanced initial attitudes, making them more polarized
What are the explanations of group polarisation?
*Persuasive Arguments/Informational Influence: New arguments from like-minded others strengthens existing views, but there is confirmation bias (seek information supporting initial beliefs)
*Social Comparison/Normative Influence: Desire for approval leads members to align with perceived group norms (shift our views to match what is socially desirable)
What is groupthink?
*The desire for group harmony and consensus overrides critical evaluation and rational decision making
*This results in irrational or disastrous decisions
What are triggers of groupthink?
*Highly cohesive groups
*Insulated from external viewpoints
*Directive leadership
*Ideological homogeneity
*High stress decisions with time pressure
What are the symptoms/signs of groupthink?
*Overestimation of Group: Illusion of invulnerability and belief in moral superiority
*Pressure Towards Uniformity: Self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, pressure to conform
*Closed Mindedness: Rationalizing poor decisions and stereotyping opponents
How can groupthink be prevented?
*Be impartial
*Encourage critical evaluation
*Use subgroups to discuss topics independently
*Invite external opinions
*Hold a second chance meeting before finalizing decisions
What is brainstorming? Is it effective?
*A group technique where participants are encouraged to generate as many ideas as possible, quickly
*It’s not effective, research shows less idea generation in groups compared to individuals or nominal/non interactive groups
What are the explanations of brainstorming ineffectiveness?
*Evaluation Apprehension: Fear of being judged inhibits idea sharing
*Social Loafing: Reduced effort when others are contributing
*Production Matching: People match the quantity and type of ideas others share
*Production Blocking: Waiting for turns to speak blocks the flow of ideas
