chapter 9 questions

Group Processes

1. What is a group, 

a group is 2 or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other

what is the typical size of most groups 

2-6 

and 

why do group explain two reasons why do group members tend to be homogenous?

1. tend to attract similar peeps
2. tend to operate in ways that encourage similarity in members

2. What are roles and what function do they serve in social groups. What are two possible costs to social roles?

2 possible costs to social roles:

1. People can get so far into a role that their personal identities get lost
   
2. People can lose their personalities
   

 Be sure you understand these costs as they are evident in the Stanford Prison Experiment and in the example of gender roles.

As opposed to norms which specify how ALL group members should act
The roles that people assume in groups, and in society at large, are powerful determinants of their feelings, behavior, and personality
*Stanford prison experiment & gender roles during WWII, followed by feminist movement

3. What is group cohesiveness?
Qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members
What are its benefits and costs for the group?
Benefits and costs for the group:

• Doing well on a task causes the group to become more cohesive, but does cohesiveness cause a group to perform well?
  
• Yes, if the task requires close cooperation between group members
  
• However, sometimes cohesiveness can get in the way of optimal performance, if maintaining good relations among group members becomes more important than finding good solutions to a problem

4. What is social facilitation?
The tendency for people to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when they are in the presence of other and their individual performance can be evaluated
How does the presence of others affect performance on simple and difficult tasks?

• Many studies have found that people and animals do worse in the presence of others when the task is difficult (this is the opposite of the findings for when the task is easy)

Zajonc- Cockroach study: found presence of other members of your species speeds up performance on simple tasks
Understand the three theories about why the presence of others causes arousal.
3 theories on why the presence of others causes arousal:

1. - mere presence: > alertness>arousal (blindfolded audience)
   
2. -evaluation apprehension:>arousal 
   
3. -distraction >divided attention>conflict>arousal
   

more detail:

1. The presence of other people makes us more alert and this alertness or vigilance causes mild arousal.--crowd effect
   
2. People are not cockroaches and are often concerned about how other people are evaluating them. This is the concern of being judged (evaluation apprehension), when other people can see how you are doing, the stakes are raised: you feel like the other people are evaluating you and will feel embarrassed if you do poorly and pleased if you do well.
   
3. People are distracting. Distraction will put is in a state of conflict because it is difficult to pay attention to two things at the same time, so this divided attention causes arousal. Nonsocial sources of distraction, such as a flashing light, cause the same kinds of social facilitation effects as the presence of other people

5. What is social loafing, and why does it occur? 

• The tendency for people to do worse on simple tasks but better on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance cannot be evaluated.
  
  reduction of individul effort when working with others on an additive task
  group product is sum of indistinguishable individual contributions
  
  
• Occurs in groups where individual efforts CANNOT be distinguished

How does the setting in which social loafing occurs differ from the setting in which social facilitation occurs?

• - social loading - additive tasks, not identifiable, reduce effect
  
• -social facilitation - presence of others, enhances dominant effect

• 6. What are some gender and cultural differences in the occurrence of social loafing?

Gender differences in social loafing:
The tendency to loaf is found to be stronger in men than in women.
Women tend to be higher than men in relational interdependence, which is the tendency to focus on and care about personal relationships with other individuals.
Cultural differences in social loafing:
the tendency to loaf is stronger in Western cultures than in Asian cultures. Asians are more likely to have an interdependent view of the self, which is a way of defining oneself in terms of relationships to other people, which may reduce the tendency toward social loafing when in groups
Women and members of Asian cultures to engage in social loafing when in groups; they are just less likely to do so than men or members of Western cultures
Why might these differences occur?
 

7. What is deindividuation, and what effects does it have on behavior?
Deindividuation-The loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people can’t be identified (such as when they are in a crowd)., leading to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts
Zimbardo: conditions of deindividuation

• being in a group
  
• arousal
  
• anonymity
  
• diffused responsibility
  

What are two explanations for why deindividuation leads to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts?
2 explanations for why Deindividuation leads to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts:
Deindividuation makes people feel less accountable for their actions because it reduces the likelihood that any individual will be singled out and blamed
 

8. Under what conditions are groups likely to make better decisions than individuals?
Groups are likely to make better decisions than individuals when:

• The most talented member can convince the others that he or she is right, which is not always easy, given that many of us bear a strong resemblance to mules when it comes to admitting we are wrong
• ~~~

9. Understand how failure to share unique information affects group decision making. What is transactive memory, and how can this can foster the superior performance of groups?
1
Failure to share unique information affects group decision making:
The tendency for groups to focus on what its members already know in common

10. What is groupthink? What are its antecedents, symptoms, and consequences? How can groupthink be avoided?

1 Antecedents of groupthink: 

• fear of failure
  
• recent failure
  
• ambiguous situation
  
• limited info
  

symptoms of groupthink: when more are present, more likely to be groupthink, more likely to make bad decision

• illusion of invulnerability
  
• close mindedness
  
• self censorship
  
• direct pressure
  
• mind guarding
  
• illusion of unanimity
  
• ?group cohesivness?
  
• ?
  

to avoid groupthink:

• open environment
  
• avoid insulation
  
• all be critical evaluators
  
• authority avoid being directive
  

11. How does group discussion affect attitudes that are initially risky or initially cautious? What are the “persuasive arguments” and “social comparison” interpretations of group polarization?
1 answer 

12. What types of leadership style are most effective?
1 Task oriented and relationship oriented 

13. Contrast the great person theory with the contingency theory of leadership. What are the two types of leaders, according to the contingency theory?
1 Contingency Theory
2 types of leaders
1.relationship oriented

• best when control is moderate
  
• more concentrated on workers feelings etc
  

2.task oriented

• get the job done
  
• best when control is low or high 
  

14. What is a social dilemma? Understand these 3 types of dilemmas (use examples to help you understand these): the prisoner's dilemma, public goods dilemma, and the commons dilemma.
1 answer ~~~

15. What are the effects of using threats while playing mixed-motive games? How/when does communication facilitate cooperation?
1 answer ~~

15. What is an integrative solution in negotiations?

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