Groups

• Groups the people belong to
• The more important something is, should be more individual based rather than group

• Interdependent-  emotional ties that interact on a regular basis
• Size-  as the number of people increase in a group, participation declines

Groups accomplish instrumental tasks and satisfy socioemotional needs.

5 Phases of group membership

1. investigation-  how does group fit my goals
2. socialization-  training to be what they are looking for..group shapes individual�s thinking
3. maintenance-  start developing socialization/specialized roles�leader may emerge
4. resocialization-  retraining them as of way to �hang on�
5. remembrance-  out of group; leave group

Group Influence

• social facilitation-  enhancement of dominant responses due to the presence of others

-presence of others makes easy tasks easier

-presence of others makes complex tasks more difficult

• mere presence- presence of someone of same species increases arousal, increasing likelihood of the dominant response

-when others around�more arousing

• distraction-conflict explanation- when others are present and you know this, it makes it more distracting

Social Loafing

-refers to productivity

-when people know they are in a group, they tend to exert less effort

Reduce Loafing

1.      individual evaluation

2.      social ostracism the loafer( tell them how they are not helping and that they are being a slacker)

-Gender differences

�        women would apologize and contribute more work

�        men said forget you guys, if you don�t like my work then I am leaving the group

-Anonymity can improve performance-

Deindividualization

            Loss of identity and loosening inhibitions when in a group�.more likely to do things with group compared to alone

• can unleash positive behaviors

Group:  induced lowering of inhibitions

1.      arousal

2.      anonymity

3.      diffused responsibility

2 issues when dealing with decisions

intellectual- only one right answer

judgemental- not one exact answer(more subjective)

How is decision made?

Informative- based on logical arguments

Normative- judgmental tasks

Judgment Rule

1. unanimity- everybody has to rule in favor of decision before finalized
2. majority rule
3. plurality plus- no definite winner, go with one that�s most popular

Group Polarization (used to be called Risky Shift)

-when in a group could be much more conservative or much more extreme

-group-produced enhancement or exaggeration of member�s initial attitudes

-group discussion enhances the initial attitudes of people who already agree

Groupthink

-consensus seeking overrides critical analysis

Social Dilemma

-any situation in which the most rewarding short-term choice for an individual will ultimately cause negative consequences for the group as a whole

-fear and greed usually takes over rational thinking

-cooperation is necessary to resolve social dilemmas

Powerpoint Slides: