GROUP PROCESS

Characteristics of a group
Direct interactions over a period of time
Joint membership in social categories
Shared common fate, identity and set of
goals
Collective- people engaging in common
activity with little direct interaction with one
another
 GROUP PROCESS
Robert Zajonc -the presence of others
increased arousal which can affect
performance
The essence of his work which is called
the
Zajonc Solution; Social Facilitation
 GROUP PROCESS
Zajonc Solution; Social Facilitation
Presence of others increases arousal which
strengthens the dominant response to a stimulus
On an easy task, the dominant response is
usually correct presence of others enhances
performance
On a difficult task the dominant response is
often incorrect presence of others impairs
performance
 GROUP PROCESS
Social Facilitation occurs in several ways
1. Evaluation Apprehension Theory
A theory holding that the presence of
others will produce social facilitation
effects only when others are seen as
potential evaluators.
Fear of others laughing at me; public
humiliation
 GROUP PROCESS
2. Distraction-Conflict Theory
Being distracted while we are working on
a task creates attentional conflict torn
between working on the project and
examining the distraction
 GROUP PROCESS
Social Loafing
Individual output on easy tasks where
contributions are pooled- specific performance
of any one individual cannot be determined.
Max Ringlemann 1980s
Compared with what people produced when
they worked they worked on their own, individual
output declined when they worked on simple
tasks like pulling a rope or pushing a cart.
 GROUP PROCESS
Steven Karau and Kipling Williams conducted a meta analysis of
seventy-eight studies and found social loafing to be a reliable
phenomenon displayed across numerous tasks and in countries
around the world.
Social loafing is less likely to occur when
People believe their own performance can be identified and thus
evaluated
The task is important or meaningful to those performing it
People believe their own efforts are necessary for a successful
outcome
The group expects to be punished for poor performance
The group is small
The group is cohesive- membership is important to members.
 GROUP PROCESS
1.Collective Effort Model
Individuals try hard on a collective task
when they think their efforts will help them
achieve outcomes that they personally
value.
2. Social Loafing
Less prevalent among woman that men
Less prevalent among people from
eastern, collectivist cultures
 GROUP PROCESS
Destructive capacity of collectives
Deindividuation the loss of a persons
sense of individuality and the reduction
of normal constraints against deviant
behavior.
How does this happen what are the
environmental cues-
 GROUP PROCESS
Accountability Cues- affect the
individuals cost reward calculations
Accountability low
Less likely to be caught and punished-
Engage in gratifying but generally
inhibited behavior.
The riots after Dan Whites sentencing
for example
 GROUP PROCESS
Attentional Cues
Focuses a persons attention away from the
self
Self awareness declines
Change in consciousness
Individual attends less to internal standards
of conduct
Reacts more to the immediate situation
Less sensitive to long-term consequences of
behavior
Impulse rather than cognitively motivated
 GROUP PROCESS
Loss of personal identity does not
always produce anti-social behavior
Study with nurses and KKK robes
Social Identity Model of deindividuation
(SIDE) effects:
As personal identity and internal
controls are submerged social identity
emerge and conformity of group
increases.
 GROUP PROCESS
Group Dynamics: Interacting with Others
Why to join a group
Ones self worth comes from identification
with particular groups
Stages of group development
Forming members orient themselves to the group
Storming- members try to influence the group to fit their
own needs.
Conflict/hostility/ imposition of will
Norming members try to reconcile the conflict that
emerged during storming and develop a common sense
of purpose.
Performing- perform tasks and maximize group
performance
Adjourning disengage from the group, reduce activities
within the group
 GROUP PROCESS
3 Essential Components of Groups
Roles set of expected behaviors can be
formal or informal
Instrumental help the group achieve
its tasks
Expressive provide emotional support
and maintain morale
Set of clear roles help the group function
 GROUP PROCESS
Norms rules of conduct for members; can be
positive or negative
Cohesiveness forces exerted on a group that
push its members closer together.
Commitment
Group Pride
Engagement
Stanley Gully and others (1995)
Positive relationship between cohesiveness and
performance is much stronger for tasks that
require interdependence
 GROUP PROCESS
Breaking norms can be difficult whistle
blowers in the recent financial crises.
Groups are generally very homogenous
 GROUP PROCESS
Group Polarization Effect
Group discussion tends to enhance or
exaggerate the initial leanings of the group.
If group leans toward risky group decisions
lean toward risky
If group leans toward cautious- group decisions
lean toward cautious
Three process create group polarization
Persuasive arguments theory
social comparison
social categorization
 GROUP PROCESS
Group Think a group decision-making
style characterized by an excessive
tendency among group members to seek
concurrence.
Emerges when the need for agreement
takes priority over the motivation to obtain
accurate information and make
appropriate decisions
 GROUP PROCESS
Janis (1982) three characteristics to the
development of group think
1. Highly cohesive groups reject people with
deviant opinions
2. Group structure similar backgrounds/strong
leader/lacking systematic procedures for making
and reviewing decisions
3. Stressful situations urgency can overrule
accuracy
Example Bay of Pigs/ NASA Challenger
 GROUP PROCESS
Preventing Groupthink (Janis)
1. Avoid isolation
2. Reduce conformity pressures leaders
should encourage criticism
3. Establish a strong norm of critical review.
 GROUP PROCESS
Group Performance Ivan Steiner (1972)
Groups performance compares to the potential of
its individuals depends on the type of task
1. Additive task group product is the sum of all
members contributions (United Way)
2. Conjunctive tasks group product is determined
by the individual with the poorest performance.
(mountain climbing)
3. Disjunctive task group product is determined
by the performance of the individual with the
best performance.
 GROUP PROCESS
Brainstorming
Express all ideas that come to mind
More ideas the better
Dont edit the ideas
All ideas belong to the group
 GROUP PROCESS
Cautions with Brainstorming
Dont get too attached to your ideas
Make room for everyone to speak
Keep an atmosphere of non judgment so
everyone will feel comfortable speaking
 GROUP PROCESS
Diversity
Miscommunications and misunderstandings are more
likely to arise among heterogeneous group members.
(Levine & Moreland)
Diversity has a positive impact on patterns of
socialization, classroom dynamics, complexity of group
discussion.(Antonio et al.,2004)
Most likely to succeed when individuals feel that their
personal identity is verified and accepted by other
group members (Swann, 2003,2004)
Military teams when groups are committed to their
tasks they tend to perform well even if the members do
not like or feel comfortable with each other.(Mullen
1991)
 GROUP PROCESS
Mixed motives and Social Dilemmas
What is good for one is bad for the rest of the
group
Prisoners Dilemma
a type of dilemma in which one party must make
either cooperative or competitive moves in
relation to another party; typically designed in
such a way that competitive moves are more
beneficial to either side. But if both sides make
competitive moves, they are both worse off that
if they both cooperated.
 GROUP PROCESS
Resource Dilemmas
How two or more people share a limited
resource.
Commons - take as much as you want
and nothing is left for anyone else
Public goods all contribute to a common
pool
 GROUP PROCESS
The basis for all reality TV shows
Sets up the groups against one another and
then present one dilemma after another.
The behavior of the participants supports the
research
Groups tend to be more competitive in mixed-
motive situations
Competitiveness of groups has its roots in fear
and greed fear of exploitation/greed for
resources.
 GROUP PROCESS
Creates conflict between groups
Group polarization effect
Pressures for conformity
Escalation of commitment
Premature use of threat capacity
Negative perceptions of the other
 GROUP PROCESS
DEBATE GUIDELINES
Preparations for our debate:
The debate question is:
If we allowed all countries to have equal
opportunity to develop nuclear capability
our world would be safer. Therefore we
should allow all countries that the
opportunity to develop these arms.
 GROUP PROCESS
For example if you are to argue the point that there is a
need for monitoring nuclear capability then you need to
back up your stand with clear arguments as to why that
would make the world a safer place to live. You can look
at economics, resources, longevity etc on both sides.
After the debate we will analyze your group participation
based on the principles/research/concepts in the text.
If you are to argue the point that equal opportunity
should be granted you will need to back up what
specifically points to that need.
 GROUP PROCESS
You will be divided into two groups.
One group will argue yes and the other no to
the question.
Each group prepares:
1 opening statement
3 main argument points
1 closing statement
 GROUP PROCESS
Guidelines:
Choose 5 students to represent the group
in the debate
Each statement is limited to one minute
Between each argument your group will
have one minute to prepare your rebuttal
The entire group is necessary to revise the
rebuttal