PSY 321 Dr. Sanchez Obedience/Group Influence

Extra Credit Results

Exam Review What I will do Post Exam Review On-line this Friday Use class period for Q & A based on posted exam review Jeopardy

Milgram’s Baseline Results

The Obedient Participant No gender differences observed in level of obedience. Milgram’s basic findings have been replicated in several different countries and among different age groups. Milgram’s participants were tormented by experience.

Are We All Nazis? No, an individual’s character can make a difference. Authoritarian Personality: Submissive toward figures of authority but aggressive toward subordinates.

Factors That Influence Obedience

Important Factors That Influence Obedience Physical presence and apparent legitimacy of the authority figure. The victim’s proximity. The experimental procedure. Participants were led to feel relieved of personal responsibility for the victim’s welfare. Gradual escalation was used.

Defiance: When People Rebel Social influence can also breed rebellion and defiance. Having allies gives individuals the courage to disobey.

Chapter 8: Group Processes How do groups effect individual effort? How/when do groups make bad decisions? Are groups a sum of their parts? Applications = I/O, Business, Student Organizations, Class Group Projects

Goals Collective processes = presence of others on individual’s behavior Group processes = individuals directly interact with each other Group conflict = Reconciling differences

What is a Group? Groups consist of two or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other.

What is a Group? A set of people who have at least one of the following characteristics: Joint membership in a social category based on sex, race, or other attributes. Direct interactions with each other over a period of time (e.g., work colleagues). A shared, common fate, identity, or set of goals (e.g., political groups).

What makes some groups more “groupy”? Perceptions of groupiness Social integration of group members Group members act, think, and feel as single individuals

What Is a Collective? An assembly of people engaging in a common activity but having little direct interaction with each other (e.g., audience members at a concert). Not a real group Low in distinctiveness (entitativity) Some social psychological processes are unique to real groups. However, others affect both groups and collectives.

Collective Processes The Presence of Others

Social Facilitation: When Others Arouse Us How does the presence of others affect our behavior? Triplett’s (1897-1898) fishing reel studies. Children winding fishing reels alone or with others Later research found conflicting findings. Sometimes the presence of others enhanced performance. At other times, performance declined. What was going on???

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us tendency for people to do better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance can be evaluated

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us Cockroach Example: Roaches navigate through a maze Maze was a easy task ½ roaches in the presence of other roaches ½ roaches alone Results: Roaches performed the task faster when other roaches were present than when alone.

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us Cockroach Example: Roaches get through a maze Maze was a difficult task ½ roaches in the presence of other roaches ½ roaches alone Results: Roaches took longer to solve the maze when other roaches were present than when alone.

Pool Hall Example Pool Hall Study ½ below- average players ½ above- average players ½ unobserved ½ observed

Results of Michaels et al. Pool Hall Study

Why Does Social Facilitation Occur? Zajonc’s Mere Presence Theory all animals are aroused by presence of conspecific others

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us Bob Zajonc suggested that we can understand the influence others on performance by considering three factors: Arousal Dominant response Task difficulty

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us Increases physiological arousal – energizes us Arousal facilitates dominant response Dominant response Easy task – perform well Difficult task – do not perform well

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us EVALUATION APPREHENSION AROUSAL DOMINANT RESPONSE PERFORMANCE IMPROVES ON AN EASY TASK (CORRECT RESPONSE) PERFORMANCE DECLINES ON A HARD TASK (INCORRECT RESPONSE)

Evaluation Apprehension Common to worry about others’ opinions SF depends on whether evaluator is present Blindfold study Stereotype threat revisited.

The fear of math evaluation

Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us DISTRACTION AROUSAL DOMINANT RESPONSE PERFORMANCE IMPROVES ON AN EASY TASK (CORRECT RESPONSE) PERFORMANCE DECLINES ON A HARD TASK (INCORRECT RESPONSE)

Distraction Conflict Theory Attentional conflict between focusing on task and inspecting the distracting stimulus creates arousal. Maintains there is nothing uniquely social about “social” facilitation. Which theory is correct? Mere presence, evaluation, and attention

Social Loafing: When the Presence of Others Relaxes Us RELAXATION DOMINANT RESPONSE PERFORMANCE IMPROVES ON A HARD TASK PERFORMANCE DECLINES ON AN EASY TASK

Social Loafing: When Others Relax Us Ringelmann (1880s): Individual output declines on pooled tasks. Def. “pooled” Social Loafing: A group-produced reduction in individual output on easy tasks in which contributions are pooled.

Social Loafing: When Many Produce Less Adapted from Jackson & Williams, 1985; Sanna, 1992.

When Is Social Loafing Less Likely to Occur? People believe that their own performances can be identified and thus evaluated, by themselves or by others. The task is important or meaningful to those performing it. People believe that their own efforts are necessary for a successful outcome.

When Is Social Loafing Less Likely to Occur? (cont.) The group expects to be punished for poor performance. The group is small. The group is cohesive. Membership is valuable, important, and people like eachother

Individual Differences Less likely among women Less likely among collectivistic cultures Less likely among those with high need for cognition

Why Does Social Loafing Occur? Collective Effort Model: Individuals try hard on a collective task when they think their efforts will help them achieve outcomes they personally value. Social compensation = try even harder v. Sucker effect = try less

SOCIAL FACILITATION SOCIAL LOAFING Improve on simple tasks Individual effort can be evaluated Evaluation apprehension Impaired on complex tasks Presence of others Impaired on simple tasks Individual effort cannot be evaluated No evaluation apprehension Improve on complex tasks SOCIAL LOAFING

Social Loafing: When the Presence of Others Relaxes Us Procedure Ps worked on a maze on a computer Another P worked on same task in room ½ Ps received simple maze ½ Ps received complex maze ½ Ps thought performance was unique ½ Ps thought performance combined Results???

Time to complete mazes Difficulty of the mazes

Deindividuation Sometimes the repercussions of anonymity are much more serious that simply “loafing” Deindividuation refers to the reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior Examples: Lynch mobs Military atrocities perpetrated against civilians

Environmental Cues What makes deindividuation likely? Accountability cues affect the person’s cost-reward calculations. Attentional cues focus a person’s attention away from the self.

Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Deindividuation can lead to positive behavior depending on the norms of the group

Figure 8.5: Deindividuation and Social Identity From Johnsson, R.D., and Downing, L. L. (1979). "Deindividuation and valance of cues: Effects on prosocial and antisocial behavior."