Chapter 8 – Groups Part 2: March 28, 2006

Group Polarization Group discussion strengthens members’ initial attitudes  polarization Typical Group Study: –What is the procedure? What is compared? Found ‘risky shift’ effect – what is it?

Group Polarization Groups strengthen individual’s prior beliefs – can become more conservative or risky. 1. Groups pool ideas that favor dominant viewpoint. –How does this happen? 2. Social Comparison – compare our views with others –How does it affect views? Application in book to 9/11

Groupthink Janis’ 1972 research – analyzed historical group decisions –Pearl Harbor – indications of attack –Bay of Pigs More recent examples? Groupthink – tendency of groups to repress dissenting opinions in favor of group harmony and cohesion.

Groupthink Symptoms of Groupthink – –1. Illusion of Invulnerability – –2. Belief in Group’s Moral Superiority – These 2 symptoms cause group to overestimate the correctness of decisions. 3. Rationalization – 4. Stereotypes of Opponents – Symptoms 3 and 4 lead group to become close-minded.

Symptoms 5-8, Pressure to Conform 5. Pressure to Conform – 6. Self-Censoring – 7. Illusion of Unanimity – 8. Mindguarding –

Reducing Groupthink How can leader change this behavior? How can it be reduced via decision making? Use of others outside the group? Through restructuring the group?

Ch 9: Prejudice Part 1

Prejudice definition A negative prejudgment of a group and its members. Prejudice is an attitude –Affective component – emotional reaction to a certain group of people –Behavioral component – discrimination –Cognitive component - stereotypes

Stereotypes – Cognitive component Stereotypes – belief about personal attributes of a group of people. Very resistant to change with new info. –Negative v. positive? –True v. untrue? Use stereotypes because we are “cognitive misers” – –What does that mean?

Sports, Race, and Attribution Potential abuse of stereotypes – We often ignore overlap in distribution of White/African Amer sports abilities. Stone’s experiment – listen to audiotape of basketball game, focus on “Mark Flick” –What were the details? –What were the results?

Stereotype Threat Claude Steele – face negative stereotype & fear you will be evaluated based on that  what is the result? Hard math test to men/women with similar math abilities  –How does Steele prompt stereotype threat? –Results? Can we get positive effects of stereotype threat? –Example of experiment with Asian women

Discrimination – Behavioral Component Discrimination - unjustified negative behavior toward member of a group simply because of their group membership. Math teachers with belief girls aren’t as good at math as boys – –Effect on behavior? Nature of prejudice is changing… –Becoming more subtle