Journal  What social groups are you a part of? (Family, clubs, friends, etc.) Has your membership in these social groups ever influenced your personal decisions? How or how not? LEARNING TARGETS  I can distinguish between a primary group and secondary group

What is a group?  Two or more people who identify with and interact with one another  Primary group: a small social group whose members share personal and lasting relationships  Secondary group: a large and impersonal social group whose members pursue a specific goal or activity How would you answer the question, “How are you?”

Social Loafing  The tendency of individuals to put forth less effort when they are part of a group  Because all members of the group are pooling their effort to achieve a common goal, each member of the group contributes less than they would if they were individually responsible.  This happens when there is NO individual accountability.  Does this really happen?

Social Loafing  Though it is a tendency to “loaf”, certain factors reduce the likelihood 1. Engaging and interactive activities 2. Being part of a close group (primary group) 3. Individual accountability

Social Facilitation  Is our performance hindered or enhanced by the presence of others?

Social Facilitation  Tendency for people to do better on simple tasks when in the presence of other people.  This implies that whenever people are being watched by others, they will do well on things that they are already good at doing.

Group Conformity  Solomon Asch’s Experiment (on conformity)  Video uploaded to wiki

Losing our sense of self in a group  April 2003: In the wake of American troops entering Iraq’s cities, looters ran rampant  “ They came in mobs: A group of 50 would come, they would go, and another would come”  Reports of the events led the rest of the world wondering  What happened to the looters’ sense of morality?  Why did such behavior erupt?

When do we lose our sense of self?  When we are aroused and responsibility is diffused, normal inhibitions diminish.  When normal inhibitions diminish, results are startling!  Power of the group can lead create a sense of excitement, of being caught up in something bigger than your self.  Rock concert

When do we lose our sense of self?  Group Size: this can make members unidentifiable  You can hide behind the mask of your group  You focus on the situation, and not on yourself  Since “everyone is doing it” we can contribute our behavior to the situation and not to our own choices

When do we lose our sense of self?  Physical Anonymity  New York University Experiment (Klan-like outfits)  Internet and anonymity  Does it always bring out the worst in us?  Nurse Uniforms  Being anonymous makes us less self-conscious, more group-conscious and more responsive to social cues

When do we lose our sense of self?  Diminished Self-Awareness  Unself-conscious, deinividuated people are less restrained, less self-regulated and more likely to act without thinking about their own values  Acting in front of a TV camera or mirror led to increased self control and their actions more clearly reflected their values