Social Psychology Chapter 16

Groups  What is a group? Two or more individuals Who interact with one another Are interdependent upon one another Aware of belonging to a group

Characteristics of Effective Work Teams  Informal, relaxed atmosphere  Lot of “on-task” discussion (all members participate)  Well-defined tasks or objectives  Group members listen to one another  There IS disagreement  Criticism is frequent, frank, comfortable and constructive  Ideas and feelings are freely expressed  Clear assignments are made and accepted  Group leadership shifts to members from time to time  The group is aware of how it is operating From Douglas McGregor, The Human Side of Enterprise, pp Copyright © 1960

Elements of Group Structure Norms - implicit or explicit rules that regulate the behavior of group members. Prescriptive - tell members how to behave. Proscriptive - tell members how NOT to behave. Cohesiveness - “forces” that bind group members together “Cost” of getting into group. The higher the cost the more attracted and committed we are to the group. External threats or severe competition Past history of success Group size. Smaller groups are more cohesive

Elements of Group Structure Goal(s) - a desired state of affairs Direct and motivate group effort Provide a vision of what the group could/should be Aid in solving group conflict Used to evaluate effectiveness of group processes/procedures Roles - differentiation of function within groups. Task-oriented roles - focus on getting the group’s job done. Relations-oriented roles - focus on reducing interpersonal friction and maintaining good relationships within the group.

How Groups Influence Behavior  Group Productivity Are groups more productive than individuals  Depends upon Type of task Social Facilitation Social Loafing

Types of Tasks  Additive tasks the contributions of each member are combined into a single group product.  Conjunctive tasks the groups final product is determined by its poorest performing member (the weakest link in the chain).  Disjunctive tasks the groups final product is determined by the best or most competent person in the group.  Compensatory tasks the contributions of various members a averaged together to form a single group outcome.

Social Facilitation Organism performing some task Presence of audience or coactors Social facilitation effects Increased arousal Conflict Tendency to pay attention to audience or coactors Tendency to pay attention to task Distraction-Conflict Theory

Social Loafing Actual group productivity Pseudogroup productivity Potential productivity Tendency to slack off when individual effort cannot be monitored Latane’, Williams, and Harkins (1979)

Making Decisions in Groups  Group Polarization  Groupthink

Group Polarization RiskyCautiousNeutral Group Polarization- tendency to shift toward more extreme positions after group discussion

Groupthink  Groupthink- syndrome of bad decision-making 12.17

How Groups Influence Behavior  Conformity Yielding to social pressure Factors that influence conformity  Asch studies Group size (magic #’s 4 & 7) Group unanimity

How Groups Influence Behavior Form of compliance when people follow direct commands, typically from an authority figure.  Milgram studies Obedience