Groups, Cliques and Social Behaviour HSP3M

Types of Groups Social Groups: Two or more people who interact with each other and are aware of having something in common  Meet needs  Help us achieve goals  Provide safety/security

Types of Groups Crowds: A collection of people who come together for a specific purpose  May have little or nothing to do with each other A crowd can turn into a group if the people begin to relate to each other

Primary Groups First and most important groups in our lives  Personal relationships  Long-term relationships  Interested in the person as a whole  Usually face-to-face communication Ex: family, group of friends

Secondary Groups Impersonal, more formal Temporary/short-term relationships Interested in a narrow aspect of the person More formal/written communication Ex: School, business, team

How Groups Shape Behaviour Roles: Groups assign members a set of behaviours they expect them to perform  Do you adopt different roles in different groups?  Have you ever experience role conflict?

How Groups Shape Behaviour Norms: Rules within a group  can be formal or informal Sanctions: Used to encourage or discourage certain behaviours  Positive: acceptance, good marks, pay  Negative: rejection, failure, reprimands

Conformity The process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by others Occurs in both small groups and society as a whole Influences the formation and maintenance of social norms and allows society to function smoothly and predictably

Conformity Why do people conform?  A desire to achieve a sense of security within a group  Failure to conform may result in social rejection Peer pressure is a way to force conformity Can be positive or negative

Experiments Asch Experiment  Individuals will respond to group pressure and give responses they know to be wrong Milgram Experiment  When the “teachers” were in groups, the group could pressure the teacher to administer a shock 3-4 times higher than they would have alone

The Zimbardo Experiment The situation people are in will affect their behaviour  When people are given a role that it perceived as legitimate, they can adopt roles that they would never adopt otherwise  Social support and group pressure will reinforce this Basically, “normal” people will commit evil acts when put in a situation where the group legitimizes and encourages those behaviours

Questions Is conformity essential to make society function properly? What are the dangers and advantages of a society that conforms? Can people be manipulated to conform to ideas and behaviours without being aware they are being manipulated? How do you think you would have behaved if you were a guard in the Zimbardo experiment?