1. Chapter 10
Behavior
in Groups
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2. Behavior in the Presence of Others
The presence of others sometimes enhances and sometimes impairs an individual’s performance.
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3. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social Facilitation: People sometimes perform better in the presence of others than when they are alone
Social facilitation occurs:
Whether others are performing the same task, or whether the others are merely observers
In many species others than humans
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4. Processes Leading to Social Facilitation versus Social Inhibition
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5. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social inhibition occurs when the presence of others inhibits a person’s performance.
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6. Behavior in the Presence of Others
If dominant response correct, SOCIAL FACILITATION
Zajonc’s theory:
Presence of others
Dominant Response
If dominant response wrong, SOCIAL INHIBITION
Arousal
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7. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Why does the presence of others motivate us?
Innate tendency for arousal in the presence of others
Evaluation Apprehension
Distraction-Conflict
Presence of others evokes challenge reaction when resources are sufficient, threat responses when insufficient.
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8. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social facilitation and inhibition occur when a person’s performance is individually identifiable
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9. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social Loafing: When an individual’s contribution to a collective activity cannot be evaluated, individuals often work less hard than they would alone.
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10. Processes Leading to Social Loafing versus Social Compensation
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11. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social loafing depends on
How important the person believes his/her contribution is to group success
How much the person values group success
Karau & Williams, 1993
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12. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Reducing Social Loafing
Make each person’s contribution identifiable
Provide rewards for high group productivity
Make task meaningful, complex, or interesting
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13. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social compensation occurs when a person expends great effort to compensate for others in the group.
When others are performing inadequately, and the person cares about the quality of the group product
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14. Comparison of the average intensity of noise one individual produced when cheering alone or in a group
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15. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Across cultures
Social loafing has been found in India, Thailand, Japan, & China
However, social loafing may be greater among people from the U.S. than among Asians
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16. Behavior in the Presence of Others
In summary: whether social facilitation or social loafing occurs depends on
Whether individuals are identifiable
Task complexity
How much participants care about the outcome
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17. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social Impact Theory: the
influence of observers depends on
their number, strength
(importance), and immediacy.
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18. The impact of an audience on a target depends on the number of people present (the number of circles or “sources”), the immediacy of the people (the nearness of the circles to the target), and the strength or importance of the people (the size of the circles).
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19. The impact of an audience on a target depends on the number of people present, plus the immediacy and strength of importance.
Circles are sources
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20. When each individual is only one of several targets of social influence, the impact of the audience (sources) on the target is lessened.
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21. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Deindividuation may occur in crowded, anonymous situations when people lose a sense of responsibility for their own actions and feel free to express aggressive and sexual impulses
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22. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Zimbardo (1970) had groups of four young women deliver electric shocks to another person
Groups were either easily identifiable or not (wore “KKK”-type garb). Unidentifiable groups gave twice as many shocks
Johnson & Downing (1979) replicated the study using surgical scrubs for the unidentifiable group. Here, this group shocked less.
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23. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Deindividuation increases when individuals are anonymous and as group size increases.
Might create a special psychological state in which people are focused externally and unaware of own values
Or might heighten individual’s identification with the group and increase conformity.
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24. Behavior in the Presence of Others
Crowding refers to the psychological state of discomfort & stress associated with wanting more space than is available.
Social density is the objective number of people in a given space.
High social density may or may not be experienced as unpleasant
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25. Behavior in the Presence of Others
When do people experience the presence of others as crowding?
Sensory overload
Loss of control
Arousal and attribution to presence of others
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26. Behavior in the Presence of Others
People from collectivist cultures are less likely to experience high social density as crowding.
However, the negative health effects of high social density occur regardless of culture.
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27. Basic Features of Groups
A group involves multiple people who are interdependent
Typically, but not always, have regular-face-to-face contact.
Different from a social category
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28. Basic Features of Groups
Social norms are shared rules and expectations about how group members should act.
Social roles are norms that apply to people in a particular position.
Social status refers to social position based on prestige and authority.
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29. Basic Features of Groups
Cohesiveness refers to forces that cause members to remain in a group
Positive Factors
Liking of members for each other
Extent to which members act effectively together
Success of group in meeting goals
Negative Factors
Cost of Leaving
Lack of Alternatives
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30. Group Performance Types of Group Activities Additive tasks
Success is sum of each person’s effort
Conjunctive tasks
Success depends on least competent member
Disjunctive tasks
Success depends on most competent member
Subdivided tasks
Success depends on both skill & coordination
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31. Group Performance
Brainstorming asks group members to think of as many different suggestions as they can in a short time
Despite the popularity of this technique, research shows that individuals usually produce more and better ideas working alone
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32. Group Performance
When discussing matters of opinion, groups tend to use a majority-rules decision rule.
When discussing matters of fact, groups tend to use a truth-wins decision rule.
Unanimous decisions are harder to reach but tend to leave group members more satisfied.
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33. Group Performance
Groups do not necessarily make wise decisions because they are vulnerable to special social forces that can bias decision-making.
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34. Group Performance
Group Polarization = Group discussion may lead to more extreme decisions.
Persuasive arguments theory suggests this is due to new information
Self-presentation theory suggests this is due to trying to “one-up” other members
Social identity theory suggests group members try to conform to the group but perceive the group norm as more extreme
If members of a group are evenly split, groups compromise rather than polarize.
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35. Group Performance
Groupthink is a process of faulty decision-making that can occur in groups (Janis, 1982)
Occurs when group has a strong leader and is under stress
Group members become more concerned with group acceptance than correctness
Group members censor themselves, do not do a full information search, and evaluate information in a biased way.
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36. Janis’s
Theory Of
Group-
think
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37. Group Performance Overcoming groupthink:
Leader remains impartial and encourages the expression of dissent
Use separate subcommittees to discuss same issue separately
Appoint “devil’s advocates”
Consult outside experts
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38. Group Performance
Group members tend to discuss shared rather than unshared information
Groups may also use meetings to confirm rather than challenge their initial beliefs
Thus while groups have the potential to make better decisions than individuals, they do not always do so.
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39. Competition vs. Cooperation
Participants in laboratory studies on competition tend to compete, even when cooperation would be a more rewarding strategy.
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40. Road Map of the Trucking Game
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41. Prisoner’s Dilemma: a game used by researchers to study cooperation and competition. Example of Prisoner’s Dilemma Game:
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42. Typical Prisoner’s Dilemma Game Matrix or Reward structure
Pete’s payoff is shown in blue &
Joe’s in gray
Choice X is cooperation
Choice Y is competitive
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43. Competition vs. Cooperation
There is a strong tendency to compete rather than cooperate in the prisoner’s dilemma game
Only about a third of choices are cooperative
Cooperation typically goes down over time
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44. Competition vs. Cooperation
Determinants of Competition vs Cooperation
Reward Structure
Personal Values
Communication
Reciprocity
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45. Competition vs. Cooperation
Culture and Competition
The United States has one of the most competitive cultures on earth.
Cultural values about competition are conveyed at home, at school, through the media,and through sports and games.
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46. Competition vs. Cooperation
A Social Dilemma is a situation in which the most rewarding short-term choice for an individual will ultimately lead to negative outcomes for all-concerned.
Some Real-World Applications: preserving environmental resources, avoiding littering
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47. Leadership
The leader of a group is the person who has the most impact on group behavior and beliefs.
Leaders may be appointed, elected, or emerge over time
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48. Leadership
Leaders must perform two types of tasks, task leadership and social leadership.
An effective task leader is efficient, directive, and knowledgeable.
An effective social leader is friendly, agreeable, concerned with feelings and socially oriented.
Sometimes a group will have a different leader for each task; sometimes the same person will serve both roles.
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49. Leadership
The great-person theory of leadership suggests that leaders possess particular characteristics
Excelling in abilities that meet the group’s goals; strong interpersonal skills; high motivation; confident; optimistic.
An interactive perspective focuses on the match between the needs of the situation and the characteristics of the person.
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50. Leadership
Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness suggests that task-oriented leaders are most effective in high-control and low-control situations, while emotion-focused leaders are more effective in moderate-control situations.
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