Chapter 9 Foundations of Group Behavior Defining and Classifying Groups Group two or more individuals interacting and interdependent who have come together to achieve particular objectives Formal group defined by organization s structure designated work assignments establishing tasks Informal group not formally structured nor organizationally determined natural formations that appear in response to the need for social contact Social identity theory our tendency to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of a group people have emotional reactions to the failure or success of their group bc their self esteem gets tied into the group s performance Ingroup favoritism means we see members of our ingroup as better than other people and people not in our group as all the same Social identity is important bc o Similiarity people with the same values characteristics as other members in their group have higher levels of group identification o Distinctiveness o Status o Uncertainty reduction membership in a group can help people understand who they are and how they fit into the world Stages of Group Development Five stage group development model forming storming norming performing and adjourning o Forming stage is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group s purpose structure and leadership o Storming stage intragroup conflict members exist the existence of the group but resist the constraints it imposes individually conflict over who will control the group o Norming stage close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness o Performing structure is fully functional and accepted o Adjourning stage wrapping up activities for temporary groups o Groups proceed through the stages of group development at different o Groups that begin with a positive social focus appear to achieve the performing stage more rapidly o Stages can occur simultaneously and groups can regress to previous rates stages Temporary groups don t usually follow the 5 stage model Punctuated equilibrium model exhibits long periods of inertia interspersed with brief revolutionary changes triggered primarily by members awareness of time and deadlines o 1 Their first meeting sets the group s direction o 2 This first phase of group activity is one of inertia o 3 A transition takes place exactly when the group has used up half its allotted time o 4 This transition initiates major changes o 5 A 2nd phase of inertia follows the transition o 6 The group s last meeting is characterized by accelerated activity Group Properties Roles Norms Status Size Cohesiveness and Diversity Role a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position in a social unit o Role perception an individual s view of how he she is supposed to act in a given situation we get these from stimuli around us o Role expectations how others believe a person should act in a given situation Psychological contract an unwritten agreement that sets out what management expects from an employee and vice versa o Role conflict a situation in which an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations o Zimbardo s prison experiment created a prison in the Stanford psych basement hired 24 students who were randomly assigned as either a prisoner or a guard proved how quickly individuals learned new roles learned stereotyped conceptions of guard and prisoner roles from the mass media and their own personal experiences Norms acceptable standards of behavior within a group that are shared by the group s members o Performance norm providing explicit cues about how hard members should work what the level of output should be how to get the job done what level of tardiness is appropriate ect o Appearance norms social arrangement norms resource allocation norms o Hawthorn studies examined the relationship between the physical environment and productivity behavior is influenced by group norms o Conformity the adjustment of one s behavior to align with the norms of the group Asch studies Reference groups important groups to which individuals belong or hope to belong and with whose norms individuals are likely to conform o Deviant workplace behavior voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and threatens the well being of the organization or its members aka antisocial behavior or workplace incivility Those working in a group are more likely to lie cheat and steal than individuals working alone Status a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others o Status characteristics theory a theory that states that differences in status characteristics creates status hierarchies within groups status derives from The power a person wields over others A person s ability to contribute to a group s goals An individual s personal characteristics o High status individuals are often given more freedom to deviate from norms than are other group members o High status ppl tend to be more assertive group members o Perceived inequity creates disequilibrium Size o Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks and individuals perform better in smaller groups o In problem solving large groups are better o Social loafing the tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually Prevent this by setting up group goals increasing intergroup competition engaging in peer evaluation selecting members who have high motivation base group rewards on each member s unique contribution o Total productivity of a group is greater when increased by one person but the individual productivity of each member is less
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