March 22, 2012What is a Group?Group: two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as an “us”Conditions need to be met in order to be part of a group:1) Individuals must usually interact with each other directly or indirectly2) Must be interdependent3) Relationship must be stable (persists over time)4) Individuals must share at least some goals5) Interactions must be structured (each member must have a specific role)6) Individuals must recognize that they are part of a groupWhy People Join GroupsGroups help satisfy important psychological or social needsIsolation = severe punishmentGroups help us achieve goals that we could not attain as individualsGroup membership often provides knowledge and information that would otherwise not be available to usGroups help meet our need for securityContributes to the establishment of a positive social identityGroups and Task Performancei.e. Ice skater is preparing for first competition. Practiced routines alone several hours each day, month after month. Big day arrives and ice skater skates into a huge arena filled with biggest crowd they’ve ever seen. How will they do?Social Facilitation — Presence of OthersTriplett (1898)Bicycle racing: racing alone vs. racing togetherRide faster when around people improving performanceWind string on fishing reel as rapidly as possibleWound faster in presence of other children increase performanceStudies attempt to replicateSometimes improved performance, sometimes hindered performanceZajoncJoined instinctive drive research with what had been studied decided that what was happening was that social arousal facilitates dominant responseDominant response: what occurs most often, become better with practice, easy taskIt should increase performance on easy tasks and decrease performance on difficult tasksi.e. Athletes are better when they have home field advantage (familiar)Crowding — Presence of OthersWhen others are present, many perspire more, breathe faster, tense their muscles more, and have higher blood pressureStudy showed that when sit close together, friendly people liked the other person more and unfriendly people disliked the other person more“A good house is a full house”: people will have a more pleasurable time if there are more people present (i.e. full movie theatre)i.e. 35 seat class, 35 students present = warm; 100 seat class, same 35 students present = colderTerritoriality — In Humans3 common types of territoriality:1) Primary territories: occupants have exclusive controli.e. Homes, private office, car, backpack2) Secondary territories: areas shared with others but over which regular users have considerable controli.e. “My seat” in class, refrigerator, living room3) Public territories: uncontrolled areas that are used by whoever is first to arrivei.e. Theatres, parks, FSU football gamesWhy people want territories:Sense of securityMakes lives more predictableMakes you seem more important (status!)Protects people from those whom they fear or dislikeFoster a person’s sense of self-identity and uniquenessPeople are more assertive in their own territories (i.e. home field advantage)Social LoafingSocial loafing: the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when individuals are accountableIngham (1974) — tug-of-war studyMade individual think that they were tugging against another team, but really just by themselvesPulled 18% harder when knew they were alonePulled less when they thought others were helpingLatane et al (1979) — shouting and clappingBlindfolded, have headphones blasting and shouting and clappingWhen no sound = shouted and clapped loudestFree riders: people who benefit from a group, but give little in returnReduce social loafing:Individual performance needs to be identifiableChallenging, appealing, involving tasks — the type where you need a group to achieve the taskGroup members are friends or identified part of important groupMarch 26, 2012Activity“What would you do if you knew you would never get caught”Research shows 11 common categories:1) Aggression, 2) charity, 3) academic dishonesty, 4) crime (26%), 5) escapism, 6) political activities, 7) sexual behavior, 8) social disruption, 9) interpersonal spying or eavesdropping (11%), 10) travel, 11) miscellaneous9% responses pro-social; 36% antisocial (harm society); 19% non-normative (violate social norms); 36% neutralMost frequent: rob a bankDeindividuationDeindividuation: loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension (feel like no one else would know)What creates this:Group sizeLarger group = more unidentifiable more atrocities committed (more negative events)Mann (1981): larger crowd, more likely to “bait” jumper (encourage person to jump)Dark and large crowd = more likelyDaylight and small crowd = less likelyLooters, mobs, etc.Your action is not yours, it is the group’s action— what the group does, you do— do not think about selfPhysical anonymityCan lessen inhibitionsUniforms and masksZimbardo (1979, 2002) — women in white coats and hoods to deliver shocks to a womanWhen wearing white coats and hoods, held shock button twice as long as women who were identifiable and wearing name tagsInternetCar honking study:Confederate driver stopped at red light for 12 sec4x4 trucks honked more often than convertibles — 4x4 trucks more difficult to see driverHalloween candy studyAlone or in groupsTold my kind person to take one candy out of unattended bowlIn groups, most likely to take most amount of candyIf asked name or home address, only took one pieceNurse uniforms and shock studyNurse outfit with no identifying info (anonymous, but not a real nurse) shocked less than group with identifying information uniform made them adapt to a group that helps people (nurses)Conclusion: when deindividuate in a group, will take on group’s norms/personalityCan lead to positive or negative behaviorSelf awareness = opposite of deindividuationLess likely to cheat, do a better job on task performanceDeindividuation and IntimacyAnonymity can release positive, as well as negative, impulsesStudy Gergen, Gergen, Barton (1973)Ushered into a room that is fully lit or totally dark except for a red light over the doorIf you wish can leave at any time“You will be left in the room for not more than an hour with some other people, and there are no rules as to what you
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