3 5 2015 Groups What is a group Group Two or more people whom for longer than a few moments interact with and influence one another o Ex Sports team sorority fraternity etc o Group members have some kind of influence on one another o We see ourselves as different us vs them Perceiving Groups In group vs out group Seeing a single unit rather than individual members o Entativity How much the group is seen as a single unit EXAM QUESTION o Factors determining perception of a group Proximity Similarity looks beliefs actions Shared fate o You need all 3 of the above factors in order to be considered a group Feeling Part of a group Gramzow and Gaertnet 2005 o P s saw pictures and asked how many of an item are in the picture o P s categorized as over estimators or under estimators o P s read 36 statements about typical over estimators and typical under estimators o Half positive and half negative o How likeable are over estimators and under estimators IN GROUP rated MORE likeable OUT GROUP rated LESS likeable Minimal Group Paradigm Making groups out of absolutely pointless things o This can lead to Increased liking of in group Decreased liking for out group More empathy for in group More likely to help our group members What effect might this have on helping Group Serving Bias Recall self serving bias Success We worked as a team Failure Just an unlucky day Social Facilitation Social facilitation o Original meaning The tendency to perform simple or well learned tasks better when others are present Classic Study Triplet o Cyclists tend to go faster when they are performing in groups Having other people around help one to do better or push and try to do better Sometimes the presence of others makes performance worse social inhibition o Ex difficult anagrams solving mazes Arousal due to others may impede our performance Zajonc argued that this arousal enhances the dominant well learned response o Going to make the dominant response stronger o Ex novel difficult task others hurt performance easy well learned task others aid performance o Another study he did involved pool players either novice s or experts These groups were pre determined Either they will be there alone or will be there with others around them He was interested in the percentage of shots that they made Whether or not your level is affected by the fact if someone is there or not Results Experts made more shots when others were present the dominant response is enhanced Novice made more shots when they were alone Presence of others Heightened Arousal Dominant Response Aided Novel Response Harmed Social Facilitation presence of others Social Loafing o Current meaning The strengthening of dominant responses in the Social Loafing Exert less effort when effort pooled by the group o Personal effort decreases as group size increases o Why People only believe they re being evaluated when they re alone Social Facilitation and Loafing Presence of Other Individual Efforts Evaluated Evaluation Apprehension Social Facilitation Presence of Others Individual Efforts NOT Evaluated NO Evaluation Apprehension Social Loafing The Effect of Crowds The presence of others can increase arousal and can diffuse responsibility People in groups feel anonymous Deindividuation The loss of self awareness and lack of evaluation apprehension in groups Deindividuation Consider the baiting of suicidal jumpers Examined 21 instances of suicidal jumpers when crowds present o When crowd was small and exposed to daylight baiting was much less likely o Less anonymous and more responsible Daylight and smaller crowds increase this responsibility factor 3 17 2015 Trick or Treat Study Diener et al 1976 o Asked children to take one candy o Child came in alone or in groups and this factor was manipulated o Children were either asked their names or left anonymous this was also manipulated o Who took extra candy o Results If child was ALONE and ASKED THEIR NAME less than 4 of kids take more than one piece of candy If child is in a GROUP and ASKED THEIR NAME a little more than 6 of kids take more than one piece of candy If a child is ALONE and ANONYMOUS a little more than 6 of kids take more than one piece of candy If a child is in a GROUP and ANONYMOUS about 18 of kids take more than one piece of candy Zimbardo s Anonymity Study o Dressed women in white coats and hoods anonymous or without uniform and with a nametag identifiable o Women shocked a person actually a confederate o Results Anonymous women pressed the shock button twice as long as Group Polarization identifiable women Group Polarization Tendency for group discussion to strengthen initial leanings o Ex Fraternity members o Group members and prejudiced attitudes Myers and Bishop 1970 Pre screened on their prejudicial views Separated them into groups Have them discuss prejudice and policies Measure their prejudice again Will allow us to see how the discussion changes their attitudes Results Low prejudice students measured even lower High prejudice students measured even higher Informational Influence Discussion elicits pooling of ideas that favor a stance o Just hearing arguments not direction of opinion creates shift Normative Influence wanting people to like us we will express stronger opinions after hearing that others share our views o Just hearing stances not arguments creates shifts Groupthink Groupthink the type of thinking that occurs in a group where concurrence seeking becomes so dominant that it overrides realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action o Pressure to agree Like when a boss presents a plan and everyone agrees in order to keep the peace o 1986 The Challenger Mission The shuttle exploded Why did this happen Engineers claimed that it shouldn t be launched but they have no say They had 55 successful missions prior to this one so the higher up individuals who ultimately made the decision believed that they were invincible and nothing bad would happen Symptoms of Groupthink Overestimate group o Overestimate group Illusion of invulnerability o Belief in group s morality Closed minded o Rationalization o Stereotyped view of opponent or situation Pressures toward uniformity o Conformity pressures o Self censorship o Mindguards Those who protect group from information that disagrees They will attempt to shut your ideas down and go with original with group stance plan o Illusion of unanimity Preventing Groupthink Be impartial don t begin with a certain stance on an issue or subject Encourage
View Full Document
Unlocking...