Social Psychology Professor Spikes TOPIC Group Processes I Collective Processes The Presence of Others Collectives Groups in which people engage in common activities but with minimal direct interaction Interactive Group the group that interacts with each other Example orchestra interactive and the audience collective II Social Facilitation When Others Arouse Us The finding that the presence of others enhances performance on easy tasks and impairs performance on difficult tasks Norman Triplett 1 Research involving cyclists a Professional cyclists b When they practiced competed against each other they performed better faster times than when they practiced alone c Hypothesized that the presence of another rider releases competitive instincts i The competitive instinct then increases a nervous energy ii Thus an increase in performance d Presence of a rider competitive instinct increased nervous energy enhanced performance e didn t find anything about impairment only that it enhanced performance Children winding fishing reel o Measured the time it took them to wind the reel o Children alternated between winding the reel alone and winding it parallel with another child o Faster times when they wound it with other children Subsequent Researchers attempted to replicate his findings a Side by side and performing in front of an audience a Sometimes they found enhancement and impairment b Their results were inconsistent with Triplett s b Robert Zajonc s Solution The presence of others increases arousal which affects performance in different ways depending on the specific task His solution involves three basic steps First the presence of others creates an increase in nonspecific drive Nonspecific energy is very intense and non directional Second increased drive enhances an individual s tendency to perform the dominant response the reaction elicited most quickly and easily by a given stimulus EX say bacon and most people think eggs dominant response is to think of eggs b c of relation to bacon A dominant response may or may not be correct Third the quality of a person s performance will vary according to the task at hand Easy tasks and difficult tasks Easy Tasks those that are simple and or well learned with these tasks the dominant response is usually correct Difficult Tasks those that are complex and or unfamiliar with these tasks the dominant response is usually incorrect Regards social facilitation as universal Occurring not only in human activities but also among animals and insects For example cockroaches racing You can see elements of it not only with humans but also with animals Cockroaches o They raced on 2 different types of racetracks First was straight well lit simple Second was windy dim complex o On both tracks cockroaches raced in pairs and alone o On the simple track the racing time was faster when they cockroaches ran in pairs o On complex track the times were faster when they ran alone Emphasizes how expectations about a task can also influence performance o When a person is lead to expect a successful performance they will do better when in the presence of others than when alone o And vice versa if expect a poor performance will do worse in presence of others than when they are alone The solution has its critics Two aspects of his theory have received particular attention 1 his proposition that social facilitation is uniquely social and 2 his proposition that the mere presence of others is sufficient to affect performance Therefore two alternative explanations have been proposed to debate such issues 1 Evaluation Apprehension The theory that the presence of others will produce social facilitation effects only when those others are seen as potential evaluators 2 Distraction Conflict The theory that the presence of others will produce social facilitation effects only when those others distract from the task and create attentional conflict Refer to Table 1 III Social Loafing When Others Relax Us A group produced reduction in individual output where contributors are pooled Ringleman s research during the 1880 s o Individual output declined when people worked together on simple tasks Simple tasks such as pulling a rope pushing a cart etc A primary cause and result of social loafing is Deindividuation o With deindividuation your personal identity is replaced by an identification with the goals and actions of the group o You are literally losing yourself in a crowd o That anonymity of being in a group weakens your sense of individual identity How might social loafing be reduced or eliminated 1 When people believe that their individual contributions are identifiable 2 When people engage in tasks that they regard as personally meaningful 3 Anticipated evaluation of the group s performance 4 Expecting the groups with a good performance to be rewarded 5 Believing that group members will have sufficient information to be able to evaluate the quality of the group 6 When working on complex tasks as opposed to easy tasks 7 When working with acquaintances 8 When working in a highly valued group Cross cultural generality of social loafing Collectivist and Individualist cultures o Do people in collectivist cultures engage in social loafing YES but to a lesser extent than people in individualistic cultures IV Social Compensation When people work harder in a collective setting to compensate for others in a group Karau and Williams compensation Two conditions are necessary for an individual to show social 1 The person must believe that co workers are performing inadequately 2 The person must consider the quality of the group product as important Processes leading to social loafing versus social compensation Refer to Table 2 V Social Impact Theory Latane 1981 This theory suggests that the total impact of other people on an individual depends on three 3 characteristics of the observers source of influence 1 Their Number As number of observers increases so does their impact a Could go either way the larger the crowd the more nervous you are or the larger the crowd the better you are 2 Strength The importance or power of the observers Determined by such factors as the status and age of the observers and their relationship to the individual a EX presenting in front of professors or bosses interview for a job these people have the power to hire you or grade you a certain way 3 Immediacy of the audience Their closeness to the individual in time and space a Can make a difference if you re making a