Sociology 19.1

1. Sociology 19.1 Group Behavior

2. What is Sociology • Sociology is the study of society and human social action • Includes the examination of the origins, institutions, organization, and development of human life

3. What is a Group? • A collection of people who have shared goals • Must have a degree of interdependence • Some amount of communication • Aggregate: no interaction/shared goals • Group: Interaction and shared goals • Examples?

4. Examples of some groups • Fenton High School students • FHS Athletes • FHS Soccer Players • FHS Girls’ Soccer Team • FHS Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team

5. Interdependence • Any action by one member influences another member • Elections are an example of interdependence

6. Communication • Encourages debate • Increases commitment

7. Shared Goals • Task functions – activities directed towards getting a job done • Social functions – responses directed toward satisfying the emotional needs of members

8. Norms • Shared standards accepted by the group

9. Ideology • Ideas, attitudes and goals

10. Commitment • Requiring personal sacrifice increases commitment. • Active participation also increases commitment

11. In Group vs. Out Group

12. Deindividuation • A person’s behavior becomes less inhibited in groups • Which leads to more impulsive acts Examples???

15. Sociology 19.2 Conformity and Obedience

16. The Experiments • Today we will be looking at three famous experiments in psychology to learn more about how norms affect our behavior. • Record the findings as well as your own reflections for each experiment as we review them in class.

17. The Asch Experiment – Trial 1 1 A B C

18. The Asch Experiment – Trial 2 2 A B C

19. The Asch Experiment – Trial 3 3 A B C

20. The Asch Experiment - What really happened? • 1952 Solomon Asch • Hypothesis – If people are in a room with others who all give one answer, they will conform. • Method • Show participants cards in which there is clearly a correct answer. • Ask confederates (actors) to give a specific answer. • Record to see if the subjects conformed to the group. • Repeat 12 times • Results – 1/3 of 50 participants yielded at least 50% of the time

21. Your reflections: • Read the factors that increase conformity on page 558. Which three have made you conform in the past? • Provide an example of when you have conformed to a norm.

22. The Milgram Experiment 1963 Stanley Milgram Hypothesis – If people are told by an authority figure to administer painful shocks, then the minority of subjects will do so. Method – see Figure 19.12

23. Milgram Experiment Video Clip • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr5cjyokVUs • Results – 65% of the participants were obedient to the perceived authority

24. The Zimbardo Prison Experiment • 1975 Philip Zimbardo • Hypothesis – If people are given a role, then they will follow that role. • Method • Watch this video and take notes! • Results – What did you see?

25. Sociology 19.3 Conflict and Cooperation

26. Group Violence • Aggression: behavior intended to harm others • What causes aggression? • Biological Influences • Ex: Serotonin • Cognitive Factors • Ex: Imitation • Personality Factors • Ex: Traits • Environmental Factors • Ex: Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis

27. Controlling Aggression • Catharsis • Releasing anger by letting out powerful negative emotions

28. Group ConflictGangs • Social Gangs • Groups that hang out in specific locations, may hold to norms of society • Delinquent Gangs • Organized for monetary gang, stealing • Violent Gangs • Organized for emotional gratification of committing violent activities

30. Diffusion of Responsibility • The presence of others lessens an individual’s feelings of responsibility for his or her actions • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdpdUbW8vbw

31. Other Group Effects • Bystander effect • No action bc others are around • Social loafing • Don’t work as hard when sharing workload • Deindividuation • Acting irrationally when less chance of being personally identified