Group Behavior

1. Group Behavior

2. Groups • Definition • collection of interdependent individuals that interacts or has the potential to interact • typically face-to-face • direct influence on each another

3. Features of Groups • social norms • rules/expectations about behavior • social roles • define the division of labor in a group • social status • prestige, influence, authority • cohesiveness • forces (+ & -) that hold a group together

4. Historical Conception of Group Behavior • Plato • believed that democracy was rule by irrational mobs • LeBon (1895) “Isolated he may be a cultivated individual; in a crowd, he is a barbarian, that is, a creature acting by instinct.” • notion of the “group mind” • Floyd Allport (1924) • rejected the idea of a “group mind” • most common current conception is that groups possess the power for both good and bad • depends on the situation

5. Social Facilitation/Inhibition • Triplett (1898) • bicycling studies • 1st formal experiment in social psychology • Social Facilitation • presence of others improves performance • observed across many situations (& species) • cockroaches remember mazes better when other roaches are present • ants dig 3x more dirt when around other ants

6. Social Facilitation/Inhibition • However, the presence of others doesn’t always help … • Social Inhibition • presence of others can also inhibit performance … so what gives?

7. Social Facilitation/Inhibition • Zajonc (1965) • the presence of others increases arousal • Increased arousal makes our dominant response more likely, which … • helps performance on well-learned or innate tasks • dominant response = success • hurts performance on new, complex, or poorly learned tasks • dominant response = failure

8. Social Facilitation/Inhibition • Other Explanations: • Evaluation Apprehension • concern with what others think of us • simple tasks → motivation to perform well • complex tasks → decreased performance • Distraction-Conflict Model • simple tasks  full attention unnecessary • difficult tasks  full attention necessary • we have a limited supply of attention • give attention to task or audience? • attentional conflict leads to decreased performance on difficult task

9. Social Facilitation/Inhibition • Biopsychological Explanation (Blascovich, 1999) • presence of others can be thought of as a challenge or as a threat • If Challenge: • perceive that we are able to meet the goal • physiological response similar to aerobic exercise, enhanced cardiovascular functioning • If Threat: • perceive that we are unable to meet the goal • physiological response similar to the “flight” response • body prepares to cope with danger • blood pressure increases

10. Social Loafing • Social Loafing • individual’s contributions to a group cannot be identified • total group output much less than it would be if each individual’s contribution could be identified. • e.g., group check gratuities, group projects, tug-of-war, etc.

11. Social Loafing • Latané, Williams, & Harkins (1979) • participants placed in rooms by themselves • instructed to make as much noise as they could by clapping and yelling • each participant did this task alone and as part of a 2, 4, and 6 person group • ½ of the participants were told that their contributions could be determined apart from the group (identifiable group) • ½ were told that only the output of the group as a whole could be determined (unidentifiable group)

12. Social Loafing • Results • Identifiable Group • no difference in noise made across group sizes • Unidentifiable Group • group size and noise output negatively correlated • Replicated in India, Thailand, Japan, and China with similar results • effect not as as large though

13. Social Loafing • Explanations for Social Loafing • Collective Effort Model (Karau & Williams, 1993) • How hard we work on a group task depends on two things: • perceived importance of contribution to group effort • perceived values of the potential outcome of group goal achievement • To decrease social loafing, • make individual output identifiable • make group success highly desirable by individual group members

14. Social Loafing • Social Compensation • Picking up the slack • Those who care about the group outcome are faced with a dilemma: • face the consequences of not meeting the group goal, or… • do the work the social loafers have neglected in order to achieve the group goal

15. Deindividuation • Deindividuation • Le Bon’s (1896) idea of a “social contagion” • in the right situations, the emotions of one person can spread throughout a group • e.g., the riots on Franklin Street after a victory over Duke a few years ago • unlikely that those causing the damage would have done it were they by themselves

16. Deindividuation • Anonymity leads to deindividuation • Situational norms determine group behavior • Can be prosocial or antisocial • Are there beneficial aspects of deindividuation?

17. Crowding • Crowding • psychological discomfort created by wanting more personal space than one currently has • actual social space irrelevant

18. Crowding • Why do we feel crowded? • Sensory Overload (Milgram, 1970) • too much stimulation = sensory overload • social density leading to feelings of crowding which lead to increasedstimulation • individual differences in preferred levels of stimulation • those preferring • high levels prefer more socially dense situations • low levels prefer less socially dense situations

19. Crowding • Loss of Control • increased social density leads to a loss of perceived control • those in highly dense situations are likely to interfere in each other’s activities • leads to the feeling of being crowded

20. Crowding • Attributions • attaching the cognitive label of being “crowded” to socially dense situations • by not focusing on the socially dense situation, people can feel less crowded

21. Crowding • Cultural Differences in Crowding • collectivistic culture tend to experienceless perceived crowding • conversational distances vary • often a source of cross-cultural miscommunication

22. Group Performance • Type of Task • Additive • productivity is the sum of all members’ output • Conjunctive • each group member must succeed for the group to succeed • depends on the group’s weakest member • Disjunctive • any one person in the group succeeding equals group success • success depends on the group’s strongest member

23. Group Performance • Brainstorming • ineffective when done as a group • more ideas of higher quality when done alone • still widely used despite it’s demonstrated ineffectiveness

24. Group Decision Making • Group Polarization • Risky Shift • the finding that groups often make riskier decisions than individuals • subsequent research found that some groups made more conservative choices though … • Group Polarization • depends on the group’s overall level of risk/conservatism before group discussion

25. Group Decision Making • Groupthink (Janis, 1982) • According to Janis, occurs when: • the group feels invulnerable and excessively optimistic about its decision-making • doubts about the decision are not allowed • outside information is ignored • the group believes its decision is unanimous even when dissent exists • e.g., Pearl Harbor preparation, Bay of Pigs invasion, Vietnam War escalation, Challenger space shuttle explosion, etc.

26. Group Decision Making • Preventing Groupthink (Janis, 1982) • leader should encourage valid criticism • leader should remain undecided until after group members have voiced their views • subcommittees should be formed to discuss issues independently • encourage outside experts to participate in group discussions • assign a devil’s advocate for each meeting

27. Group Decision Making • Groupthink occurs, but … • the causes outlined by Janis are unclear • predicting when it happens is difficult • the same things that supposedly cause it can also lead to great decisions • groups often make terrible decisions when they use Janis’s suggestions • Obviously, more research is needed in this area

28. Group Interaction • Cooperation vs. Competition • The Trucking Game • Deutsch & Krauss (1960) • Prisoner’s Dilemma Game • from game theory

29. Acme’s Alternate Route Acme Start Acme Destination Gate controlled by Acme One-Lane Road Gate controlled by Bolt Bolt Destination Bolt Start Bolt’s Alternate Route Group Interaction Deutsch & Krauss’s (1960) Trucking Game

30. Group Interaction Prisoner’s Dilemma Game (PDG)

31. Group Interaction • Cooperation rare in the trucking game • even though the nature of the game isn’t competitive • Cooperation in the PDG decreases as trials increase • groups interactions with each other are much more competitive than individuals interacting with each other in this situation • the discontinuity effect (Insko & Schopler)

32. Group Interaction • Why do we compete? • situational reward structure • competitive interdependence • one side’s gain means another side’s loss • a.k.a. zero-sum game • cooperative interdependence • group success dependent upon working together • Individualistic reward structure • outcomes are independent of another’s outcomes

33. Group Interaction • Personality Factors • primary motives in these situations differ from person to person … • Cooperators (pro-social individuals) • about 75% of the population • Competitors and Individualists (pro-self individuals) • competitors don’t really care how they do, only that they do better than the other side • individualists don’t care how the other person does, only that they themselves do well • both comprise about 25% of the population

34. Group Interaction • Communication • no communication in the original PDG and Trucking Game experiments • with communication, competition declined and cooperation increased dramatically • Reciprocity • Tit-for-Tat competitive choices • “Screw me over, I’ll screw you over.” • use of this strategy leads to the highest levels of cooperation

35. Group Interaction • Culture • Americans tend to be very competitive • urbanites tend to be more competitive • high socioeconomic status more competitive

36. Group Interaction • Social Dilemmas • when the interests of an individual are at odds with the interest of society • e.g., prisoner’s dilemma game, tragedy of the commons, pollution, water use during droughts, littering, depleting group resources, etc. • as group size increases, self-interested behavior tends to increase • How can social dilemmas be solved? • change the reward/punishment structure • make social norms concerning the dilemma salient • raise children with pro-social value orientations • communication between group members • make actions of individuals non-anonymous

37. Group Interaction Contemporary Social Dilemmas….