PSYC 325 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: Stanford Prison Experiment, Robert Zajonc, Deindividuation
2 Nov 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYC 325
Chapter 8: Group Processes
WHAT IS A GROUP?
• Group
1. A group:
i. Collection of three or more people who interact with one another and are
interdependent:
- Their needs and goals cause them to rely on one another.
2. A dyad:
a) Two people.
• Why Do People Join Groups?
1. Forming relationships with others fulfills a number of basic human needs.
2. The need to belong is an innate need found across cultures.
3. Groups help us define who we are.
4. Groups membership motivates people to become involved in social change.
• The composition and Functions of Groups
1. Large groups:
a) Are not necessarily social groups (e.g., all the University students at Concordia).
2. Homogeneity of groups:
a) Members of a group tend to be alike in age, sex, beliefs, and opinions:
i. Two reasons for this:
- Groups attract people who are already similar before they join.
- Groups operate in ways that encourage similarity in the members.
3. Social Norms:
a) Specify how group members should behave.
4. Social Roles:
a) Share expectations about how particular people in the group should behave:
i. Helpful because people know what to expect from each other.
b) Downside:
i. People can get so into a role that their personal identity and personality are
lost (e.g., Stanford Prison Experiment).
5. Gender Roles:
a) Can lead to gender-role stereotyping:
i. Especially harsh for women.
6. Group Cohesiveness:
a) Qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking among them.
b) Downside:
i. The group members’ concern with maintaining good relations can get in
the way of finding good solutions to problems.
HOW GROUPS INFLUENCE THE BEHAVIOUR OF INDIVIDUALS
• Social Facilitation: When the Presence of Others Energizes Us
1. Arousal and the Dominant Response:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
PSYC 325
Chapter 8: Group Processes
a) Arousal:
i. Robert Zajonc (cockroach study) two step explanation for why the
presence of others facilitates a well-learned or dominant response but
inhibits a less practiced or new response:
- The presence of others increases physiological arousal (i.e. our bodies
become more energized).
- When such arousal exists, it is easier to do something that is simple (i.e.
the dominant response) but more difficult to do
something complex or learn something new.
b) Social Facilitation:
i. The tendency for people to do better on simple
tasks, but worse on complex tasks, when they are
in the presence of others and their individual
performance can be evaluation.
c) Three theories explaining the role of arousal:
i. Other people cause us to become particularly
alert and vigilant.
ii. They make us apprehensive about how we’re being evaluated.
iii. They distract us from the task at hand.
• Social Loafing: When the Presence of Others
Relaxes Us
1. Social Loafing:
a) The tendency for people to do worse
on simple tasks, but better on complex
tasks, when they are in the presence of
others and their individual performance
cannot be evaluated:
i. When our performance in a
group cannot be identified, we
become more relaxed.
2. Gender and Cultural Differences in Social
Loafing: Who Slacks Off the Most?
a) Tendency to loaf is stronger in:
i. Men:
- Perhaps due to the role of relational interdependence in women.
ii. Individualist cultures.
b) Two important factors to predict whether the presence of others will help or
hinder your performance:
i. Whether your individual efforts can be evaluated.
ii. Whether the task is simple or complex.
• Deindividuation: Getting Lost in the Crowd
1. Deindividuation:
a) The loosening of normal constraints on behaviour when people are in a group,
leading to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
PSYC 325
Chapter 8: Group Processes
2. Why Does Deindividuation Lead to Impulsive Acts?
a) The presence of others, or the wearing of uniforms and disguises:
i. Makes people feel less accountable for their actions:
- Reduces the likelihood that any individual will be singles out and blames.
ii. Lowers self-awareness:
- Shifts people’s attention away from their moral standards.
iii. Increases the extent to which people obey the group’s norms.
GROUP DECISIONS: ARE TWO (OR MORE) HEADS BETTER THAN ONE?
• Groups
1. Groups:
a) Generate superior decisions:
i. If they are focussed on finding an answer that is best suited to the group
and not to themselves.
b) Promote better problem solving:
i. By dividing tasks.
• Process Loss: When Group Interactions Inhibit Good Problem Solving
1. Process Loss:
a) Any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving:
i. Example:
- The best member is not allowed to make decisions.
- Conformity pressures.
- Communication problems (e.g., failure to share unique information).
2. Failure to Share Unique Information:
a) Groups focus on what its members already know in common, failing to discuss
information that some members have but others do not.
3. Groupthink: Many Heads, One Mind (Janis. 1972, 1982):
a) A kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is
more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner.
b) Antecedents of Groupthink:
i. The group is highly cohesive:
- The group is valued and attractive, and people very much want to be
members.
ii. Group Isolation:
- The group is isolated, protected from hearing alternative viewpoints.
iii. A directive leader:
- The leader controls the discussion and makes their wishes known.
iv. High stress:
- The members perceive threats to the group.
v. Poor decision-making procedures:
- No standard methods to consider alternative viewpoints.
c) Symptoms of Groupthink:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
What is a group: group, a group: Collection of three or more people who interact with one another and are interdependent: Groups attract people who are already similar before they join. Groups operate in ways that encourage similarity in the members: social norms, specify how group members should behave, social roles, share expectations about how particular people in the group should behave: Helpful because people know what to expect from each other: downside: People can get so into a role that their personal identity and personality are lost (e. g. , stanford prison experiment): gender roles, can lead to gender-role stereotyping: Especially harsh for women: group cohesiveness, qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking among them, downside: The group members" concern with maintaining good relations can get in the way of finding good solutions to problems. How groups influence the behaviour of individuals: social facilitation: when the presence of others energizes us, arousal and the dominant response:
