Group Dynamics: Performance and Social Behavior

• Group processes encompass various aspects of how individuals behave and interact within groups

Task Performance

• Social facilitation and social loafing are key phenomena affecting task performance in groups

Antisocial Behavior

• Deindividuation, decision making, groupthink, and brainstorming also fall under group processes

Effect of Others on Performance

• The presence of others can either enhance or hinder individual performance

Better Performance

• Triplett's 1898 fishing reel study demonstrated that the presence of others stimulates performance, known as dynamogenesis
• Children wound fishing reels faster in the presence of others compared to when they are alone
• This effect has been observed in research involving centipedes, rats, and ants

Worse Performance

• Performance can be worse in the presence of others, such as in cockroach maze learning and difficult problems

Zajonc's Drive Theory

• Integration of findings is explained by Zajonc's drive theory of social facilitation
• Social facilitation describes the tendency for people to perform better on simple tasks and worse on complex tasks when in the presence of others
• Arousal enhances the dominant response
• Evaluation apprehension, mere presence (alertness and vigilance), and distraction-conflict contribute to arousal when others are present

Social Loafing

• Social loafing is the reduction in motivation and effort when individuals work collectively compared to individually

Why does social loafing occur?

• It may occur due to reduced arousal/evaluation apprehension, dispensability of effort, and concerns about justice/fairness in effort matching

Deindividuation

• Deindividuation involves the loosening of normal constraints on behavior in a group
• This can increase impulsive and deviant acts
• It is fostered by larger group size and physical anonymity which reduce accountability and self-awareness

Halloween Study

• A 1976 study by Diener found that deindividuation leads to reduced adherence to personal moral standards
• Children in groups and those who were anonymous were more likely to take more than one candy

Gender Differences in Aggression Study

• A 1994 study by Lightdale & Prentice argued that people are more sensitive to gender roles and norms when individuated
• Deindividuation would eliminate the impact of gender roles on aggressive behavior

Group polarization

• It is the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of their members

Poor Information Sharing

• A 1985 study by Stasser & Titus highlighted that group members tend to neglect information not shared across the group
• Shared information is more likely to be mentioned and repeated during discussions
• This tendency is stronger in larger and unstructured groups

Why the preference for shared information?

• This could be due to questionable validity of unshared information, information overload, and concurrence-seeking

How can information-sharing be increased?

• An increase in information sharing can be seen when people believe there is a correct answer vs being more subjective

Groupthink

• Groupthink represents a mode of thinking where maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is prioritized over considering facts realistically

Brainstorming

• Brainstorming focuses on idea generation and creativity

Brainstorming Study

• A 1958 study by Taylor et al. tested Osborn's hypothesis that individuals generate twice as many ideas when working in a group compared to alone
• Results showed that participants working in nominal groups produced almost twice as many different ideas as those in real groups
• Overall groups are less effective at brainstorming than individuals

Why do groups do poorly?

• They may be affected by evaluation apprehension, free riding, and production blocking

Illusion of Group Effectiveness

• Beliefs that groups are better persist, possibly caused by the illusion of group effectiveness