Social Psychology: Understanding Groups

What is a Group?

• A group is defined as a collection of individuals sharing at least one characteristic.
• These characteristics include direct interactions over a specific time frame, belonging to a shared social category (e.g., race, sex), or sharing a common fate, identity, or goals.

Group Processes

• Group processes study various aspects within social psychology, focusing on cohesiveness and solidarity.
• This research investigates how individuals join and participate in groups and the roles they assume within those groups.
• Factors like persuasion, leadership, and established group norms influence members.

Example of Group Process

• Illustrative example: a party planning group.
• Members engage in communication to achieve a shared task effectively, for example, discussing music choices or food options.

Group Roles

• Within a group, roles are categorized as instrumental (task-oriented) and expressive (emotion-oriented).
• Instrumental roles focus on accomplishing tasks.
• Expressive roles provide emotional support, boosting morale and cohesiveness.

Group Norms

• Groups establish norms, formal or informal rules of conduct.
• These norms represent expectations and behaviors within the group, relating to factors like nationality, organizations, or sports teams.
• Norms evolve through interactions, influencing members' beliefs and behaviors.

Group Cohesiveness

• Group cohesiveness describes factors pulling members together.
• Cultural differences can affect how individuals perceive and interact within groups.

Social Loafing

• Social loafing is a phenomenon where individuals contribute less in a group setting than when working alone.
• This occurs when individual contributions aren't essential or recognized.
• Group accountability and personally relevant tasks reduce social loafing.

Conditions Reducing Social Loafing

• Reduced social loafing occurs when group members feel accountable for their contributions.
• Important tasks and individual recognition increase individual effort.

Why Does Social Loafing Occur?

• The collective effort model suggests social loafing stems from lowered expectations for individual impact and reduced personal importance in group endeavors.

Group Performance: Problems and Solutions

• Brainstorming is a creative group technique encouraging idea generation without criticism.
• Preventing groupthink involves avoiding isolation, minimizing conformity pressures from leaders, and fostering critical assessment.

Groupthink

• Groupthink is a phenomenon where the desire for agreement among group members outweighs the motivation for critically evaluating information.
• This leads to poor decisions, overlooking alternatives, and suppressing individual viewpoints to maintain harmony.

Consequences of Groupthink

• Groupthink results in poor decision-making, insufficient alternative evaluation, and a heightened risk of suboptimal decisions due to flawed information processing and a failure to plan contingencies.

Group Polarization

• Group polarization is the inclination of groups to make more extreme decisions than individual members might independently.
• Groups tend towards higher risk if the initial sentiment favors risk-taking or conversely, towards caution if initial inclination leans toward conservatism.

Factors Creating Group Polarization

• Persuasive arguments and comparisons among group members influence opinions.

Conditions for Team Effectiveness

• Effective teams demonstrate clear goals, strong communication, defined roles, trust among members, and constructive conflict resolution.
• These characteristics improve team performance and satisfaction.

Conflict: Cooperation and Competition

• The prisoner's dilemma demonstrates the potential for suboptimal outcomes when individuals choose competition over cooperation.
• Cultural differences can lead to conflicts between groups due to contrasting values, beliefs, and customs.

The Relationship Between Culture and Ethical Dilemmas

• Culture shapes an individual's ethical perspective by providing guidelines and influencing perceptions of appropriate behavior.

Social Psychology Course: Attitudes and Social Behavior

• Attitudes are a collection of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors directed towards specific people, objects, events, or things.
• Attitudes are influenced by experiences and profoundly impact behavior.

Types of Attitudes

• Attitudes encompass cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components.
• Attitudes can be positive, negative, or neutral.

Characteristics of Attitudes

• Attitudes are directed towards objects, potentially positive or negative.
• Importantly, attitudes are typically learned, not inherent.

Positive Attitudes

• Optimism, confidence, sincerity, happiness, reliability, adaptability, flexibility, and accountability are examples of favorable attitudes.

Structure of an Attitude

• Attitudes have an affective component (feelings), a behavioral component (actions), and a cognitive component (beliefs).

Functions of Attitude

• Attitudes organize experiences, provide stability, help predict outcomes, and express self-identity.

Ego-defensive Function

• This attitude function protects self-esteem and justifies actions that cause internal conflict.

Types of Behavior

• Behavior can include observable (molecular/moral) actions, overt and covert behaviors, and voluntary and involuntary acts.

Measuring Attitudes

• Self-report measures (e.g., Likert scales) assess attitudes, but may be challenging because attitudes are complex.
• Covert measures (e.g., facial EMG) involve observing physiological responses.
• Implicit Association Tests (IATs) measure implicit biases and attitudes.

Formation of Attitudes

• Attitudes are shaped by exposure, personal experiences, social contexts, and rewards/punishments.

Link Between Attitudes and Behavior

• Attitudes strongly influence behavior, aligning with the theory of planned behavior suggesting that although attitudes influence behavior, they do not always predict specific behaviors.

Factors Indicating Attitude Strength

• Well-informed individuals demonstrate consistency between attitudes and behavior.
• Persuasive messages can influence attitude strength.

Changing Attitudes

• Communication with others and internal reflection change attitudes.

Influence of Social Media

• Social media amplifies reward sensitivity and risk-taking, notably in young adults.

Examples of Human Social Behavior

• Examples include shaking hands, conversations, flirting, religious rituals, nonverbal communication, and sharing meals.

Pillars of Persuasive Skills

• Ethos establishes credibility, logos utilizes logic, and pathos leverages emotional appeal.

Uses of Persuasive Text

• Persuasive text aims to convince readers through arguments, discussions, reviews, and advertisements.

Routes to Persuasion

• Central route relies on careful message evaluation, while peripheral route depends on superficial aspects.

Effective Message Elements

• Length, order, and emotional appeal impact persuasive effectiveness.
• Moderate discrepancy in messages is beneficial.

Conclusion

• Understanding group dynamics, social behavior, attitudes, and persuasion improves interpersonal relations and communication.

This quiz explores the concept of groups in social psychology, examining the characteristics that define them and the processes that govern group dynamics. You'll learn about group roles, cohesiveness, and how individuals interact within these social structures. Test your knowledge on group processes and their impact on behavior.