GROUPS

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GROUPS
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Definitions Of Groups

• Paulus (1989) a group consists of two or more
  interacting persons, who share common goals, have
  a stable (i.e. lasting) relationship, are somehow
  interdependent and perceive that they are in fact
  part of a group.
•  
• Forsyth (1995) a group is two or more
  interdependent individuals who influence one
  another through social interaction.

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• Johnson and Johnson
• a small group may be defined as two or more
  individuals who a) pursue common goals, b) are
  interdependent, c) interact with each other, d)
  share norms concerning matters of common interest
  and participate in a system of interlocking
  roles, e) influence each other, f) find the group
  rewarding and g) define themselves and are
  defined by others as belonging to the group.

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TYPES OF GROUPS

• Primary groups- Cooley and Durkheim
• A formal task group
• Informal groups

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1. Primary groups

• Characterized by intimate face-to-face
  association and co-operationThey are fundamental
  in forming the social nature and ideals off the
  individualthey give the individual his earliest
  and completest sense of social unity.
• They are a source of emotional support and allow
  for social interaction. They also tend to be
  small and permanent and not usually oriented to
  achieving a specific goal. They almost always
  function as reference groups for their members
  and are always membership groups. E.g. family

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2. Formal task group

• Their primary function is to accomplish specific
  goals.
• These are characterized by a set of interrelated
  norms that are acknowledged by the members..
• Thy normally have a definable structure or
  hierarchy of roles and positions accompanied by
  different amounts of status.
• This structure exerts strong influence over its
  members because they can be sanctioned for not
  adhering to rules and norms.

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3. Informal groups

• These groups are transitory and their structures
  are not formalized. Temporary goals are present
  if any at all and both roles and membership
  change. There is however, some common bond.
•  
• NOTE
• People who are in the same place at the same
  time but do not share common goals or identity
  should not be defined as a group. This is refered
  to as an Aggregate.

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Groups are inevitable

• We interact as members of groups on a daily
  basis. For example, most of us are born into a
  group called the family and we would not survive
  initially without this group.
• Groups are responsible for socialising us into
  the ways of thinking and behaving and help us to
  understand about the world and ourselves.
• Our personal identity is shaped by memberships in
  groups.  

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APPROACHES TO STUDYING GROUPS

• Group Dynamics
• Interpersonal Dynamics/ Relations

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Group dynamics

• A field of inquiry dedicated to advancing
  knowledge about the nature of groups, the laws of
  their development, and their interrelations with
  individuals, other groups, and larger
  institutions.

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Intergroup dynamics/ relations

• Refer to the relationships between groups
  including perceptions, attitudes, attributions
  and behaviours such as discrimination.
• Hence we look not at the composition of the group
  internally. Looking at the forms of relationships
  between social or psychological groups and how
  they influence the social structure and power
  relations in society.

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Why do we join groups?

• Need for affiliation need to associate with our
  own kind
• Identity reference groups help us to form our
  personal identities
• Social comparison Festinger (1954) we use
  others to clarify what information about
  ourselves and our abilities as well as our
  opinions about our environment.
• Information- only available through membership
  in a group
• Performance on tasks not achievable on our own
•        

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Theories explaining why we join groups

• Social learning theory suggests that we learn
  to depend on others from early in our lives
  through interaction with family members. Hence
  we see it as a natural state of being to be
  interdependent with others.
•        
• Exchange theory group membership involves
  exchanging both rewards and costs with other
  group members.
•          
• Socio-biology work of Darwin and Bowlby -
  grouping together has survival value for humans
  as well as many other species. When humans group
  together they are better able to protect
  themselves, to cooperate.

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CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS

• Group size
• Motivation
• Leadership
• Goals
• Interdependence
• Interpersonal attraction
• Perception of membership
• Mutual influence
• Group structure
• Roles
• Status
• Sub group
• Norms
• Cohesiveness
• Communication network

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• Group size group size can have implications for
  group functioning. For example larger groups
  allow us to feel anonymous whereas small groups
  allow for more individual identification. Group
  size can also affect communication in that
  smaller groups have better participation and
  discussion among its members. People do not
  normally like to express their views in large
  gatherings.
• Motivation - groups are entities through which
  its members needs are personally met. Hence one
  is personally motivated to be part of a group
  when they are benefiting from it.
• Leadership leadership style is also another
  group characteristic. For example leaders can be
  task oriented or people oriented. The former is
  concerned with getting the job done while the
  latter is also concerned with getting the job
  done but paying attention to the group members
  feelings, needs and morale.

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• Goals groups formed to achieve goals, which
  individuals in isolation cannot attain.
•  
• Interdependence the group or collectivity must
  also be interdependent in some way. In other
  words, individual members are interrelated so
  that an event, which affects one member, also
  affects all the members of the collectivity.
•  
• Interpersonal attraction interaction among
  members is also a criterion. This interaction is
  not necessarily face-to-face interaction but
  involves some form of communication.
•  
• Perception of membership a group does not exist
  unless members perceive themselves to be part of
  the group entity
•  
• Mutual influence persons in a group influence
  each other or affected each other in some way

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• Group structure refers to the way groups are
  organized and how various positions in the group
  are related. Group structure is usually
  discussed in terms of roles, status, subgroups,
  cohesion and communication networks. Group norms
  are closely related to the idea of group
  structure.
• 1. Role A role may be defined as a set of
  expectations defining the appropriate behaviour
  of an occupant of a position toward other related
  positions. Roles define the formal structure of
  the group and differentiate one position from
  another.  
• Task roles positions in a group whose
  occupants are expected to perform goal oriented,
  task focussed behaviours
• Socioemotional roles positions in a group
  whose occupants are expected to perform
  supportive, interpersonally accommodative
  behaviours. (Bales)
•  

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• Status Status is related to power held by the
  person, his perceived contribution to the success
  and prestige of the group and to the extent to
  which the person is admired.
• Subgroups many groups can be affected by the
  presence of smaller groups called cliques or
  subgroups. Subgroups can be specified based on
  age, sex or other bases of interest. Subgroups
  can cause conflict when the goals of the subgroup
  conflict with those of the larger group.
• Norms Norms are rules, explicit or implicit,
  established by a group to regulate the behaviour
  of their embers. Norms tell persons how to and
  how not to act (prescriptive and proscriptive).

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• Cohesion this refers to the overall strength of
  positive relationships within the group.
  Cohesive forces include liking for others, common
  goals, status provided by group membership, or a
  sense of identity.
•  
• Group cohesiveness can be built by making others
  feel that they are valued and liked by other
  members, offering rewards or by sanctioning
  individualistic behaviour.
•  
• Cohesion affects the loyalty, commitment and
  sacrifice made by individual members. Cohesion
  can even lead to ineffective group performance
  and decision making. (group think)

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Stages of group formation
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GROUP PROCESSES
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GROUPS AND TASK PERFORMANCE

• This refers to the benefits and costs of working
  with others.
• Social loafing
• Social facilitation
• Deindividuation
• Decision making in groups
• Group polarization
• Groupthink

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SOCIAL LOAFING

• The reduction of individual effort exerted when
  people work in groups compared to when they work
  alone.
• People dont expend maximum effort when working
  in a group. This is a motivational loss rather
  than a co-ordination loss of productivity.

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SOCIAL LOAFING

• How do we remove it?
• Identify each individuals contribution to the
  groups project. This heightens feelings of
  evaluation apprehension.
• Undo the social dilemma- social dilemma- a
  situation that prompts individuals to act in
  their own immediate self interest to the
  detriment of other group members needs or their
  own long term interest.

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SOCIAL FACILITATION

• Triplett (1898) believed that the presence of
  others lead to psychological stimulation that
  enhances performance.
• Social facilitation refers to the effects on task
  performance that occurs when people work with
  others people (co-action) or in front of an
  audience.
• Zajoncs Drive Theory of Social Facilitation-
  Robert B. Zajonc (1965, 1980)

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Zajoncs Drive Theory of Social Facilitation

• Sometimes a co- actor or audience undermines more
  than facilitates someones performance. Zajonc
  provides an explanation based on dominant and
  non- dominant responses.
• Dominant responses refer to well learned or
  instinctual responses often performed.
• Non-dominant responses are novel, complicated or
  untried behaviour that the organism seldom or
  never performs.
• The opposite of social facilitation is social
  interference.

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Zajoncs Drive Theory of Social Facilitation
If dominant response correct, SOCIAL FACILITATION

• Zajoncs theory

Presence of others
Dominant Response
If dominant response wrong, SOCIAL INHIBITION
Arousal
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Zajoncs Drive Theory of Social Facilitation

• Why does the presence of others motivate us?
• Innate tendency for arousal in the presence of
  others
• Evaluation Apprehension
• Distraction-Conflict
• Presence of others evokes challenge reaction when
  resources are sufficient, threat responses when
  insufficient.

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Zajoncs Drive Theory of Social Facilitation

• Social facilitation and inhibition occur when a
  persons performance is individually identifiable

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Deindividuation

• Zimbardo (1970) Prison experiment is an example
  of deindividuation.
• DOING THINGS IN GROUPS THAT WE WOULD NOT NORMALLY
  DO ON OUR OWN.
• It is the state of relative anonymity, in which a
  member of a group does not feel identifiable.

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Factors which bring about this sense of
deindividuation

• Group size- a group has the power to arouse
  members as well as render them unidentifiable.
• Physical anonymity- Anonymity unleashes our
  impulses, which can be either bad or good.
• Diminished self- awareness- group experiences
  that diminish self consciousness tend to
  disconnect behaviour from attitudes and values.
• Deindividuated people are less restrained, less
  self regulated, more likely to act without
  thinking and more likely to be controlled by the
  situation rather than their personalities.

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DECISION MAKING IN GROUPS
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Group Polarization

• Check Stoners study (1961).
• Risky shift phenomenon- A form of group
  polarization which involves the observation that
  some people will tend to make riskier decisions
  when acting as members of a group or committee
  than they would when they are acting as
  individuals.
• Polarization the tendency of group members to
  shift, as a result of group discussion, toward
  more extreme positions than those they initially
  held.
• Why does this happen?- Baron. R. Byrne, D.
  (1991) pg. 462.

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Group think

• The tendency of members of highly cohesive groups
  to adhere to the shared views so strongly that
  they ignore information. This tendency increases
  with group size.

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How do we limit groupthink?

• Promote open inquiry and skepticism among their
  members.
• Use subgroups to consider different aspects of a
  problem, and any final decision is then based on
  discussion of their recommendations.
• Second- chance meetings- here groups members are
  asked and encouraged to express any lingering
  doubts.