Groups

Groups1PAPER TOPICS DISCUSSED!!

2What is a group?What is a group? Size? Purpose? Time? Number of members? Frequency? Is a dyad a group?What makes a group, groupier? (entitativity)What do groups do for us? (why be in groups? What needs do they meet?)Who joins groups? Do we want a cohesive or noncohesive group?

3More on groupsIn what ways are groups multi-level? How is it similar to/different from a social identity? 4Brief history of major group studiesNewcomb 1943Asch 1955Milgram 1963Sherif 1936 (autokinetic)The American SoldierDeutsch & Gerard 1955 conformity w/magic padFestinger, Schachter, & Bach, 1950Schachter deviant studySchachter study of affliliation (1959)Minimal group paradigmSocial loafing/social facilitationDeindividuationGroup polarizationOstacism (later)Shared information paradigm

5When are groups good vs. bad?When are groups better than or worse than individuals?When is diversity good/bad? Cohesion?Why does group polarization occur? How does the shared information bias affect decision making?

6Groupthink (Janis, 1952)Does it really occur very often?Antecedents: strong group cohesion, (mixed)insulation from outside influences (historical)homogeneity of attitudes (both)a directive leader, (both)high stress (threats to group)poor decision-making procedureslow situational member self-esteem

7Symptoms:illusion of invulnerabilitybelief in the moral correctness of the groupstereotyped views of out-groupself-censorshipdirect pressure on dissenters to conformillusion of unanimitymindguards (members protect leader from contrary views)Consequences:incomplete survey of altsfailure to examine risks of the favored alternativepoor info searchfailure to develop contingency planbiased assessment of risks, costs, benefits, and moral implicationsfailure to reconsider later

8Barons (2005) ubiquity approachOnly antecedents needed are: Sense of social identitySalient normsLow situational self-efficacy

And broader than thought Examples?9Examples of group researchGroup affiliation and Schachter (1959) study on social comparison theorySociometrics (Moreno)Social facilitationTriplettZajoncs 1965 cockroachesSocial loafingRingelmannLatan, Williams, and Harkins, 1979Kohler effectHow can you reduce social loafing? Brainstorming10More examplesGroup polarization Dislike of deviants (Johnny Rocko)SIT explanation?ConformityComputer-mediated communicationWhat are the stages of groups? Do all groups go through these?

11PowerFrench and Ravens (1959) 5 types of powerRewardCoerciveLegitimateReferentExpertHow does power trigger activity? What is good and bad about power? 12LeadershipHow do leaders emerge? What makes a good leader? Contingency vs. situational theoryLewin et al. (1939) autocratic vs. democratic vs. laissez-faire leadersHow do women fair as leaders? How does SIT explain leadership?

13Social identity vs. social sharednessExplain the assumptions/predictions of each approachHow would you use the two together to create a situation for better decision making in a workgroup?Relate each to evolutionary processesTwo companies mergingdeciding on new processesPutting people into ethnically diverse groups to decide how to handle diversity issues at a universityDeciding how to market a new product

Social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1978)How did this theory evolve and how did it differ from other theories of the time? Psychological processesSocial categorizationSocial comparisonSocial identificationHow can people deal with devalued identity?Which will they choose?What are advantages and criticisms of the theory? 15Expansions on SITHogg and Abrams self-esteem hypothesisBrewers optimal distinctiveness theorySwanns fusion theory

16More Social Identity Theory (the other SIT)How do SIT and SCT differ?What is a social identity?What motivates us to have social ids?What are your social IDs? What affects what is salient? Can more than 1 be at a time?What are some examples/applications?

17Relate SIT to System justificationGroupthinkGroup polarizationConformity

18Social sharednessTindale, Smith, Dykema-Engblade, & Kluwe, 2012Two typesShared preferencesShared task representationsOthers? According to this approach, when will group decisions be good vs. bad? 19Residential mobilityWhy would residential mobility relate to what kinds of groups people join?What are the implications for groups?Why would movers join more groups overall? FlowCsikszentmihalyiWhat is flow?When do you feel flow? 21FacebookContagion article (Kramer et al., 2014)What was justification for the article?Problems/issues/solutions?What would social identity theory predict for facebook communications? What would social sharedness predict? 22MORE PAPER TOPICSNext week read attraction part of 12 and all of 13 plus articlesFinkel et al. articlecarefully read the following parts:SummaryIntroductionAll sections with conclusions in the headingSummary and ImplicationsSkim the rest 23