SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUP PROCESSES

1. In a group, there is mutual interdependence, each member has roles, there are status
differentials, and there are expectations from each other.
2. A group may be defined as an organised system of two or more individuals, who are interacting
and interdependent, who have common motives, have a set of role relationships among its
members, and have norms that regulate the behaviour of its members.
3. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GROUP:
 A social unit consisting of two or more individuals who perceive themselves as belonging
to the group. This characteristic of the group helps in distinguishing one group from the
other and gives the group its unique identity.
 A collection of individuals who have common motives and goals.
 A collection of individuals who are interdependent [WHAT ONE DOES MAY HAVE
CONSEQUENCES ON OTHERS.]
 A collection of individuals who interact with one another directly or indirectly.
 A collection of individuals whose interactions are structured by a set of roles and norms.
Group members adhere to group norms.
4. A crowd is also a collection of people who may be present at a place/situation by chance. Eg.
Road accident. There is neither any structure nor feeling of belongingness in a crowd. Behaviour
of people in crowds is irrational and there is no interdependence among members.
5. Teams are special kinds of groups. Members are mutually accountable for their activities. In
teams, there is a positive synergy attained through the coordinated efforts of the members.
The main differences between groups and teams are:
• In groups, performance is dependent on contributions of individual members. In teams,
both individual contributions and teamwork matter.
• In groups, the leader or whoever is heading the group holds responsibility for the work.
However in teams, although there is a leader, members hold themselves responsible.
6. An audience is also a collection of people who have assembled for a special purpose, may be to
watch a cricket match or a movie. Audiences are generally passive but sometimes they go into a
frenzy and become mobs. In mobs, there is a definite sense of purpose. There is polarisation in
attention, and actions of persons are in a common direction. Mob behaviour is characterised
by homogeneity of thought and behaviour as well as impulsivity.
7. WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN GROUPS?
 Security [Groups reduce the insecurity that we feel while being alone. Sense of
comfort, protection, people are less vulnerable to threats]
 Status [while being a part of an important group we feel recognized and
experience a sense of power.]
 Self esteem [Groups provide feelings of self-worth and establish a positive social
identity.]
 Satisfaction of one’s psychological and social needs [Groups satisfy one’s
social and psychological needs such as sense of belongingness, giving and receiving
attention, love, and power.]
 Provide knowledge and information [Group membership provides knowledge and
information and thus broadens our view. As individuals, we may not have all the
required information. Groups supplement this information and knowledge.]
 Goal achievement [Groups help in achieving such goals which cannot be attained
individually. There is power in the majority.]
8. Interaction for group formation is facilitated by the following conditions:
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 PROXIMITY [Repeated interactions with the same set of individuals give us a chance
to know them, and their interests and attitudes.]
 SIMILARITY [People prefer consistency and like relationships that are consistent.
When two people are similar, there is consistency and they start liking each other.]
 COMMON MOTIVES AND GOALS [When people have common motives or goals,
they get together and form a group which may facilitate their goal attainment.]
9. STAGES OF GROUP FORMATION PROPOSED BY TUCKMAN. [5 ST.]
 FORMING
 STORMING (intragroup conflict)
 NORMING ( This leads to development of a positive group identity.)
 PERFORMING (for some groups this maybe the last stage)
 ADJOURNING (In this stage, once the function is over, the group may be disbanded.)
Sometimes several stages go on simultaneously, while in other instances groups may
go back and forth through the various stages or they may just skip some of the
stages.
10. GROUP STRUCTURE develops as members interact.
Four important elements of group structure are:
 ROLES
are socially defined expectations that individuals in a given situation are expected to
fulfil. Roles refer to the typical behaviour that depicts a person in a given social context,
there are certain role expectations.
 NORMS
Expected standards of behaviour and beliefs established, agreed upon, and enforced by
group members.
 STATUS
Relative social position given to group members by others.
This relative position or status may be either ascribed (given may be because of one’s
seniority) or achieved (the person has achieved status because of expertise or hard
work).
Even within a group, different members have different prestige and status
 COHESIVENESS
refers to togetherness, binding, or mutual attraction among group members group
members start to think, feel and act as a social unit, and less like isolated individuals,
team spirit or ‘we feeling’ or a sense of belongingness to the group.
Extreme cohesiveness however, may sometimes not be in a group’s interest.
Psychologists have identified the phenomenon of groupthink which is a consequence of
extreme cohesiveness.
It results in the tendency of decision makers to make irrational and uncritical decisions
Some ways to counteract or prevent groupthink are:
 Encouraging and rewarding critical thinking and even disagreement among group
members.
 Encouraging groups to present alternative courses of action.
 Inviting outside experts to evaluate the group’s decisions.
 Encouraging members to seek feedback from trusted others.
11. TYPE OF GROUPS
a. PRIMARY & SECONDARY
b. FORMAL& INFORMAL
c. INGROUP & OUTGROUP
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a. 1° & 2°

A major difference between primary and secondary groups is that primary groups are pre-existing
formations which are usually given to the individual whereas secondary groups are those which the
individual joins by choice. Thus, family, caste, and religion are primary groups whereas membership of a
political party is an example of a secondary group.

PRIMARY GRP- In a primary group, there is a face-to-face interaction, members have close physical
proximity, and they share warm emotional bonds. They have a very major role in developing values and
ideals of the individual during the early stages of development.

SECONDARY GRP-Relationships among members are more impersonal, indirect, and less frequent.

In the primary group, boundaries are less permeable, i.e. members do not have the option to choose
its membership as compared to secondary groups where it is easy to leave and join another group.

b. FORMAL & INFORMAL GRP

These groups differ in the degree to which the functions of the group are stated
explicitly and formally.
The formal and informal groups differ on the basis of structure. The formation of
formal groups is based on some specific rules or laws and members have definite
roles. There are a set of norms which help in establishing order. A university is an
example of a formal group. On the other hand, the formation of informal groups is
not based on rules or laws and there is close relationship among members.

c. INGROUP & OUTGROUP

Just as individuals compare themselves with others in terms of similarities and
differences with respect to what they have and what others have, individuals also
compare the group they belong to with groups of which they are not a member. The
term ‘ingroup’ refers to one’s own group, and ‘outgroup’ refers to another group.

‘they’ is used. By using the words they and we, one is categorising people as similar
or different. It has been found that persons in the ingroup are generally supposed to
be similar, are viewed favourably, and have desirable traits. Members of the
outgroup are viewed differently and are often perceived negatively in comparison to
the ingroup members. Perceptions of ingroup and outgroup affect our social lives.
12. INFLUENCE OF GROUP ON INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR
We will discuss two situations :
(i) an individual performing an activity alone in the presence of others (social facilitation).
Social facilitation research suggests that presence of others leads to arousal and can
motivate individuals to enhance their performance if they are already good at solving
something.
(ii) an individual performing an activity along with the others as part of a larger group
(social loafing).
SOCIAL LOAFING
It has been found that individuals work less hard in a group than they do when
performing alone. This points to a phenomenon referred to as ‘social loafing’. Social
loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, i.e. one in
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which outputs are pooled with those of other group members. An example of such a
task is the game of tug-of-war.
Why does social loafing occur?
• Group members feel less responsible for the overall task being performed and
therefore exert less effort.
• Motivation of members decreases because they realise that their contributions will
not be evaluated on individual basis.
• The performance of the group is not to be compared with other groups.
• There is an improper coordination (or no coordination) among members.
• Belonging to the same group is not important for members. It is only an aggregate of
individuals.

Social loafing may be reduced by:

• Making the efforts of each person identifiable.
• Increasing the pressure to work hard (making group members committed to
successful task performance).
• Increasing the apparent importance or value of a task.
• Making people feel that their individual contribution is important.
• Strengthening group cohesiveness which increases the motivation for successful
group outcome.

13. GROUP POLARISATION :

It has been found that groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than individuals alone.
Whatever the initial position in the group, this position becomes much stronger as a result of
discussions in the group. This strengthening of the group’s initial position as a result of group
interaction and discussion is referred to as group polarisation. This may sometimes have
dangerous repercussions as groups may take extreme positions, i.e. from very weak to very
strong decisions.

• In the company of like-minded people, you are likely to hear newer arguments favouring
your viewpoints.
• When you find others also favouring capital punishment, you feel that thisview is validated
by the public. This is a sort of bandwagon effect.
• When you find people having similar views, you are likely to perceive them as ingroup. You
start identifying with the group, begin showing conformity, and as a consequence your views
become strengthened.