Chapter 10

Behavior in Groups
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 The presence of others sometimes
enhances and sometimes impairs an
individual’s performance.
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social Facilitation: People sometimes
perform better in the presence of
others than when they are alone
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social facilitation occurs:
 Whether others are performing the
same task, or whether the others are
merely observers
 In many species others than humans
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social inhibition occurs when the
presence of others inhibits a person’s
performance.
 Behavior in the Presence of Others
If dominant
 Zajonc’s theory: response correct,
SOCIAL
FACILITATION

Presence Dominant If dominant

Arousal
of others Response response wrong,
SOCIAL
INHIBITION
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 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.
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social facilitation and inhibition occur
when a person’s performance is
individually identifiable
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social Loafing: When an individual’s
contribution to a collective activity
cannot be evaluated, individuals often
work less hard than they would alone.
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 The noise
produced by
each person
cheering
decreases as
group size
increases
(Latané,
Williams, &
Harkins, 1979)
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social loafing depends on
 How important the person believes
his/her contribution is to group success
 How much the person values group
success
 Karau & Williams, 1993
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Reducing Social Loafing
 Make each person’s contribution
identifiable
 Provide rewards for high group
productivity
 Make task meaningful, complex, or
interesting
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Social compensation occurs when a
person expends great effort to
compensate for others in the group.
 When others are performing
inadequately, and the person cares about
the quality of the group product
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Across cultures
 Social loafing has been found in India,
Thailand, Japan, & China
 However, social loafing may be greater
among people from the U.S. than among
Asians
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 In summary: whether social
facilitation or social loafing occurs
depends on
 Whether individuals are identifiable
 Task complexity
 How much participants care about the
outcome
 Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social Impact Theory (Latané, 1981)

Impact depends on Number, Strength, Immediacy

Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Deindividuation may occur in
crowded, anonymous situations when
people lose a sense of responsibility
for their own actions and feel free to
express aggressive and sexual
impulses
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Zimbardo (1970) had groups of four young
women deliver electric shocks to another
person
 Groups were either easily identifiable or not
(wore “KKK”-type garb). Unidentifiable groups
gave twice as many shocks
 Johnson & Downing (1979) replicated the study
using surgical scrubs for the unidentifiable
group. Here, this group shocked less.
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Deindividuation increases when
individuals are anonymous and as
group size increases.
 Might create a special psychological
state in which people are focused
externally and unaware of own values
 Or might heighten individual’s
identification with the group and
increase conformity.
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 Crowding refers to the psychological
state of discomfort & stress
associated with wanting more space
than is available.
 Social density is the objective
number of people in a given space.
 High social density may or may not be
experienced as unpleasant
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 When do people experience the
presence of others as crowding?
 Sensory overload
 Loss of control
 Arousal and attribution to presence
of others
Behavior in the Presence of Others
 People from collectivist cultures are
less likely to experience high social
density as crowding.
 However, the negative health effects
of high social density occur
regardless of culture.
Basic Features of Groups
 A group involves multiple people who
are interdependent
 Typically, but not always, have regular-
face-to-face contact.
 Different from a social category
Basic Features of Groups
 Social norms are shared rules and
expectations about how group
members should act.
 Social roles are norms that apply to
people in a particular position.
 Social status refers to social position
based on prestige and authority.
Basic Features of Groups
 Cohesiveness refers to forces that cause
members to remain in a group
 Positive Factors
 Liking of members for each other
 Extent to which members act effectively together
 Success of group in meeting goals
 Negative Factors
 Cost of Leaving
 Lack of Alternatives
Group Performance
 Types of Group Activities
 Additive tasks
 Success is sum of each person’s effort
 Conjunctive tasks
 Success depends on least competent member
 Disjunctive tasks
 Success depends on most competent member
 Subdivided tasks
 Success depends on both skill & coordination
Group Performance
 Brainstorming asks group members to
think of as many different
suggestions as they can in a short
time
 Despite the popularity of this technique,
research shows that individuals usually
produce more and better ideas working alone
Group Performance
 When discussing matters of opinion,
groups tend to use a majority-rules
decision rule.
 When discussing matters of fact,
groups tend to use a truth-wins
decision rule.
 Unanimous decisions are harder to
reach but tend to leave group
members more satisfied.
Group Performance
 Groups do not necessarily make wise
decisions because they are vulnerable
to special social forces that can bias
decision-making.
Group Performance
 Group Polarization = Group discussion may
lead to more extreme decisions.
 Persuasive arguments theory suggests this is due to
new information
 Self-presentation theory suggests this is due to
trying to “one-up” other members
 Social identity theory suggests group members try to
conform to the group but perceive the group norm as
more extreme
 If members of a group are evenly split,
groups compromise rather than polarize.
Group Performance
 Groupthink is a process of faulty decision-
making that can occur in groups (Janis,
1982)
 Occurs when group has a strong leader and
is under stress
 Group members become more concerned
with group acceptance than correctness
 Group members censor themselves, do not do a
full information search, and evaluate
information in a biased way.
Group Performance
 Overcoming groupthink:
 Leader remains impartial and encourages
the expression of dissent
 Use separate subcommittees to discuss
same issue separately
 Appoint “devil’s advocates”
 Consult outside experts
Group Performance
 Group members tend to discuss
shared rather than unshared
information
 Groups may also use meetings to
confirm rather than challenge their
initial beliefs
 Thus while groups have the potential
to make better decisions than
individuals, they do not always do so.
Competition vs. Cooperation
 Participants in laboratory studies on
competition tend to compete, even
when cooperation would be a more
rewarding strategy.
Competition vs. Cooperation
 The Deutsch & Krauss Trucking Game
The optimal
strategy is to
alternate using the
one-lane road in
the middle.
However, players
rarely cooperate.
 Competition vs. Cooperation
 The Prisoner’s Dilemma Game
PRISONER “A”
PRISONER “B”

Both get one year “A” is released;

“B” gets 15 years

“A” gets 15 years; BOTH get 10 years

“B” is released
Competition vs. Cooperation
 There is a strong tendency to
compete rather than cooperate in the
prisoner’s dilemma game
 Only about a third of choices are
cooperative
 Cooperation typically goes down over
time
Competition vs. Cooperation
 Determinants of Competition vs
Cooperation
 Reward Structure
 Personal Values
 Communication
 Reciprocity
Competition vs. Cooperation
 Culture and Competition
 The United States has one of the most
competitive cultures on earth.
 Cultural values about competition are
conveyed at home, at school, through the
media,and through sports and games.
Competition vs Cooperation
 A Social Dilemma is a situation in
which the most rewarding short-term
choice for an individual will ultimately
lead to negative outcomes for all-
concerned.
 Some Real-World Applications:
preserving environmental resources,
avoiding littering
Leadership
 The leader of a group is the person
who has the most impact on group
behavior and beliefs.
 Leaders may be appointed, elected, or
emerge over time
Leadership
 Leaders must perform two types of tasks,
task leadership and social leadership.
 An effective task leader is efficient, directive,
and knowledgeable.
 An effective social leader is friendly,
agreeable, concerned with feelings and socially
oriented.
 Sometimes a group will have a different leader
for each task; sometimes the same person will
serve both roles.
Leadership
 The great-person theory of leadership
suggests that leaders possess particular
characteristics
 Excelling in abilities that meet the group’s
goals; strong interpersonal skills; high
motivation; confident; optimistic.
 An interactive perspective focuses on the
match between the needs of the situation
and the characteristics of the person.
Leadership
 Fiedler’s contingency model of
leadership effectiveness suggests
that task-oriented leaders are most
effective in high-control and low-
control situations, while emotion-
focused leaders are more effective in
moderate-control situations.