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Basics of Group Behavior

This chapter discusses key concepts about group behavior including types of groups, models of group development, how roles and norms influence behavior, and how factors like status, size, cohesiveness and diversity impact group performance. It describes techniques for effective group decision making while minimizing risks of groupthink or polarization. The implications are that managers should understand how groups can shape behavior and use strategies like managing norms, group size, and role clarity to optimize group effectiveness.

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Pratyum Pradhan
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
68 views30 pages

Basics of Group Behavior

This chapter discusses key concepts about group behavior including types of groups, models of group development, how roles and norms influence behavior, and how factors like status, size, cohesiveness and diversity impact group performance. It describes techniques for effective group decision making while minimizing risks of groupthink or polarization. The implications are that managers should understand how groups can shape behavior and use strategies like managing norms, group size, and role clarity to optimize group effectiveness.

Uploaded by

Pratyum Pradhan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 10

Basics of Group Behavior


After studying this chapter you should be
able to:
1. Distinguish between the different types of groups.
2. Describe the punctuated-equilibrium model of group
development.
3. Show how role requirements change in different situations.
4. Demonstrate how norms exert influence on an individual’s
behavior.
5. Show how status and size differences affect group
performance.
6. Describe how issues of cohesiveness and diversity can be
integrated for group effectiveness.
7. Contrast the strengths and weaknesses of group decision
making.
Groups and Group Identity
• Group: Two or more individuals, interacting and
interdependent, who come together to achieve
particular objectives
– Formal: Defined by the organization’s structure
– Informal: Neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined
Social Identity
• Social identity theory
– Perspective that considers when and why individuals
consider themselves members of groups
Ingroups and Outgroups
• Ingroup favoritism
– Occurs when we see members of our group as better
than other people and people not in our group as all the
same
• Outgroup
– The inverse of an ingroup
 Can mean anyone outside the group, but usually it is an
identified other group
Punctuated Equilibrium Model for
Temporary Groups
Group Property 1: Roles
• Role: The set of expected behavior patterns that
are attributed to occupying a given position in a
social unit
– Role perception – our view of how we’re supposed to
act in a given situation
– Role expectations – how others believe you should
act in a given situation
– Role conflict – conflict experienced when multiple
roles are incompatible
Group Property 2: Norms
• Norms:
– Acceptable standards of behavior within a group that
are shared by the group’s members
– Norms and emotions
– Norms and conformity
– Norms and behavior
Norms and Conformity
• Reference groups: Groups in which a person is
aware of other members, defines self as a
member, believes group members to be
significant
– Individuals try to conform to norms of these groups
• Asch Studies
– Members avoid being visibly different
– Members with differing opinions feel extensive
pressure to align with others
Norms and Behavior
• Lessons from the Hawthorne studies:
– Productivity increased because groups were paid
attention to by the observers – not because of changes
in environment
– Workers in groups do not maximize individual
economic rewards
– Group standards are set and enforced by the group
itself
Deviant Workplace Behavior (1 of 2)
• Deviant Workplace Behavior: Voluntary
behavior that violates significant organizational
norms and, in doing so, threatens the well-being
of the organization or its members
• Likely to flourish when:
– Supported by group norms
– People are in groups
Deviant Workplace Behavior (2 of 2)
• Production • Political
– Leaving early – Showing favoritism
– Intentionally working – Gossiping and spreading
slowly rumors
– Wasting resources – Blaming coworkers
• Property • Personal aggression
– Sabotage – Sexual harassment
– Lying about hours – Verbal abuse
worked – Stealing from coworkers
– Stealing from the
organization
Group Property 3: Status
• Status: A socially defined position or rank given to
groups or group members by others
• Determined by:
– The power a person wields over others
– A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals
– An individual’s personal characteristics
Impact of Status (1 of 2)
• Status and Norms
– High-status members often have more freedom to
deviate from norms and are better able to resist
conformity pressures
• Status and Group Interaction
– High status people are more assertive
– Low status members may not participate
– Group creativity may suffer
Impact of Status (2 of 2)
• Status and Inequity
– Perceived inequity creates disequilibrium
• Status and Stigmatization
– People who are stigmatized can “infect” others
– Stigma by association
• Group Status
– Us versus them mentality
Group Property 4: Size
• Smaller groups are faster at completing tasks –
members perform better
• Large groups are consistently better at problem
solving
• Social loafing: tendency for individuals to expend
less effort when working collectively than alone
– Consistent with individualistic cultures
Preventing Social Loafing
• Set group goals
• Increase inter-group competition
• Engage in peer evaluation
• Select members who have high motivation and
like to work in groups
• Distribute group rewards based on members’
individual contributions
Group Property 5: Cohesiveness
• Cohesiveness: The degree to which members of
the group are attracted to each other and
motivated to stay in the group
– Performance-related norms are the moderating
variable for productivity and cohesiveness
 High cohesiveness with high norms gives higher productivity
Encouraging Cohesiveness
1. Make the group smaller
2. Encourage agreement with group goals
3. Increase the time spent together
4. Increase the status and perceived difficulty of
group membership
5. Stimulate competition with other groups
6. Give rewards to the group rather than to
individual members
7. Physically isolate the group
Group Property 6: Diversity
• Diversity: the degree to which members of the
group are similar to or different from one another
– Diversity increases group conflict but may improve
group performance in the long term
• Types of group diversity
– Surface level diversity
– Deep level diversity
Challenges of Group Diversity
• Fault lines: perceived divisions that split groups
into two or more subgroups based on individual
differences such as gender, race, age, work
experience, and education
– Splits are generally detrimental to group functioning
and performance
Group Decision Making
Strengths Weaknesses
• Generate more • Takes longer
complete information • Conformity pressures
and knowledge
• Discussions can be
• Increased diversity of dominated by one or a
views few members
• Increased acceptance • Ambiguous
of a solution responsibility for the
final outcome
Effectiveness and Efficiency
• Effectiveness
– Accuracy – group is better than average individual but
worse than most accurate group member
– Speed – individuals are faster
– Creativity – groups are better
– Degree of acceptance – groups are better
• Efficiency
– Groups are generally less efficient
Groupthink and Groupshift
• Groupthink: relates to norms and describes
situations in which group pressures for conformity
deter the group from critically appraising unusual,
minority, or unpopular views
• Groupshift: describes the way group members
tend to exaggerate their initial positions when
discussing alternatives and arriving at solutions
Groupthink
• Groupthink: deterioration of individual’s mental
efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgments as
a result of group pressures
– Members:
 Rationalize away resistance to assumptions
 Pressure doubters to support the majority
– Doubters keep silent/minimize their misgivings
 Interpret silence as a “yes” vote
Minimizing Groupthink
• Limit group size to less than 10
• Encourage group leaders to actively seek input
from all members and avoid expressing their own
opinions
• Appoint a “devil’s advocate”
• Use exercises that stimulate active discussion of
diverse alternatives
Groupshift or Group Polarization
• Groupshift: Group discussions lead members to
assume new, more extreme, positions
– Groups often take positions of greater risk or greater
caution
– May be due to diffused responsibility or greater comfort
level among members
Group Decision-Making Techniques
• Interacting groups
Meet face to face and rely on verbal and non-
verbal interactions to communicate
• Brainstorming
Generates a list of creative alternatives
– Problem: production blocking
• Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
Restricts discussion during the decision-making
process to encourage independent thinking
Evaluating Group Effectiveness
Implications for Managers
• Recognize that groups can dramatically affect individual
behavior in organizations, to either a positive or negative
effect.
• To decrease the possibility of deviant workplace
activities, ensure that group norms do not support
antisocial behavior.
• Pay attention to the status aspect of groups.
• Use larger groups for fact-finding activities and smaller
groups for action-taking tasks.
• To increase employee satisfaction, ensure people
perceive their job roles accurately.

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