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Summary PSY102 - Chapter 9
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Summary of Chapter 9 of PSY102
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Chapter.9 : Group Processes- Groups don’t always make good decisions especially when they are blinded by desire to maintain
cohesiveness or to please a dominant leader.
9.1 : What are groups, and why do people join them ?
What is a Group ?
- Group : two or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals
cause them to influence each other.
o Group consists of people who have assembled for a common purpose.
Why Do People Join Groups ?
- Joining forces with others allows us to accomplish objectives that would be difficult to meet individually.
o Forming relationships with other people fulfills a number of basic human needs.
▪ There was a substantial survival advantage to establishing bonds with other people in
evolutionary past.
- The need to belong has become entrenched in all societies.
o People in all cultures are motivated to form relationships with other people and to resist
dissolution of relationships.
o People monitor their status in groups and look for any sign that they might be rejected.
▪ Social rejection can cause chilling as people estimate the temperature 5 degrees lower
when they recall a time when they were rejected.
- People have a strong need to belong to groups and need to feel distinctive from those who don’t belong in
the same group.
o Groups that are small can fulfill both functions by giving sense of belonging with group members
and making us feel special and distinctive.
▪ This is why people are attracted to smaller groups.
- Another important function of groups is that they help define who we are.
o Other people can be an important source of information helping us resolve ambiguity about social
world.
o Groups provides a lens through which we can understand the world and our place in it.
o Group becomes an important part of our identity.
o Groups also help establish social norms.
▪ Social Norms : explicit or implicit rules defining what is acceptable behavior.
, The Composition and Functions of Groups
- If groups become too large, you cant interact with all the members.
- SOCIAL NORMS : Social norms are a powerful determinant of our behavior.
o All societies have norms about which behaviors are acceptable, some of which all members are
expected to obey and some of which vary from group to group.
o Power of norms to shape behavior becomes clear when we violate them.
▪ We are shunned by other members and pressure to leave group.
- SOCIAL ROLES : Most groups have a number of well-define social roles.
o Social Roles : shared expectations in a group about how particular people are supposed to
behave.
o Roles specify how people who occupy certain positions in the group should behave.
o Roles can be helpful because people know what to expect from each other.
▪ When members of a group follow a set of clear roles, they tend to be satisfied and
perform well.
o There are potential costs to social roles.
▪ People can get so far into the role that their personal identities and personalities get lost.
o To test idea of social roles, Zimbardo and colleagues conducted a study.
▪ Mock prison was built.
▪ Students were paid to play role of guard or prisoner.
• Role was determined by coin flip.
▪ Researchers planned to observe students for 2 weeks.
▪ Students quickly assumed these roles which made researchers end experiment by 6 days.
▪ People got so far into their roles that their personal identities and sense of decency got
lost.
o Many of us would resist social influence in powerful situations and perform acts we thought we
were incapable of.
- GROUP COHESIVENESS :
o Group Cohesiveness : qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking
between them.
o The more cohesive a group is, the more its members are likely to stay in the group, take in
activities, and recruit like-minded members.
o Cohesiveness may cause a group to perform well if the task requires cooperation.
o Sometimes cohesiveness can get in the way of optimal performance if maintaining good relations
becomes more important than finding good solutions.
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