Transcript Slide 1
PSYC 435 Groups Definition Reasons for joining groups Types Characteristics of groups Group processes Two or more individuals that communicate in an interdependent relationship in order to achieve a common purpose Security: e.g., joining a trade union representing employees in one’s occupation Status: joining a group, because it bestows the professional status one is seeking Affiliation: a desire to join a group capable of fulfilling one’s social needs Power: a realization that the group is functional in grabbing power and in joining forces with others to counteract external threats Goal attainment: joining forces with competent people to achieve work targets Formal or informal: officially created vs. spontaneously formed Primary or secondary: close vs. impersonal Co-acting: members act independently Counteracting: competition between members is pronounced Reference: people show an eagerness to identify with the group Norms: expectations or standards of behaviour shared by the group Cohesiveness: extent to which members are attracted to each other and are motivated to remain in the group Communication and interaction Structural factors: atmosphere, roles, status, composition, size, leadership, and group dynamics Structure and atmosphere: group structure and organizational features and their effects on innovation and performance Roles: sets of expected patterns of behaviour applicable to a role occupant Various aspects of roles: e.g., expected, perceived, enacted Problems: role ambiguity and role conflict Status within groups, and problems with status (incongruency and discrepancy) Group composition: significance of homogeneity and heterogeneity Group size: its significance of size in terms of effectiveness Size and social loafing Leadership: its changing nature within groups Psychoanalytical view of group dynamics: individual’s emotional reaction arising from identification with the group. Bion’s unconscious processes (fight/flight, dependency, pairing) Reference groups: provide a comparative reference point Social comparison: amounts to lateral influence, where other people’s views are considered before making the most appropriate response Co-action and affiliation: individual’s behaviour is influenced by being in the company of others Social control: influence is exerted vertically, as opposed to horizontally, as in social comparison Decision making: acceptability of decision if members have the opportunity to participate in the decision deliberations Decision making: groupthink and risky shift We consider how others respond in a particular situation As a social comparative agent, group norms are important Significance of norms in the bank wiring room (Hawthorne Experiments) Importance of group norms in conditions of uncertainty (Sheriff) Group influence where uncertainty is absent (Asch) Being in the company of others has a material bearing on the behaviour of the individual In the company of others, a state of arousal develops inviting a behavioural response We associate with others when overcome by fear Types of decision making groups: interacting, nominal and Delphi groups Alleged benefits of involvement of members, and discussion in the decision making process Group discussion could be undermined if the discussion is limited and the group tries to overpower individuals Groupthink: tends to push aside a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action, and with its striving for unanimity can have a disarming effect (Janis) Risk taking and the risky shift (groups are prepared to take greater risks than individuals) A highly cohesive group may suffer the symptoms of groupthink, particularly when the group is isolated from alternative views or external advice Illusion of invulnerability: characterized by excessive optimism Rationalize away unpopular solutions Belief that group actions or decisions are intrinsically right or moral Negative views of the opposition externally Pressure on members to conform Member’s inclination to minimize importance of self-doubt Illusion of unanimity, due to selfcensorship and acquiescence Mindguards: protect the group from adverse information Measures to counteract groupthink Individuals tend to take fewer risks than groups Membership of a group influences the individual to adopt a riskier position; this is called risky shift One explanation to account for risky shift is diffusion of responsibility within the group, when individuals feel less responsibility for the consequences of their actions Cautious shift: tendency of a group to be more conservative than the individual in some circumstances Risky or cautious shifts are known as ‘group polarization’ Ways groups interact with other groups within the organization Difficulties arise when there is an absence of harmonious relationships