Group Processes

What is a Group?
How does being in a group affect behavior/performance?

• Social Facilitation
• Social Loafing
• Deindividuation

How does being in a group affect decision-making?

• Brainstorming
• Groupthink
• Group Polarization

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Groups and Behavior

Deindividuation: A lessening of normal restraints, a loss of sense of individuality.

Experimental Examples:
Zimbardo (1970)

• Had women subjects either:
  • 1) dress in white coats and masks
  • 2) dress in their own clothes with name tags
  
• The women participated in a learner/teacher/shock experiment giving shocks on errors.
• Women dressed in coats and hoods gave twice as much shock.

Deiner (1976) -- Halloween Study

• Kids came to the door in various group sizes.
• Half were asked their names, half were not.
• Phone rings, adult says, "Take one," and leaves.

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The Effects of Social Cues on Deindividuation

Johnson & Downing (1979)

• Replicated Zimbardo's study BUT included a condition in which subjects weren't identifiable and wore nurses' uniforms.

Similar results Frank & Gilovich (1988)

These results suggest that persons in deindividuated states are more responsive to external, situational cues of how to behave that individuated persons.

Deindividuation is the opposite of self-awareness. When self-aware, our behavior is especially likely to be determined by internal attitudes and beliefs; when deindividuated, our behavior is especially likely to be determined by the the situation.

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Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a group decision making technique designed to encourage generation of ideas without criticism.

Groups who brainstorm (compared to an equal number of individuals generating ideas) has been found to:

• 1) produce fewer unique ideas
• 2) produce poorer quality ideas

The reason for these problems are the same as those found in why groups interfere with performance:

• 1) Coordination problems (Strube, 1990)
• 2) Social Loafing

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Groupthink -- Irving Janis

A decision-making process in which maintaining group solidarity and cohesion is more important than making high quality decisions.

Examples of Groupthink:

• The Bay of Pigs
• Watergate
• Iran-Contra Arms Deal
• Challenger Shuttle Explosion

Characteristics of Groups that are likely to engage in Groupthink:

• 1)The group is highly cohesive and fairly isolated from others.
• 2) A strong, directive leader exists.
• 3) The group is under stress and must make quick decisions.

Symptoms that show a group is engaging in Groupthink:

• 1) Overestimation of the Group
  • a) Illusion of invulnerability
  • b) Unquestioned belief in group's morality
• 2) Closed-mindedness
  • a) Stereotyped views of the out-group
  • b) Collective efforts to rationalize
• 3) Pressures towards Uniformity
  • a) Self-censorship of deviant ideas
  • b) Direct pressure on dissenters
  • c) Emergence of mindguards
  • d) Illusion of unanimity

Consequences of Thinking this Way:

• 1) Incomplete survey of alternatives
• 2) Failure to see risks of favored alternative & good points of rejected alternative
• 3) Failure to develop contingency plans

Ways to Prevent Groupthink:

• 1) Leader encourages voicing of doubts.
• 2) Leader doesn't state opinion until AFTER discussion.
• 3) Assign a person(s) to play "devil's advocate".
• 4) Use outside experts.
• 5) Hold a "second chance" meeting.

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