PSYC2020

Fundamentals of Social Psychology

Social Influence-Group Processes

Prof. Hongjian Cao
• through groups that individuals • through groups that stereotypes turn into oppression,
form communities, pool resources frustrations turn into mob violence, and conflicts turn
and share successes into wars

• what groups are？

• how groups develop and work?
• the relationship between individuals and groups?
• the individual level: how individuals are influenced by groups?

• the group level: how groups perform?

• the intergroup level: how groups interact with each other in

cooperation and competition?
What is a “real” group?

VS

People attending a concert or working sporting teams and work teams

out near each other in a gym (but do
not know each other)
• a set of individuals who have direct interactions with each other over a
period of time and share a common fate, identity, joint membership
or set of goals (engage in very purposeful activities).

• distinct entities: whether they have boundaries that make them

distinct from other groups (ingroup members and outgroup members)
Become increasingly complicated over time in the digital age …

• groups may consist of people

who are dispersed widely
across time zones and
physical space

• communicate exclusively
through technology

• more shifting boundaries and

membership

• more self-managed

• have shared leadership

 Why do people join groups?

• The complexity and ambitions of human life require that we work in groups.

• stemming from evolutionary pressures that increased people’s chances of survival

and reproduction when living in groups

• an innate need to belong to groups (social nature of our being)

• gain a greater sense of personal and social identity (feelings of self-worth, meaning
and purpose, a sense of immortality [beyond the limitations of one individual])
Does Social Rejection Hurt?
• As social animals, we want to fit in

• social exclusion/social ostracism

• the brain bases of social pain are similar to

those of physical pain

ü Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social
exclusion. Science, 302(5643), 290-292.
Three components:
Roles, norms and cohesiveness for groups
Socialization Process for Newcomers • The roles they are expected to play in the group

• What the norms of the group are

formal and explicit vs. informal and
implicit (unspoken rules) • Get to know how cohesive the group is
Roles in the group

• an instrumental role to help the group achieve its tasks

• an expressive role to provide emotional support and maintain morale

• the relative importance of these roles may fluctuate depending on the needs of the group

• (mis)match between members’ skills and what roles they occupy in the group

• roles that conflict with/enhance other roles one has to play

Norms of the group

• rules of conduct for members

• what it means to be a “good” group member

• formal and informal unwritten

• Deviant group members can be perceived and

treated harshly

• Figuring out the rules of the group can take

time and cause anxiety (learn lessons)
‘Tight’ and ‘Loose’ cultures
• tight cultures have strong norms and little tolerance
for behaviour that deviates from the norm

• loose cultures have relatively weaker norms and

greater tolerance for deviant behaviour

Ø ecological and historical threats (e.g.,

resource scarcity or natural disasters)

Ø population density

Ø restrictive governments

Ø religious institutions

Ø …… …… ……
How cohesive the group is

• members share similar attitudes and closely follow the group’s norms

Ø feel commitment to the group task and goals: attraction to

the task (task cohesion)

Ø feel positively towards the other group members: attraction

to each other (interpersonal cohesion)

Ø feel group pride and engage in many group activities

Ø often intense – interactions in the group

Team-building activities
Cohesiveness and Performance?

Does a highly cohesive group necessarily

perform better?

The potential risks of highly cohesive groups?

Cause & Effect

ü highly cohesive groups may

be especially vulnerable to
making terrible decisions

ü because members fear going

against a leader or group
norm (they tend to keep
consistent with each other)
• The individual level:
how individuals are
influenced by
groups
• We are in the presence (either physically or virtually) of others

Øsocial facilitation Øsocial loafing Ødeindividuation

 the reaction
elicited most
quickly and easily
by a given stimulus

• the presence of others facilitates

the dominant response, not
necessarily enhance the task
performance quality

simple or well learned complex or unfamiliar

Arthur Ashe Stadium
Beyond Mere presence….
Evaluation apprehension/fear

Ø performance will be more

enhanced or impaired in the
presence of others who are
in a position to evaluate
that performance
Distraction–conflict
Ø being distracted while we are working on a task creates attentional
conflict
 Free Riding

Ø individuals exerted less effort when they acted collectively

Ø the individuals demonstrated poor coordination when working together –

some worked while others relaxed and vice versa
ü The next time you work on a
group project, what aspects of
the situation might you try to
change to effectively avoid
social loafing and facilitate
collective efforts?
Ø Arousal
Ø Anonymity
Ø Reduced feelings of individual responsibility

make deviant
Ø Accountability: cost–reward calculations
behaviours more likely
Ø Attention: a person’s attention away from the self
to occur
üdeindividuation online behaviour

üpost comments anonymously

üCyberbullying
Halloween, WHY?
 A field experiment for
Trick-or-Treat

• came alone or in group (V1)

• allowed a random half of the children to remain anonymous (V2)

• asked the other half to indicate their names and where they lived

• instructed each child to take only one piece of candy

• after which the children were left alone with the bowl of treats
Whether deindividuation affects people for better or for worse

Ø a shift from personal identity to social identity: As

personal identity and internal controls are quieted, social
identity emerges and conformity to the group increases

Ø the characteristics and norms of the group immediately

surrounding the individual
Ø the group’s power to act according to these norms

Ø The consequences of losing your personal identity

depend on what you lose it to
• The group level:
how groups
perform
ØAre two or more heads generally better than one?

ØWhen and how groups are more likely to perform well？

Ø It is never easy: obstacles created by group processes, such as problems of coordination
and motivation

Donating to a charity is an additive task, as is

Additive Task cheering at a concert

ü group product is the sum of all the members’ contributions (social loafing and motivation)

Conjunctive Task Mountain-climbing teams

ü group product is determined by the individual with the poorest performance

Disjunctive Task Trying to solve a problem or develop a strategy

ü group product is (or can be) determined by the performance of the individual with the best performance
Brainstorming: Effective or Ineffective?

Ø A technique that attempts to

increase the production of creative
ideas

Ø People brainstorming individually

produce more and higher-quality
ideas than the same number of
people brainstorming together
(Why?)
Do a brainstorming about “group brainstorming” J

l Why group brainstorming is

often ineffective?

l Any strategies that improve

productivity while also
preserving the enjoyment of
group brainstorming?
Group polarization
Ø Decision-making: behave in a risky or a cautious manner?

Ø whether an entrepreneur should risk trying to expand his or her business

Ø whether an employee in a stable but boring job should quit and take a more
creative job at a start-up

Ø group discussion tends to enhance or exaggerate the initial leanings of most

members in the group

Ø Why?
According to persuasive arguments theory
Ø the greater the number and persuasiveness of the arguments to which group
members are exposed, the more extreme their attitudes become.

Ø If most group members favor a cautious decision, most of the arguments

discussed will favor caution, giving the members more and more reasons to
think caution is the correct approach
Based on social comparison theory
Ø Individuals develop their view of social reality by comparing themselves with others.

Ø In the case of group discussions, as individuals learn that most other group members lean
in one direction on an issue, they may adopt a more extreme attitude in the same direction.

Ø By advocating for this direction, individuals can distinguish themselves in the group in a
manner that is approved by the group
 Groupthink
Ø an excessive tendency to seek concurrence (i.e., agreement or uniformity)
among group members

Ø emerges when the need for agreement takes priority over the motivation
to obtain accurate information and make appropriate decisions.
• Any strategies that prevent
groupthink?

Ø to avoid isolation, groups should consult widely with outsiders.

Ø to reduce group pressures to conform, leaders should explicitly encourage

criticism and not take a strong stand early in the group discussion.

Ø to establish a strong norm of critical review

Ø include inserting someone into the group to play the role of a ‘reminder’,
who is responsible for informing the group about the dangers of biased
decision-making

Ø increasing the diversity of group members (diversity in perspectives)

• The intergroup
level: how groups
interact with each
other in
cooperation and
competition
 Social dilemmas
Ø A situation in which a self-interested choice by everyone will create the worst outcome for everyone.

Ø Struggle: wanting to cooperate vs. wanting to compete

The prisoner’s dilemma
Ø mixed motives create social dilemmas

Ø one party must make either cooperative or

competitive moves in relation to another party.

Ø the competitive move appears to be in one’s self-

interest

Ø if both sides make this move, they both suffer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGyZX0VoRpI

more than if they both had cooperated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Lo2fgxWHw
Solving social dilemmas
ü an integrative agreement, in which both parties obtain
outcomes that are superior to a 50–50 split

Ø communication in which both sides disclose

their goals and needs is critically important
in allowing each side to see opportunities
for joint benefits

Ø hold back information because of lack of

trust in the other side An orange:

One needs the peel for cake

Ø or because they think their goals are clearer
to the other party than they actually are The other wants the juice to drink

Win-Win instead of Win-Lost

Intergroup Competition and Cooperation

Ø hostility between groups is caused by direct competition for limited resources.

Ø What matters is not what you have, but how what you have compares to what
others have

Ø Relative deprivation: Feelings of discontent aroused by the belief that one

fares poorly compared with others
 The Robbers Cave
Experiment

Gilovich et al. Chapter 11

Robbers Cave Experiment: Unmasking the
Roots of Tribal Conflicts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W0Txe-bhFE
Apocalyptic
Movies
Finding common ground

Recognition of a superordinate identity

Intergroup Cooperation (versus

Competition)