SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Substantial Similarity, Homophily, Costco
14 Jan 2017
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Department
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Cohesion, Performance and Conformity
Social Psychology- four core concerns
Groups
-a groups is a social unit that consists of two or more persons and has the following attributes:
1. membership
2. interaction among members
3. goals shared by members
4. shared norms about how to think and how to behave
*costco member would not be a part of the group because they do not have social interaction,
although the may socialize in the store, they don't have to socialize
Keeping Groups Together- Group Cohesion
-a groups cohesion is the extent to which its members desire to remain in it, and resist leaving
it
social cohesion
•homophily: tendency for individuals to associate with similar others; we enjoy or find
people of similar backgrounds to associate with one another
task cohesion; the tasks are the driving force for keeping the group together
Group Goals and Individual Goals
-group goal= an outcome viewed by group members as desirable and important to attain
•individual and group goals can be related, but are not always the same
•most groups function best when there is substantial similarity (isomorphism) between
group and individual goals
•high isomorphism benefits the group because members are motivated to pursue group
goals and contribute resources and effort to the group
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Groups and Individual Performance
-the ringlemann rope-pulling task (1913)
•as the number of members increase, the average contribution of each member
decreases. why?
•reduced coordination; the more people you get in the task, the more complicated it is
to get a larger amount of people to work together
•social loafing
•motivation loss that occurs when an individuals contribution becomes less clear
to the group because there are lots more people now pulling
Explanations of Social Learning
-diffusion of responsibility;
as group becomes larger, de-individuation more likely
•loss of self awareness in a group
-dispensability
•contribution perceived as smaller, and more redundant
-“sucker effect”
•if people perceive that they are doing more work than their fair share of the groups work,
they may reduce effort, or wait to see the effort of other members
Groups and Individual Performance
-social facilitation: the tendency for improved performance in the presence of others
•tripletts (1898) study of individuals reeling in fishing lines
•all port (1920) experiment: word association tasks improved in presence of others
performing same task
-why?
•the presence of others produces a state of arousal that improves focus on simple
behaviours or behaviours that we know well (dominant responses)
•for complex or unfair behaviours, performance may decrease in the presence of others
Conformity
-a type of social influence involving a change in belief or behaviour in order to fit in with a
group
-classic conformity studies
•all port (1924) odour study
•sherif (1936) auto kinetic effect study
•asch (1955) line study
Floyd Allport (1924) Odour Study
-the original lab study of conformity
-participants rated pleasantness of odours
•ratings were more extreme when participants were alone
•less extreme in the presence of others (moderation effect)
conclusion: people adjust responses in the presence of others
Sherif (1936) Autokinetic Effect Study
-auto kinetic effect: visual perception phenomenon
-a stationary, small point of light in a dark environment appears to move due to involuntary eye
movement
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
A groups is a social unit that consists of two or more persons and has the following attributes: interaction among members: membership. 2: goals shared by members, shared norms about how to think and how to behave. *costco member would not be a part of the group because they do not have social interaction, although the may socialize in the store, they don"t have to socialize. Diffusion of responsibility; as group becomes larger, de-individuation more likely: loss of self awareness in a group. Dispensability: contribution perceived as smaller, and more redundant. Sucker effect : if people perceive that they are doing more work than their fair share of the groups work, they may reduce effort, or wait to see the effort of other members. Social facilitation: the tendency for improved performance in the presence of others: tripletts (1898) study of individuals reeling in shing lines, all port (1920) experiment: word association tasks improved in presence of others performing same task.
