SOCPSY 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster, Groupthink, Social Proof

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Social Psychology
• Course: SOCPSY 1Z03
• Professor: Paul Glavin

Document Summary

A group is a social unit that consists of two or more persons and had the following attributes: What is a group: membership, interaction among members, goals shared by members, shared norms. A group(cid:859)s cohesion is the extent to which its members desire to remain in it, and resist leaving it. Homophily: tendency for individuals to associate with similar others. Groups 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 groups and individual goals. High isomorphism benefits the groups because members are motivated to pursue group goals and contribute resources and effort to the group goals. As number of members increase, the average contribution of each member decreases. Moti(cid:448)atio(cid:374) loss that o(cid:272)(cid:272)urs (cid:449)he(cid:374) a(cid:374) i(cid:374)di(cid:448)idual(cid:859)s (cid:272)o(cid:374)tri(cid:271)utio(cid:374) (cid:271)e(cid:272)o(cid:373)es less (cid:272)lear to the group. Loss of self- awareness in a group.