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Chapter 10
Behavior in Groups
Behavior in the Presence of Others

The presence of others sometimes
enhances and sometimes impairs an
individual’s performance.
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Social Facilitation: People sometimes
perform better in the presence of
others than when they are alone
Behavior in the Presence of Others
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Social facilitation occurs:
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Whether others are performing the
same task, or whether the others are
merely observers
In many species others than humans
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Social inhibition occurs when the
presence of others inhibits a person’s
performance.
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Zajonc’s theory:
Presence
of others
Arousal
Dominant
Response
If dominant
response correct,
SOCIAL
FACILITATION
If dominant
response wrong,
SOCIAL
INHIBITION
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Why does the presence of others
motivate us?
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Innate tendency for arousal in the
presence of others
Evaluation Apprehension
Distraction-Conflict
Presence of others evokes challenge
reaction when resources are sufficient,
threat responses when insufficient.
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Social facilitation and inhibition occur
when a person’s performance is
individually identifiable
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Social Loafing: When an individual’s
contribution to a collective activity
cannot be evaluated, individuals often
work less hard than they would alone.
Behavior in the Presence of Others

The noise
produced by
each person
cheering
decreases as
group size
increases
(Latané,
Williams, &
Harkins, 1979)
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Social loafing depends on
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How important the person believes
his/her contribution is to group success
How much the person values group
success

Karau & Williams, 1993
Behavior in the Presence of Others
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Reducing Social Loafing



Make each person’s contribution
identifiable
Provide rewards for high group
productivity
Make task meaningful, complex, or
interesting
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Social compensation occurs when a
person expends great effort to
compensate for others in the group.

When others are performing
inadequately, and the person cares about
the quality of the group product
Behavior in the Presence of Others
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Across cultures
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Social loafing has been found in India,
Thailand, Japan, & China
However, social loafing may be greater
among people from the U.S. than among
Asians
Behavior in the Presence of Others

In summary: whether social
facilitation or social loafing occurs
depends on
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
Whether individuals are identifiable
Task complexity
How much participants care about the
outcome
Behavior in the Presence of Others
Social Impact Theory (Latané, 1981)
Impact depends on Number, Strength, Immediacy
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Deindividuation may occur in
crowded, anonymous situations when
people lose a sense of responsibility
for their own actions and feel free to
express aggressive and sexual
impulses
Behavior in the Presence of Others

Zimbardo (1970) had groups of four young
women deliver electric shocks to another
person
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Groups were either easily identifiable or not
(wore “KKK”-type garb). Unidentifiable groups
gave twice as many shocks
Johnson & Downing (1979) replicated the study
using surgical scrubs for the unidentifiable
group. Here, this group shocked less.
Behavior in the Presence of Others
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Deindividuation increases when
individuals are anonymous and as
group size increases.
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Might create a special psychological
state in which people are focused
externally and unaware of own values
Or might heighten individual’s
identification with the group and
increase conformity.
Behavior in the Presence of Others


Crowding refers to the psychological
state of discomfort & stress
associated with wanting more space
than is available.
Social density is the objective
number of people in a given space.

High social density may or may not be
experienced as unpleasant
Behavior in the Presence of Others
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When do people experience the
presence of others as crowding?
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Sensory overload
Loss of control
Arousal and attribution to presence
of others
Behavior in the Presence of Others
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
People from collectivist cultures are
less likely to experience high social
density as crowding.
However, the negative health effects
of high social density occur
regardless of culture.
Basic Features of Groups

A group involves multiple people who
are interdependent

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Typically, but not always, have regularface-to-face contact.
Different from a social category
Basic Features of Groups
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Social norms are shared rules and
expectations about how group
members should act.
Social roles are norms that apply to
people in a particular position.
Social status refers to social position
based on prestige and authority.
Basic Features of Groups
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Cohesiveness refers to forces that cause
members to remain in a group
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Positive Factors
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Liking of members for each other
Extent to which members act effectively together
Success of group in meeting goals
Negative Factors
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Cost of Leaving
Lack of Alternatives
Group Performance
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Types of Group Activities
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Additive tasks
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Conjunctive tasks
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Success depends on least competent member
Disjunctive tasks
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Success is sum of each person’s effort
Success depends on most competent member
Subdivided tasks
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Success depends on both skill & coordination
Group Performance

Brainstorming asks group members to
think of as many different
suggestions as they can in a short
time

Despite the popularity of this technique,
research shows that individuals usually
produce more and better ideas working alone
Group Performance
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When discussing matters of opinion,
groups tend to use a majority-rules
decision rule.
When discussing matters of fact,
groups tend to use a truth-wins
decision rule.
Unanimous decisions are harder to
reach but tend to leave group
members more satisfied.
Group Performance

Groups do not necessarily make wise
decisions because they are vulnerable
to special social forces that can bias
decision-making.
Group Performance
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Group Polarization = Group discussion may
lead to more extreme decisions.
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Persuasive arguments theory suggests this is due to
new information
Self-presentation theory suggests this is due to
trying to “one-up” other members
Social identity theory suggests group members try to
conform to the group but perceive the group norm as
more extreme
If members of a group are evenly split,
groups compromise rather than polarize.
Group Performance
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Groupthink is a process of faulty decisionmaking that can occur in groups (Janis,
1982)
Occurs when group has a strong leader and
is under stress
Group members become more concerned
with group acceptance than correctness

Group members censor themselves, do not do a
full information search, and evaluate
information in a biased way.
Group Performance
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Overcoming groupthink:
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Leader remains impartial and encourages
the expression of dissent
Use separate subcommittees to discuss
same issue separately
Appoint “devil’s advocates”
Consult outside experts
Group Performance
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Group members tend to discuss
shared rather than unshared
information
Groups may also use meetings to
confirm rather than challenge their
initial beliefs
Thus while groups have the potential
to make better decisions than
individuals, they do not always do so.
Competition vs. Cooperation

Participants in laboratory studies on
competition tend to compete, even
when cooperation would be a more
rewarding strategy.
Competition vs. Cooperation
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The Deutsch & Krauss Trucking Game
The optimal
strategy is to
alternate using the
one-lane road in
the middle.
However, players
rarely cooperate.
Competition vs. Cooperation

The Prisoner’s Dilemma Game
PRISONER “B”
PRISONER “A”
Both get one year
“A” is released;
“B” gets 15 years
“A” gets 15 years;
“B” is released
BOTH get 10 years
Competition vs. Cooperation

There is a strong tendency to
compete rather than cooperate in the
prisoner’s dilemma game
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Only about a third of choices are
cooperative
Cooperation typically goes down over
time
Competition vs. Cooperation
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Determinants of Competition vs
Cooperation
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Reward Structure
Personal Values
Communication
Reciprocity
Competition vs. Cooperation
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Culture and Competition
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The United States has one of the most
competitive cultures on earth.
Cultural values about competition are
conveyed at home, at school, through the
media,and through sports and games.
Competition vs Cooperation
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A Social Dilemma is a situation in
which the most rewarding short-term
choice for an individual will ultimately
lead to negative outcomes for allconcerned.

Some Real-World Applications:
preserving environmental resources,
avoiding littering
Leadership

The leader of a group is the person
who has the most impact on group
behavior and beliefs.

Leaders may be appointed, elected, or
emerge over time
Leadership
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Leaders must perform two types of tasks,
task leadership and social leadership.
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An effective task leader is efficient, directive,
and knowledgeable.
An effective social leader is friendly,
agreeable, concerned with feelings and socially
oriented.
Sometimes a group will have a different leader
for each task; sometimes the same person will
serve both roles.
Leadership

The great-person theory of leadership
suggests that leaders possess particular
characteristics

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Excelling in abilities that meet the group’s
goals; strong interpersonal skills; high
motivation; confident; optimistic.
An interactive perspective focuses on the
match between the needs of the situation
and the characteristics of the person.
Leadership

Fiedler’s contingency model of
leadership effectiveness suggests
that task-oriented leaders are most
effective in high-control and lowcontrol situations, while emotionfocused leaders are more effective in
moderate-control situations.