group

at least 2 people who interact and are INTERDEPENDENT (that's what brings them together, they need each other)

differentiated from aggregation by:

1. interdependence
2. group identity
3. group structure (expectations held by members)

why do ppl join groups?

1. identity (normative social influence)
2. information (informational social influence)
3. to get things done

characteristics of groups

1. similarity
2. group cohesiveness
3. social norms
4. social roles

examples of how people conform to social roles?

1. Abu Grhaib
2. The Human Behavior experiments (prison guards arbitrarily assigned)

social facilitation

tendency for people to do

better on easy tasks and

worse on difficult tasks

when in the presence of others and

individual work is being evaluated (identifiability)

why?

Zajonc's Mere Presence Effect: causes physiological arousal, so dominant response is activated. this is good for easy tasks, but not good for harder ones.

why does mere presence lead to physiological arousal?

1. Alertness (we don't know what the audience will do next)
2. Evaluation Apprehension
3. Distraction-conflict (attention is split between audience and task)

social loafing

tendency for people to do

worse on simple tasks and

better on complex tasks

when...

in the presence of others and

individual work NOT being evaluated

why?

LACK OF IDENTIFIABILITY = RELAXATION

deindividuation

mob mentality

increases impulsive and deviant acts

why?

1. no accountability
2. conformity to group norms

process loss

any action of the group that inhibits good problem solving

why?

1. may not listen to expert in the group
2. communicational problems
3. failure to share and focus on unique information

how to avoid process loss

1. assign each person different responsibility (photohunt)
2. take time to discuss shared ideas

groupthink

and antecedents of it

when group cohesiveness is more important than considering the facts

antecedents of groupthink:

1. high cohesiveness
2. isolated from contrary opinioin
3. ruled by a directive leader (the challenger)
4. using poor decision-making procedures
5. high stress situation

symptoms of groupthink

1. illusion of invulnerability
2. belief in moral correctness of group
3. stereotyped views of outgroup
4. **self-censorship
5. direct pressue on dissenters to conform(cults)
6. illusion of unanimity (called illusion because of self-censorship)

how to avoid groupthink

1. impartial leaders (come from outside)
2. get outside info
3. divide into subgroups to talk about issues
4. secret ballots (helps with self-censorship issues)

group polarization

tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions than what each person would have done individually

why?

1. Persuasive arguments
2. Social comparison

freud and aggression

catharsis

eros (life wish)

thanatos (death wish)

hydraulic theory - things build up inside of us

WRONG

biological theories on aggression

1. serotonin (not enough)
2. amygdala - area in core of brain associated with aggression as well as fear. depends on situation
3. testosterone (too much)

men vs. women

aggression

on regular basis, men are more aggressive.

but when provoked, difference dissolves.

men do more physical aggression than women (homicides)

alcohol and aggression

alcohol increases aggression-messes up inhibition, and intuition

even being around alcohol can make us more aggresive

social learning theory

aggressive behavior is learned through

1. direct rewards
2. observation of others (tv)

2 effects of media violence

1. Short term
2. Long term (desentization)

media violence - lab studies

people shock more confederates after viewing violent tv

men and violent erotica

criticisms of lab studies:

1. lack external validity
2. exposure to violence is brief and controlled
3. aggression might be encouraged because of lab setting

conditions of media violence that are likely to elicit aggressive acts

1. Realistic violence
2. moral justification for violence (good guys)
3. identification with violence character
4. arousal of observer
5. rewards/punishments of aggressor

helping behavior

5 steps

1. Notice the problem
2. Interpret as emergency
3. Feel responsible (defusion of responsibility effect)
4. Know how to help
5. Assess cost of helping

must go through all steps before helping!!