Chapter 7 Social Influence And Group Processes

Nature And Formation Of Groups

What Is A Group?

A group is a social unit characterized by mutual interdependence, interaction among members, common motives and goals, defined roles, status differentials, and shared norms that regulate behavior. Unlike mere collections of people (like a crowd or audience), group members perceive themselves as belonging to the group, share a common identity, and influence each other.

Key characteristics of groups include:

• A social unit with members who perceive themselves as belonging to it, providing a unique identity.
• A collection of individuals with common motives and goals, working towards them or away from shared threats.
• Members are interdependent; actions of one affect others.
• Interactions are structured by roles and norms, guiding expected behaviors.

Groups differ from crowds (chance gatherings with no structure or interdependence) and audiences (passive assemblies that can sometimes become mobs with shared purpose and polarized actions).

Why Do People Join Groups?

People join groups to satisfy various needs:

• Security: Groups reduce feelings of insecurity and provide comfort and protection.
• Status: Membership in prestigious groups enhances self-esteem and provides recognition.
• Self-esteem: Groups contribute to feelings of self-worth and positive social identity.
• Satisfaction of Needs: Fulfills social and psychological needs like belongingness, attention, love, and power.
• Goal Achievement: Groups enable individuals to achieve goals that would be difficult or impossible alone through collective effort.
• Knowledge and Information: Groups provide access to knowledge and perspectives that broaden individual understanding.

Group Formation

Group formation is facilitated by:

• Proximity: Repeated interaction with individuals in close physical proximity (e.g., neighbors, classmates) fosters familiarity and liking.
• Similarity: Shared interests, attitudes, and backgrounds increase liking and group formation, as similarity validates opinions and values.
• Common Motives and Goals: People with shared objectives tend to form groups to facilitate goal attainment through collective action.

Stages Of Group Formation

Tuckman's model describes five stages of group development:

• Forming: Initial stage of uncertainty, excitement, and apprehension as members get to know each other and the group's goals.
• Storming: Conflict arises over leadership, task allocation, and achievement strategies, leading to the development of a hierarchy.
• Norming: Norms and expectations for group behavior are established, fostering a positive group identity.
• Performing: The group structure is accepted, and members work cohesively towards achieving common goals.
• Adjourning: The group may disband after completing its task (e.g., event committee).

These stages can overlap or be skipped, and group structure (roles, norms, status, cohesiveness) evolves through member interaction.

Box 7.1: Groupthink describes how excessive group cohesion can lead to poor decision-making due to a desire for unanimity, overriding critical appraisal of alternatives.

Activity 7.1 involves observing and discussing the stages of group formation in a real-life classroom committee.

Type Of Groups

Groups can be categorized based on various criteria:

Primary And Secondary Groups

• Primary Groups: Pre-existing, often given to the individual (e.g., family, caste, religion). Characterized by face-to-face interaction, close proximity, warm emotional bonds, and a significant role in early development. Membership is generally not chosen.
• Secondary Groups: Joined by choice (e.g., political parties, work colleagues). Relationships are more impersonal, indirect, and less frequent. Membership is permeable, allowing easy entry and exit.

Formal And Informal Groups

• Formal Groups: Have explicitly stated functions, rules, and defined roles (e.g., university, office organization). Structure is based on rules and norms.
• Informal Groups: Lack formal structure and rules; relationships are close and personal (e.g., a group of friends).

Ingroup And Outgroup

• Ingroup: One's own group, often viewed favorably with desirable traits ("we").
• Outgroup: Other groups, often perceived negatively or differently compared to the ingroup ("they").

These categorizations influence social interactions, perceptions, and can contribute to intergroup conflict. Box 7.2: The Minimal Group Paradigm Experiments by Tajfel demonstrates that even arbitrary group assignments can lead to ingroup favoritism.

Activity 7.2 involves comparing perceptions of one's own school and another school to observe ingroup/outgroup distinctions.

Influence Of Group On Individual Behaviour

Groups exert significant influence on individual behavior and performance.

Social Loafing

Social loafing is the reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task where outputs are pooled. This occurs because individual contributions are less identifiable, motivation decreases, and the group's performance is not individually evaluated. It can be reduced by making individual efforts identifiable, increasing commitment, highlighting task importance, and strengthening group cohesiveness.

Group Polarisation

Group polarization is the tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions than individuals would. Discussions within like-minded groups lead to the strengthening of initial positions due to exposure to newer arguments, validation (bandwagon effect), and identification with the ingroup, leading to conformity.

Activity 7.3 aims to demonstrate group polarization by comparing attitudes before and after group discussions on a topic like capital punishment.

Conformity, Compliance, And Obedience

Social influence is the process by which attitudes and behaviors are influenced by others. It manifests in three primary forms:

Conformity

Conformity involves behaving in accordance with group norms or the expectations of other group members, often to avoid disapproval or rejection. It can stem from informational influence (believing the majority is correct) or normative influence (desire for acceptance).

Sherif's autokinetic effect experiments demonstrated how groups form norms based on perceptual judgments, while Asch's experiments showed that individuals conform to majority opinions even when they are clearly incorrect.

Determinants Of Conformity

Factors influencing conformity include the size of the group (conformity increases with group size up to a point), the size of the minority (a larger minority dissent reduces conformity), the nature of the task (more conformity on unambiguous tasks), public vs. private expression of behavior (more conformity in public), and personality traits (less conforming individuals tend to be confident, intelligent, and have high self-esteem).

Box 7.3: The Autokinetic Effect explains Sherif's experiment on norm formation through perceptual judgments, and Box 7.4: Group Pressure and Conformity: The Asch Experiment details Asch's classic study on conformity to a majority opinion.

Activity 7.4 provides a practical exercise to observe obedience to authority figures in a classroom setting.

Compliance

Compliance involves behaving in response to a request, even without explicit group norms. Techniques used to elicit compliance include the foot-in-the-door technique (small request followed by a larger one), the deadline technique (creating urgency), and the door-in-the-face technique (large request refused, followed by a smaller, desired request).

Obedience

Obedience is behavior in response to direct orders or commands from an authority figure. Milgram's obedience studies demonstrated that individuals are often willing to harm others when instructed by an authority figure, due to factors like diffusion of responsibility, perceived authority symbols, commitment escalation, and rapid events.

Cooperation And Competition

Social interactions can involve cooperation (working together towards shared goals with group rewards) or competition (working for individual gain, often at the expense of others). Cooperative efforts often lead to better coordination, acceptance of ideas, and friendlier interactions compared to competitive ones.

While within-group competition can cause conflict, intergroup competition can sometimes increase ingroup cohesion.

The Prisoner's Dilemma game illustrates the conflict between motives to cooperate and compete. Factors influencing cooperation or competition include the reward structure (promotive interdependence in cooperation vs. individual rewards in competition) and interpersonal communication (good communication fosters cooperation).

Box 7.5: Sherif’s Summer Camp Experiments illustrate how intergroup competition can create hostility but can be resolved through superordinate goals that require cooperation between groups.

Determinants Of Cooperation And Competition

Key determinants include:

• Reward Structure: Cooperative reward structures encourage mutual benefit, while competitive structures pit individuals against each other.
• Interpersonal Communication: Open communication and discussion foster cooperation.
• Reciprocity: The tendency to return favors or retaliate influences whether cooperation or competition prevails.

Social Identity

Social identity is the part of an individual's self-concept derived from their group memberships. It helps individuals understand who they are in a social context and internalize group values, beliefs, and goals. A strong social identity can enhance self-esteem but also leads to ingroup favoritism and outgroup devaluation, contributing to intergroup conflict.

Intergroup Conflict : Nature And Causes

Intergroup conflict arises when one group perceives opposing interests or a threat from another group. It is characterized by "we" versus "they" distinctions, competition over resources (material and social), and often, biased perceptions and escalation of hostility.

Causes of conflict include poor communication, faulty perceptions, relative deprivation (comparing unfavorably with another group), beliefs of superiority, perceived violation of norms, retaliation, and the tendency for groups to be more competitive and aggressive than individuals.

Structural factors (poverty, inequality), group-level factors (social identity, resource competition, power imbalances), and individual-level factors (beliefs, biases, personality) all contribute to conflict. Deutsch identified consequences like poor communication, magnified differences, increased power struggles, and escalation.

Conflict Resolution Strategies

Conflicts can be mitigated through strategies that address their underlying causes:

• Introduction of Superordinate Goals: Using goals that benefit both conflicting groups, requiring cooperation for achievement (as shown in Sherif's studies).
• Altering Perceptions: Persuasion, education, media appeals, and promoting empathy to change negative views and stereotypes.
• Increasing Intergroup Contact: Facilitating positive interactions between conflicting groups in cooperative contexts, with equal status, and through sustained engagement.
• Redrawing Group Boundaries: Redefining group identities to create a sense of commonality and shared belonging.
• Negotiations: Direct communication between conflicting parties to find mutually acceptable solutions, possibly involving third-party mediation or arbitration.
• Structural Solutions: Redistributing societal resources based on principles of justice (equality, need, equity).
• Respect for Other Group’s Norms: Promoting sensitivity and respect for the diverse norms and values of different social and ethnic groups in a pluralistic society.