User:Sandy~enwikiversity/Week 11 Groups

Week 11 – Groups and Leadership
We adapt to the group normative behaviour

What is a group?
Other characteristics other than people together are:
 * At least two people
 * When you are not alone
 * Operating as a collective
 * Perceived similarities
 * Shared goals e.g. people at a bus stop
 * Shared identity
 * Some sort of interdependence
 * Behaviour compatible with your goals
 * Outgroup – not wanting to be part of a particular group or understanding our group in relation to other groups as a frame of reference

A social group can’t just exist in a static form. It needs group dynamics to keep it alive with new people joining the group and others leaving.

Belonging to a group has many advantages but also takes responsibility to reap the rewards like conformity etc.

Groups are essential to culture starting with family/kinship and tribes.

The advantages for animals to belong to groups are:
 * There is safety in numbers
 * A collective brain
 * More eyes to see danger
 * Collectively bringing down a large animal and sharing the spoils

The advantages of human groups are:
 * The ability to specialise i.e. grow food, build houses
 * Be an expert – we rely on education to develop experts
 * Economic exchange

Social Facilitation (make easy)
 * Improved performance, e.g. rowing together
 * Social inhibition, e.g. someone looking over your shoulder while you are working
 * When we become aroused we perform better unless it is a difficult job

The Hawthorn Effect

 * More effective workers in factories experiment being watched increased productivity with a ‘somebody upstairs care syndrome’

Social Loafing
 * We often slack off when working in groups and make less of an effort.
 * Reward for effort isn’t as strong when given to a group; it is defused
 * The more cohesive the group is the less loafing there is

Prototypical Member - The person who is a typical member. The average person as opposed to the stereotype (exaggerated)

../Week 12 Prosocial/