Psychology
Group Behavior
Group behavior refers to the ways in which individuals within a group interact, communicate, and influence one another. It encompasses the study of social dynamics, norms, roles, and decision-making processes within groups. Understanding group behavior is crucial for comprehending how individuals are influenced by their social environment and how groups function as a collective entity.
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8 Key excerpts on "Group Behavior"
- Stephen F. Davis, William Buskist, Stephen F. Davis, William F. Buskist(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
113 64 G ROUP P ROCESSES J EFFREY H OLMES Ithaca College S ocial psychologists have long recognized that in a variety of settings, people behave differently in groups than they would by themselves. At times, people perform more effectively and make better decisions when part of a group. Often, however, being part of a group results in reduced performance, poorer decisions, and sometimes-tragic consequences (see Janis, 1972, for exam-ples). That groups often place great pressure on individu-als to exhibit specific behaviors is particularly evident in gangs, where the consequences of defying group authority can be brutal. In other cases, group influence is subtle, and an individual may change his or her behavior because the situation is ambiguous and because the influence of others leads to alternate action (or even inaction when a response is appropriate). Group processes have received significant attention in the field of psychology over the last century and are likely to remain an important area of study. This chapter will provide an overview of theory and research pertaining to the influence of group membership on productivity, deci-sion making, and individual behavior. WHAT IS A GROUP? The answer to the question of what constitutes a group might seem obvious at first. Intuitively, a group exists when two or more people are in the same place. However, shared location constitutes an incomplete definition for most social psychologists. Several people waiting for a bus might not be considered part of a group because there are no immediate demands on them that require action (or interaction with one another). If a house nearby suddenly erupted in flames, however, the individuals would likely look to one another for information on how to interpret the situation and how to react. Members of a group are likely to respond to such a situation differently than each of them would individually.
eBook - PDF- Neil Niven(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Bloomsbury Academic(Publisher)
In the last chapter the focus of attention was upon the individual and his or her behav-ioural make up. However, individuals do not live in a social vacuum but often interact with others in a variety of contexts. Sometimes our behaviour may be influenced by groups, so it is important to examine the processes by which such influence may be exerted. In order to determine the nature of social influence it is proposed to investigate the psychology of group behaviour and then to concentrate on one specific type of group – the family. Groups Paulus (1989) has defined a group as consisting of: two or more interacting persons who share common goals, have a stable relationship, are somehow interdependent, and perceive that they are in fact part of a group. Note that a group is not simply a number of people gathered together at the same time in one place; there needs to be interaction, interdependence, some form of stability and, most important of all, the individuals must perceive themselves as being members of the group. Robbins (1989) has identified a number of reasons why we like to form ourselves into groups: • to satisfy a need for belonging and to receive attention and affection; • to achieve goals that we would have considerable difficulty in attaining as individu-als; • to maintain and develop a sense of social identity. Self-esteem may be enhanced by membership of a group. Having established why people form themselves into groups, it is necessary to determine how groups exert influence over individual behaviour. Conformity Society as a group exerts pressure on individuals to conform in specific ways. There are certain unwritten rules or social norms which indicate the ways in which people should behave. Forming a queue at a bus stop, wearing appropriate clothes for a formal or infor-mal function and applauding at a concert are examples of social norms.
No longer available |Learn more- Philip Banyard, Christine Norman, Gayle Dillon, Belinda Winder, Philip Banyard, Christine Norman, Gayle Dillon, Belinda Winder(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
BEHAVIOUR WITHIN GROUPS Lead authors: Mhairi Bowe and Juliet Wakefield 14 CHAPTER OUTLINE 14.1 INTRODUCTION 342 14.2 DIFFERENT TYPES OF GROUP AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF GROUP BEHAVIOUR 342 14.3 SMALL-SCALE GROUPS 343 14.3.1 Norm formation in small groups 344 14.3.2 Group decision making 345 14.3.3 Work performance 346 14.3.4 Are (small-scale) groups good or bad? 347 14.4 LARGE-SCALE GROUPS 348 14.4.1 Early accounts of the crowd 349 14.4.2 Deindividuation and the crowd 350 14.4.3 Social identity accounts of crowd behaviour 352 14.5 GROUP FUNCTIONS, ENVIRONMENTS AND APPLICATIONS 354 14.5.1 Groups for a purpose? 354 14.5.2 Groups, health and well-being 355 14.5.3 Groups in clinical settings 358 14.5.4 Groups in work settings 358 14.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY 359 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 360 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING 360 342 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 14.1 INTRODUCTION The focus of psychology, almost by definition, is on the individual, and most research traditions have tended to regard humans as systems in isolation, without a clear notion of the environment or context in which humans exist. Ironically, evidence from early on in psychology’s history (e.g. Triplett, 1898) suggested that our social environment, and group contexts in particular, has a strong influence on our thoughts, feelings and actions. But even within social psychology, groups were looked on unfavourably for decades. Allport (1924) once famously remarked that no one had ever tripped over a group, thereby ques- tioning their status of existence all together. Therefore, the starting point for this chapter will be to consider what we typically mean when we talk of groups.
eBook - PDF- John P. Houston, Helen Bee, David C. Rimm(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
There is no way we can completely divorce social influ-ences from the study of any aspect of behavior—nor would we want to. But most psychologists in other areas prefer to study the behavior of a single individual at a time, while most social psychologists focus on the behavior of people in pairs or groups or the influence of one person on another. As Baron and Byrne define it (1977, p. 4), social psychology is the scientific field that seeks to investigate the manner in which the behavior, feelings, or thoughts of one individual are influenced or determined by the behavior and/or characteristics of others. Davis, Loughlin, and Komorita (1976) put it still more briefly: Social psychology may be defined as the study of human interaction. 458 Chapter 14 Social behavior The common ingredient in these definitions is the relationship of one person to another. Since we relate to others in so many different ways— individually, in groups, in crowds, in casual or intimate contacts—the field of social psychology is enormously diverse. Social psychologists have broadened their field of interest further by studying not just social behavior, but also the ways ideas and attitudes (cog-nitions) are influenced by encounters with others and how our emotions influence others and are influenced by them. Thus there are at least three levels of analysis within social psychology. Individual social psychology theorists tend to emphasize one of these levels at a time, so that there are some heavily cognitive theories, some that emphasize emotions, and some that focus almost entirely on overt behavior. Moreover, some social psychologists have chosen to study the intra-personal aspects of social encounters, such as the attitudes we have, the emotions we feel about others, and the judgments we make about other people. Others deal with interpersonal or dyadic (two person) interactions, such as the processes of attraction between individuals and the develop-ment of enduring relationships.
eBook - ePub- Martha L. Cottam, Elena Mastors, Thomas Preston, Beth Dietz(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Chapter 4 The Political Psychology of Groups DOI: 10.4324/9780429244643-4 This chapter looks at Political Beings in their environment—that is, in the presence of, and as a member of, groups. Groups have a prominent role in politics. Small groups are often given the responsibility for making important political decisions, creating political policies, and generally conducting political business. Larger groups, such as the Senate, also hold a special place in politics, and are responsible for larger-scale decisions and tasks, such as passing legislation. Finally, large groups, such as states and countries, carry with them their own dynamics, especially regarding how they view each other and how they get along. Because so much political behavior is performed by groups, it behooves us to learn more about the basic processes that govern groups. Although groups are composed of individuals, Group Behavior cannot be understood by studying individual behavior. Obviously, understanding groups involves an understanding of the individuals who compose a group, but there are dynamics of groups that cannot be observed from examining individuals alone. Many observers (e.g., Durkheim, 1966 ; LeBon, 1960) have noted that individuals often behave quite differently when they are together compared with when they are alone. Consequently, although the workings of the Political Being’s mind are still operative, in this chapter we are interested in the impact of the sociopolitical environment on behavior. The study of groups in social psychology has a short history, with some of the first studies being conducted just before World War II (e.g., Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939 ; Newcomb, 1943 ; Sherif, 1936 ; Whyte, 1943). Nonetheless, a vast amount of information is available about Group Behavior, and most of it can be applied to the study of groups in political settings. In this chapter, we review a variety of information about groups
eBook - PDF- Jeffrey H Goldstein(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
The study of mass or aggregate behavior is generally considered under the topic of collective behavior. Collective behavior, which includes crowd behavior, riots, crazes, panics, fads, mass • 336 THE NATURE OF GROUPS hysteria, protest movements, rebellions, revolutions, and social movements, usually emerges spontaneously, without a prior plan of action. Examples of collective behavior range from the looting that occurred during the New York City blackout of 1977 to Erhard Seminars Training and religious cults. A thorough treatment of all the forms of collective behavior is well beyond the scope of this textbook, and adequate summaries of the sociological and psychological literature are widely available (Milgram & Toch, 1969; Rosnow & Fine, 1977; Rude, 1964; Schultz, 1964; Smelser, 1963; Toch, 1965; Turner & Killian, 1957). We shall therefore limit ourselves to a brief discussion of the relationship between small group theory and research and collective phenomena, and to a more detailed examination of a few forms of collective behavior, in particular, panics, riots, and crowds. Social psychologists study collective behavior for a number of reasons (Milgram & Toch, 1969). The very first social psychology textbooks published in the United States devoted considerable atten-tion to crowds and collective phenomena. Another reason is that the study of collective behavior raises problems of social significance for social psychology; it brings social psychology into the social and political arena. A third reason is that an understanding of social upheavals in the form of riots, panics, and revolutionary social movements illuminates the bases of social stability. It is only when disorders occur that we become aware of the meaning of order. A fourth is that the dynamic relationship between individual and group activity is perhaps best illustrated in the study of collective behavior.
eBook - ePub- Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe, Klaus Jonas, Miles Hewstone, Wolfgang Stroebe, Klaus Jonas(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- BPS Blackwell(Publisher)
Groups develop over time, in the sense that their interaction patterns change. Further, some processes cause group members to become more similar to each other, both in terms of their behaviour (as prescribed by group norms) and in terms of their cognitions and emotions. Finally, differences between group members may also emerge, for which expectation states theory offers a theoretical account. We now turn to the last level of analysis: the contextual or intergroup level.GROUPS IN THEIR ENVIRONMENT: THE INTERGROUP LEVEL OF ANALYSIS
In what ways does the (intergroup) context affect intragroup behaviour?
Going back to our opening example of the football fans, it is clear that these people do not always behave in this way. They are also supporters of their team when the team is not playing, but it is the context of the match that draws them together and that brings out their behaviour in the subway station. Playing against another team renders these supporters’ affiliation with their favourite team salient and evokes the quite uniform behaviour that clearly identifies them as a group.What holds for these supporters holds for all groups. Groups do not live in isolation. Other groups are part of the environment in which groups function. Understanding the psychology of groups therefore requires studying the influence of the intergroup context on the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of group members. Part of this involves the study of intergroup relations – the way group members think, feel and act towards members of other groups (see Chapter 14). The intergroup context may, however, also affect intragroup processes, and that is the issue we focus on here.The intergroup context and the salience of group membership
The fact that individuals are members of a specific group does not mean that this group membership is always at the forefront of their minds. Self-categorization as a group member needs to be cognitively activated, or rendered salient
- Melissa K. Welch-Ross, Lauren G. Fasig, Melissa K. Welch-Ross, Lauren G. Fasig(Authors)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
5 C H A P T E R Communicating Basic Behavioral Science Beyond the Discipline Reflections From Social Psychology J OHN F. D OVIDIO AND S AMUEL L. G AERTNER S ocial psychology explores the very basic research programs on psychological best of human behavior, such as self-processes that underlie significant human sacrifice, altruistic action, attraction, problems can help both the general public and close relationships, as well as the very and policy makers to improve the welfare of worst, such as prejudice, hatred, and interper-individuals and society as a whole. Though sonal and intergroup conflict and aggression. the topics covered relate to most other Formally defined as “the scientific study of behavioral science disciplines, social psychol-how individuals think, feel, and behave in ogy offers a particularly instructive perspec-regard to other people and how individuals’ tive from which to consider bridging basic thoughts feelings and actions are affected by science and social issues because its history is other people” (Brehm, Kassin, & Fein, 2002, marked by both a striving to meet high stan-p. 5), social psychology addresses issues of dards of scientific rigor and a dedication to fundamental practical importance and, as the being relevant to social problems. textbooks currently emphasize, is very rele-We begin with a brief overview of the vant to understanding law, business, and history of social psychology’s involvement in public policy. In addition to the insights that it social issues. Despite this history and the offers into people’s daily lives and into the contemporary relevance of social psychology functioning of social institutions, social psy-to social issues and policy, social psychology chology provides interventions for personal has had less impact on public policy and and social change that, for example, help to social institutions relative to other disciplines. conserve scarce resources, promote coopera-Thus, we next explore some reasons why.
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