Impairment on difficult tasks which
have not yet been learned
Increases arousal
Strengthens dominant response to a stimulus
On easy tasks, the dominant presence will be correct
On difficult tasks, the dominant response
will be incorrect
Social Facilitation
Presence of others
enhances the performance
on easy tasks but impairs
on difficult tasks
Steiner (1972)
4 tasks:
Additive
task
Group product is a result of
everyone's contributions
Rope pulling task
Compensatory task
The group product
is the average
judgement
Eg. Estimating temperature
Disjunctive tasks
Group product is
determined by the
individual with the
greatest performance
Eg. Horse trading problem
Conjunctive
tasks
The groups product is
determined by the individual
with the poorest
performance
Eg. Cycling with a group
Social loafing
Reduction in individual
output on easy tasks where
the a whole groups
contributions matter.
In other words, exerting less
effort to achieve a goal when
working in a group compared to
working alone
Results of social
loafing:
Loss of motivation
Loss of co-ordination
Preventing
social loafing
Make members contributions identifiable
The task is important
to those who
perform it
When people believe their
efforts are necessary to
succeed
Group expects to be
punished for poor
performance
Group is small
Group is cohesive
Knowing ones work would be individually
identified
If the individual believed their work
towards the task was unique and
necessary towards groups
performance
Group polarisation
When simple minded people
discuss a topic, it often
becomes more exaggerated
Informational
influence
Discussion generates
arguments that mostly
favour the position already
taken
Social
comparison
Desire to make a positive
impression by being 'better'
than the others
Causes
Isolation
Similar backgrounds
Group cohesion
Unsystematic
review procedure
Symptoms
Overestimation of the group
Poor information search
No risk assessment
No alternative plan
How to prevent
Consult widely with
others
Typically the weakest
point of a group
Baumeister Et al (2015)
Groups function better when
members have differentiated
identities than when
individuality is lost as people
blend into a group
How groups
form
Shared group identity,
motivates individuals to
work on behalf of the
group
A vast increase in performance
and efficiency when different
members use different skills to
perform different roles in an
interlocking, interactive system
People contributed better
when identified individually
and did worse when their
individual identity was
downplayed or lost
Groups benefit when
members participate as
seperate, autonomous
indivuduals