Revision Notes (Part - 2) Social Influence and Group Processes - Notes | Study Psychology Class 12 - Humanities/Arts

Competition:

When group-members try to maximize their own benefits.
They work for self-interest and individual reward.
Competitive goals—each gets his/her goal only if others don’t attain their.
Leads to conflict and disharmony. More group cohesion and solidarity within ones group.
Determinants of Co-operation and Competition:

(a) Reward Structure:

Co-operative reward structure promotes interdependence; reward possible only if all contribute.
Competitive reward structure—only one gets the award.

(b) Interpersonal Communication: Good interpersonal communication increases co-operation (facilitates interaction, discussion, convinces each other and increases learning about each other).

(c) Reciprocity: People feel obligated to return the behaviour they get (initial co¬operation leads to increased co-operation and initial competitiveness leads to competition).
Social Identity: Aspect of our self-concept which is based on our group membership (tells us about one’s position in the larger social contact and helps us located ourselves in society)

— derives from groups we are a part of.
— includes personal attributes and attributes we share with others.
— acquires certain attributes from interaction with others in society.
— identification with social groups is important for self-concept.
— provides members with a shared set of values, beliefs and goal about ourselves and others
— in-group—group with which you identify yourself (start showing favouritism towards it. Rate it above out-group and devaluate out group—basis of intergroup conflicts).
 

Intergroup Conflicts:

Conflict: This is process in which either an individual or a group perceives others as having opposing interest and both try to contradict each other (‘we’ and ‘they’ feeling-are strong)

— belief that ‘others’ will protect only its own interests.
— both try to exert power on one another.
— when groups are more aggressive than individuals, it leads to escalation of conflict.
— costly human price in conflicts.
 

Causes:

(a) Lack of communication or Faulty Communication: It leads to suspicion and lack of trust.

(b) Relative Deprivation: Compare oneself to members of the other group:

— don’t have what you desire: others have it.
— not doing well in comparison to others: deprivation depression.

(c) Belief that one is better than the other: What one partly believes should be done (if it does not happen—then members accuse one another and small differences are magnified. This leads to increased conflict).

(d) Desire for Retaliation: For harm done in the past.

(e) No Respect for Others Norms: Feeling that other group does not respect norms of my group and violates them because of malevolent intent.

(f) Biased Perception: Feeling of ‘the/ and ‘we’.

(g) People are more aggressive and competitive in groups than on their own (due to competition over scarce resources).

(h) Perceived Inequity: Equity—distribution of rewards in proportion to individual’s contributions (you feel irritated and exploited if you contribute more and are rewarded less).
 

Notes:

— Conflicts between groups leads to series of social and cognitive processes—hardens the stand of each side (ingroup polarization).
— Coalition of like-minded parties increases apprehension. .
— Misperceptions and biased interpretations increase conflicts.
Murphy—Conflicts begin in the minds of men.
Structural Level: Increase in poverty rates, inequality, limited political and social opportunity, economic and social stratification.
Group Level: Social identity, unequal power relations, resources.
Individual Level: Beliefs, biased attitudes, personality characteristics (there is progression along a continuum of violence—butterfly effect).
 

Consequences (Deutsch):

(a) Communication becomes poor between groups (lack of trust—breakdown in communication leads to suspicion).
(b) Groups start magnifying their differences and perceive their behaviour as fair and others as unfair.
(c) Each side tries to increase its own power and legitimacy, thus the conflict shifts from smaller to larger ones.
(d) Once conflict starts, other factors lead to escalation of conflict (in-group opinion is hardened, out-group is threatened and when other parties choose sides, the conflict is further escalated).
 

Conflict Resolution Strategies:

1. Introduction of Superordinate Goals: Superordinate goals reduce conflict and are mutually beneficial to both sides, thus sides work co-operatively.
2. Altering Perceptions: Through persuasion, educational and media appeal portrayal of groups differently. Also promoting empathy for others should be taught.
3. Increasing Intergroup Contact: By involving groups on neutral grounds through community projects and events they become more appreciative of each other’s stand. Contacts need to be maintained, supported over a period of time to be successful.
4. Redrawing Group Boundaries: Group boundaries create condition where boundaries are redefined; perceive themselves as belonging to a common group.
5. Negotiations: Reciprocal communication so as to reach an agreement in situation where there is a conflict.(i) Conflict can be resolved through negotiations and third party interventions.(ii) Groups try finding mutually acceptable solutions.(iii) When negotiation doesn’t work then mediation (both parties reach a voluntary agreement and focus discussions on relevant issues) or arbitration (third party has the authority to give a decision after hearing both parties) by a is used.
6. Structural Solutions: Redistributing societal resources according to principles based on justice.Principles of justice—equality (allocating equally to everyone), need (allocating on the basis of one’s need) and equity (allocating on the basis of contribution).
7. Respect for other Group’s Norms: To respect and be sensitive to the strong norms of various social and ethnic groups, especially in India where many communal riots have occurred due to insensitivity of one religious group towards another.

Group think (Irving Janis)

(i) Cohesion can lead to a tendency to make irrational and uncritical decision—group allows -its concerns for unanimity.
(ii) Appearance of consensus or unanimous agreement—each member believes that all members agree upon a particular decision, no one expresses dissenting opinion (undermine cohesion of group, makes him/her unpopular).
(iii) Exaggerated sense of its own power, ignores real world cues, out of touch with reality— occurs in socially homogenous, cohesive, isolated, do not consider alternatives, decision have high cost.
(iv) Prevention-encouraging and rewarding critical thinking and disagreement, encouraging groups to present alternative courses of action, inviting outside experts to evaluate group decision, encouraging seeking feedback from trusted others.
 

Words That Matter
 

• Authority: The right inherent in a position (e.g., managerial) to give orders and to except the orders to be obeyed.
• Cohesiveness: All forces (factors) that cause group-members to remain in the group.
• Competition: Mutual striving between two individuals or groups for the same objective.
• Compliance: A form of social influence in which one er more persons, not holding authority, accept direct requests from one or more others.
• Conformity: A type of social influence in which individuals change their attitudes or behaviours in order to adhere to existing social norms.
• Group: Two or more persons who interact with one another, have shared goals, are interdependent, and consider themselves as members of group.
• Groupthink: A mode of thinking in which the group members desire to reach unanimous agreement overrides the wish to adopt proper, rational, decision-making procedures; an example of group polarisation.
• In-group: The social group to which an individual perceives himself or herself as belonging (‘us’). The group with which one identifies. The other groups are out-groups.
• Obedience: Confirming behaviour in reaction to the commands of others.
• Out-group: Any group of which an individual is not a member.
• Primary Group: Group in which each member is personally known to each of the other members, and in which the members, at least on occasion, meet face-to-face.
• Proximity: The principle of Gestalt psychology that stimuli close together tend to be perceived as a group.
• Roles: An important concept in social psychology which refers to the behaviour expected of an individual in accordance with the position he/she holds in a particular society.
• Social Influence: The process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behaviours of others.
• Social Inhibition: Social restraint on conduct.
• Social Loafing: In a group, each additional individual puts in less effort, thinking that others will be putting in their effort.
• Social Support: Information from other people that one is loved and cared for, esteemed and valued, and part of a network of communication and mutual obligation.
• Status: Social rank within a group.
• Structure: The enduring form and composition of a complex system or phenomenon. Contrast with function, which is a process of a relatively brief duration, arising out of structure.