Passage Based Questions: Social Influence and Group Processes | Psychology Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Passage - 1

I. Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow:

Passage:
It has been found that individuals work less hard in a group than they do when performing alone. This points to a phenomenon referred to as ‘social loafing’. Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, i.e., one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group members. An example of such a task is the game of tug-of-war. It is not possible for you to identify how much force each member of the team has been exerting. Such situations give opportunities to group members to relax and become free riders. This phenomenon has been demonstrated in many experiments by Latane and his associates who asked a group of male students to clap or cheer as loudly as possible as they (experimenters) were interested in knowing how much noise people make in social settings. They varied the group size; individuals were either alone, or in groups of two, four, and six. The results of the study showed that although the total amount of noise rose as the size increased, the amount of noise produced by each participant dropped. In other words, each participant put in less effort as the group size increased.

Q1: What is meant by Social Loafing?
Ans: Social loafing is a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task, i.e., one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group members.

Q2: What factors contribute to Social Loafing?
Ans: The causes of Social Loafing include:
(a) Members feel less responsible for the overall task and thus exert less effort.
(b) The performance of the group isn’t compared with other groups.
(c) Motivation decreases as contributions are not individually evaluated.
(d) Lack of proper coordination between members.
(e) The importance of belonging to the group is low, leading to viewing it as just an aggregate of individuals.

Q3: What strategies can be used to reduce Social Loafing?
Ans: Social Loafing can be reduced by:

• Making the effort of each person identifiable.
• Increasing pressure to work hard—make members committed and motivated.
• Increasing the perceived importance and value of the task.

Passage - 2

Passage:
Generally, teamwork in groups leads to beneficial results. However, Irving Janis has suggested that cohesion can interfere with effective leadership and can lead to disastrous decisions. Janis discovered a process known as “groupthink” in which a group allows its concerns for unanimity to override the motivation to realistically appraise courses of action. It results in the tendency of decision-makers to make irrational and uncritical decisions. Groupthink is characterised by the appearance of consensus or unanimous agreement within a group. Each member believes that all members agree upon a particular decision or a policy. No one expresses a dissenting opinion because each person believes it would undermine the cohesion of the group and s/he would be unpopular. Studies have shown that such a group has an exaggerated sense of its own power to control events, and tends to ignore or minimise cues from the real world that suggest danger to its plan. In order to preserve the group’s internal harmony and collective well-being, it becomes increasingly out of touch with reality. Groupthink is likely to occur in socially homogeneous, cohesive groups that are isolated from outsiders, that have no tradition of considering alternatives, and that face a decision with high costs or failures. Examples of several group decisions at the international level can be cited as illustrations of the groupthink phenomenon. These decisions turned out to be major fiascos. The Vietnam War is an example. From 1964 to 1967, President Lyndon Johnson and his advisors in the U.S. escalated the Vietnam War thinking that this would bring North Vietnam to the peace table. The escalation decisions were made despite warnings. The grossly miscalculated move resulted in the loss of 56,000 American and more than one million Vietnamese lives and created huge budget deficits.

Q1: What is the concept of Groupthink?
Ans: Groupthink is characterised by the appearance of consensus or unanimous agreement within a group. Each member believes that all members agree upon a particular decision or policy.

Q2: What methods can be used to prevent or minimize Groupthink?
Ans: To prevent or reduce groupthink, the following measures can be taken:
(i) Encouraging and rewarding critical thinking and disagreement among group members.
(ii) Encouraging groups to present alternative courses of action.
(iii) Inviting outside experts to evaluate the group’s decisions.
(iv) Encouraging members to seek feedback from trusted others.

Q3: How do you distinguish between an ingroup and an outgroup?
Ans:

• Ingroup: Refers to one’s own group—‘we’. Members in the group are similar, viewed favorably, and possess desired traits.
• Outgroup: Refers to another group—‘they’. Members of the outgroup are viewed differently and often negatively in comparison to the ingroup.