Chapter 11: Groups and individuals: the consequences of belonging.
Why we join groups / why groups exist:
To accomplish a specific purpose (temporary group) or focus on many different
issues and activities (long lasting).
Groups often provide us with important benefits
Groups have to make decisions
All seek to maximise cooperation
Groups must deal with the issue of fairness, both within and outside the group.
Study unit 11.1: Groups: when we join … and when we leave.
(Def) Group – A collection of persons who are perceived to be bonded together in a coherent
unit to some degree.
(Def) Entiativity – The extent to which a group is perceived as being a coherent being.
True groups – those that are high in entiativity have the following characteristics:
Members interact with each other often
The group is important to its members
Members share common goals and outcomes
Members are similar to one another in important ways.
Entiativity is a key dimension from the point of view of understanding precisely what
constitutes a group and how being part of a group can influence our behaviour.
Groups: 4 basic aspects
Roles
Status
Norms
Cohesiveness
Roles: Differentiation of Functions within groups
(def) Roles – The set of behaviours that individuals occupying specific positions within a
group are expected to perform.
Often different people have different roles to play within a group. Regardless of how roles are
acquires, people internalise the roles and link them to their self-concept. When this happens,
a role may exert profound effects on a person’s behaviour, even when he or she is not in the
group. Study to illustrate powerful effects of roles was Zimbardo and his colleagues “prisoner
and guard” simulation at Stanford University.
Status: Hierarchies in groups
(def) Status – An individual’s position or rank in a group.
Different roles or positions in a group are associated with different levels of status. Status is
linked to a wide range of desirable outcomes – everything from salary and perks to first
choice among romantic partners. For this reason groups often use status as a means of
influencing the behaviour of their members. Only members who follow the groups rules
receive status.
How do people acquire high status:
Height may play a role, taller men have an advantage
Behaviour plays a role – sometimes people boost their status through intimidation.
Norms: the rules of the game
, (def) Norms – Rules within a group indicating how its members should (or should not)
behave.
Norms is discussed in chapter 8. Adherence to norms is often a necessary condition for
gaining status and other rewards controlled by groups.
Cohesiveness: The forces that bind.
(def) Cohesiveness – the sum of all the factors that cause people to want to remain members
of the group.
Cohesiveness can be a powerful force; recent findings suggest that to the extent members
identify with a group (the greater their social identity with it), the less likely they are to leave it,
even if desirable options exist.
Factors that influence cohesiveness include:
Status within the group – status is higher for high than low status members
The effort required to gain entry into the group – the greater these costs, the higher
the cohesiveness
The existence of external threats or severe competition – such threats increase
members attraction and commitment to the group
Size – small groups tend to be more cohesive than large ones.
The benefits – and costs - of joining
The benefits of joining – what groups do for us.
Factors that account for a strong desire to join and remain in social groups even when the
group experiences hard times and fall from favour –
We gain self-knowledge from belonging to various groups; group membership
becomes central to our self concept.
Membership of some groups help us reach our goals.
Group membership often provide a boost to our status.
o Self-enhancement – boosting one’s own public image and feeling that they
are somehow superior to others.
o Self-transcendence – the desire to help others, regardless of their status, and
to seek such goals as increased understanding to others and social justice
o The greater the degree to which a person is seeking self-enhancement, the
more important will be a groups status and the more strongly they will identify
with it.
o The greater the degree to which they are seeking self-transcendence, the
less important will a group’s status be.
o Roccos research- status was more important to those seeking to boost their
own image than to those who were more concerned with a very different goal
– helping others.
Joining groups helps us to accomplish social change – by joining together, persons
who have been the victims of prejudice can gain social clout and can often succeed in
changing their societies – and so win better treatment for themselves and other
minorities. Recent findings suggest that identification with such groups is a strong
predictor of participation in public marches and parades, boycotts and so on.
The costs of membership: why groups sometimes splinter
Group membership restricts personal freedom.
Groups makes demands on members’ time, energy and resources, and they must
meet these demands or surrender their membership.
Groups sometimes adopt positions or policies of which some members disapprove.
Why do people take the action of withdrawing from groups?
o When individuals identify with a group, they redraw the boundaries of their
self concept to include other members. People decide to leave a group when
they believe the members of the group have changed sufficiently that they
can no longer be viewed as part of their self concept.
Why we join groups / why groups exist:
To accomplish a specific purpose (temporary group) or focus on many different
issues and activities (long lasting).
Groups often provide us with important benefits
Groups have to make decisions
All seek to maximise cooperation
Groups must deal with the issue of fairness, both within and outside the group.
Study unit 11.1: Groups: when we join … and when we leave.
(Def) Group – A collection of persons who are perceived to be bonded together in a coherent
unit to some degree.
(Def) Entiativity – The extent to which a group is perceived as being a coherent being.
True groups – those that are high in entiativity have the following characteristics:
Members interact with each other often
The group is important to its members
Members share common goals and outcomes
Members are similar to one another in important ways.
Entiativity is a key dimension from the point of view of understanding precisely what
constitutes a group and how being part of a group can influence our behaviour.
Groups: 4 basic aspects
Roles
Status
Norms
Cohesiveness
Roles: Differentiation of Functions within groups
(def) Roles – The set of behaviours that individuals occupying specific positions within a
group are expected to perform.
Often different people have different roles to play within a group. Regardless of how roles are
acquires, people internalise the roles and link them to their self-concept. When this happens,
a role may exert profound effects on a person’s behaviour, even when he or she is not in the
group. Study to illustrate powerful effects of roles was Zimbardo and his colleagues “prisoner
and guard” simulation at Stanford University.
Status: Hierarchies in groups
(def) Status – An individual’s position or rank in a group.
Different roles or positions in a group are associated with different levels of status. Status is
linked to a wide range of desirable outcomes – everything from salary and perks to first
choice among romantic partners. For this reason groups often use status as a means of
influencing the behaviour of their members. Only members who follow the groups rules
receive status.
How do people acquire high status:
Height may play a role, taller men have an advantage
Behaviour plays a role – sometimes people boost their status through intimidation.
Norms: the rules of the game
, (def) Norms – Rules within a group indicating how its members should (or should not)
behave.
Norms is discussed in chapter 8. Adherence to norms is often a necessary condition for
gaining status and other rewards controlled by groups.
Cohesiveness: The forces that bind.
(def) Cohesiveness – the sum of all the factors that cause people to want to remain members
of the group.
Cohesiveness can be a powerful force; recent findings suggest that to the extent members
identify with a group (the greater their social identity with it), the less likely they are to leave it,
even if desirable options exist.
Factors that influence cohesiveness include:
Status within the group – status is higher for high than low status members
The effort required to gain entry into the group – the greater these costs, the higher
the cohesiveness
The existence of external threats or severe competition – such threats increase
members attraction and commitment to the group
Size – small groups tend to be more cohesive than large ones.
The benefits – and costs - of joining
The benefits of joining – what groups do for us.
Factors that account for a strong desire to join and remain in social groups even when the
group experiences hard times and fall from favour –
We gain self-knowledge from belonging to various groups; group membership
becomes central to our self concept.
Membership of some groups help us reach our goals.
Group membership often provide a boost to our status.
o Self-enhancement – boosting one’s own public image and feeling that they
are somehow superior to others.
o Self-transcendence – the desire to help others, regardless of their status, and
to seek such goals as increased understanding to others and social justice
o The greater the degree to which a person is seeking self-enhancement, the
more important will be a groups status and the more strongly they will identify
with it.
o The greater the degree to which they are seeking self-transcendence, the
less important will a group’s status be.
o Roccos research- status was more important to those seeking to boost their
own image than to those who were more concerned with a very different goal
– helping others.
Joining groups helps us to accomplish social change – by joining together, persons
who have been the victims of prejudice can gain social clout and can often succeed in
changing their societies – and so win better treatment for themselves and other
minorities. Recent findings suggest that identification with such groups is a strong
predictor of participation in public marches and parades, boycotts and so on.
The costs of membership: why groups sometimes splinter
Group membership restricts personal freedom.
Groups makes demands on members’ time, energy and resources, and they must
meet these demands or surrender their membership.
Groups sometimes adopt positions or policies of which some members disapprove.
Why do people take the action of withdrawing from groups?
o When individuals identify with a group, they redraw the boundaries of their
self concept to include other members. People decide to leave a group when
they believe the members of the group have changed sufficiently that they
can no longer be viewed as part of their self concept.
