Social facilitation
improvement in task performance that occurs when people work in the
presence of other people.
- Zajonc: social facilitation usually occurs only for simple tasks that require dominant
responses, whereas social interference or impairment occurs for complex tasks that
require nondominant responses.
Social inhibition
worsening of task performance that occurs when people work in the presence of other people.
opposite of social facilitation
Zajonc: drive theory
when performing an easy task that requires dominant responses in the presence of another member, there is mention of facilitation and the quantity will
increase. When task requires non-dominant responses, it will cause social inhibition.
Cottrell: evaluation apprehension theory
presence of others increases arousal only when
individuals feel that they are being evaluated.
Cottrell: Self-presentation theory
apprehension of evaluation is greatest when performance may threaten the group member’s public image.
Sanders: distraction-conflict theory
when others are present, attention is divided between
the other people and the task; this attentional conflict increases motivation, and it facilitates
performance on simple, well-learned (dominant) tasks.
Social orientation theory
individuals who display a positive interpersonal orientation
(extraverted and low anxiety) are more likely to display social facilitation effects
Ringelmann effect
people get less productive when working in a group. Productivity decreases by loss of motivation and coordination.
Social loafing
reduction of individual effort when people work in a group. Causes:
- Identifiability: when people feel like their efforts are not identified as their
efforts because the tasks is a collective one. When feeling of being
evaluated, people will exert more effort and productivity increases. - Free riding: effort decreases because individuals know that others will
compensate for their lack of productivity. They also avoid to be a “sucker” (=
someone who works too hard, sucker effect). - Goals: groups with clear, challenging goals outperform groups whose
members have no clear standard to evaluate their performance. - Involvement: loafing is less likely when people work at exciting, challenging,
and involving tasks. - Identity: according to social identity theory, when individuals derive their
identity from members in a group, social loafing is replaced by social
labouring as members expend extra effort for their groups.
Can be solved by:
- Making results and tasks identifiable.
- Set specific and clear goals.
- Create competition.
Different kinds of tasks:
- Divisible tasks = can be broken down into subcomponents that can then be assigned to
individuals or to subgroups within the group. Unitary tasks = cannot be broken down. - Maximizing tasks = task or project that calls for a high rate of production.
- Optimizing tasks = task or project that has a best solution and outcome, so judgments can be
made by comparing the product to a quality-defining standard - Additive tasks = task that a group can complete by cumulatively combining individual
members’ input. - Compensatory tasks = task that a group can complete by literally averaging together
individual members’ solutions or recommendations. - Disjunctive tasks = task that is completed when a single solution, decision, or
recommendation is adopted by the group. - Intellective tasks = task that is evaluated objectively, only one possible solution for the
question. - Judgmental tasks = task that is evaluated subjectively, there is no clear criteria to judge it.
- Conjunctive tasks = task that can be completed only if all group members contribute.> Köhler effect = when the poorest performing members increase their productivity due to competitive strivings, and the recognition that their poor performance is holding the
group back from success. - Discretionary tasks = unstructured task that can be completed by using a variety of methods.
Brainwriting
asking members to write down ideas on a paper and then pass the
paper along to others who add their ideas to the list.
Nominal group technique (NGT)
face-to-face group session is prefaced by a
nominal-group phase during which individuals work alone to generate ideas.
Delphi technique
repeated assessment of members’ opinions via surveys and questionnaires as opposed to face-to-face meetings.
Electronic brainstorming (EBS)
generating ideas and solving problems using
computer-based communication methods such as online discussions rather than
face-to-face sessions.
Buzz groups
small subgroups that generate ideas that can later be discussed by the entire
group.
Bugg lists
group members make a list of small irritations that belong to the problem that is
discussed, and the group can then discuss solutions for each bug.
Stepladder technique
asking a new member of the group to state his/her ideas before listening to the group’s position.
