CHAPTER-7

SOCIAL INFLUENCES AND GROUP PROCESSES

NATURE AND FORMATION OF GROUPS

What is a Group?

A group may be defined as an organized system of two or more individuals, who are interacting
and interdependent, who have common motives, have a set of role relationships among its
members, and have norms that regulate the behavior of its members.

Groups have the following salient characteristics :

● A social unit consisting of two or more individuals who perceive themselves as
belonging to the group. This characteristic of the group helps in distinguishing one
group from the other and gives the group its unique identity.
● A collection of individuals who have common motives and goals. Groups function
either working towards a given goal, or away from certain threats facing the group.
● A collection of individuals who are interdependent, i.e. what one is doing may
have consequences for others. Suppose one of the fielders in a cricket team drops
an important catch during a match — this will have consequences for the entire
team.
● Individuals who are trying to satisfy a need through their joint association also
influence each other.
● A gathering of individuals who interact with one another either directly or
indirectly.
● A collection of individuals whose interactions are structured by a set of roles and
norms. This means that the group members perform the same functions every time
the group meets and the group members adhere to group norms. Norms tell us how
we ought to behave in the group and specify the behaviours expected from group
members.

Groups can be differentiated from other collections of people.

 1. A crowd is also a collection of people who may be present at a place/situation by
(by chance) chance. Suppose you are going on the road and an accident takes place. Soon a
large number of people tend to collect. This is an example of a crowd. There is
neither any structure nor feeling of belongingness in a crowd. Behaviour of people
in crowds is irrational and there is no interdependence among members.
2. Teams are special kinds of groups. Members of teams often have complementary
skills and are committed to a common goal or purpose. Members are mutually
accountable for their activities. In teams, there is a positive synergy attained
through the coordinated efforts of the members.
The main differences between groups and teams are:
• In groups, performance is dependent on contributions of individual members. In
teams, both individual contributions and teamwork matter.
• In groups, the leader or whoever is heading the group holds responsibility for the
work. However in teams, although there is a leader, members hold themselves
responsible.
3. An audience is also a collection of people who have assembled for a special
(by purpose)
purpose, maybe to watch a cricket match or a movie.
4. Audiences are generally passive but sometimes they go into a frenzy and become
mobs. In mobs, there is a definite sense of purpose. There is polarization in
attention, and actions of persons are in a common direction. Mob behavior is
characterized by homogeneity of thought and behavior as well as impulsivity.

Why Do People Join Groups?

People join groups because these groups satisfy a range of needs. In general, people join
groups for the following reasons :
● Security-We feel insecure when we are alone but when we are in groups we feel
secure as being part of a group provides a sense of belongingness and comfort.
● Status-When we belong to a group that is considered as important by others then
we do feel a sense of entitlement and it boosts our status as well.
● Self-esteem– Being part of a prestigious group boosts our self-esteem and
self-concept.
● Providing knowledge and information-Being part of a group can be enriching as
we learn a lot from others, enhance our knowledge and broaden our horizons of
knowledge.
 ● Satisfaction of one’s psychological and social needs-Being part of a group satisfies
our psychological and social needs like giving and receiving attention, social
acceptance, etc.
● Goal achievement- Groups create synergy and help in accomplishing those goals
which cannot be achieved individually.

Group Formation

Factors determining group formation are elucidated below:

(the state of being near to somebody)
this gives us a
chance to know ● Proximity-Common interests, attitudes, and background are important
them determinants for the liking of your group members
● Similarity-Being exposed to someone for a while makes us assess our similarities
when we meet similar
and paves the way for the formation of groups.For example, you like playing
ppl they reinforce and
football and another person in your class also loves playing football; there is a
validate our opinions
and thus we start liking
them matching of your interests. There are higher chances that you may become friends.
● Common Motives And Goals-When people are driven by common goals, they get
together and form a group to facilitate the accomplishment of the group
goals.Suppose you want to teach children in a slum area who are unable to go to
school. You cannot do this alone because you have your own studies and
homework. You, therefore, form a group of like-minded friends and start teaching
these children. So you have been able to achieve what you could not have done
alone.

Stages of Group Formation

Groups usually go through different stages of formation, conflict, stabilisation,

performance, and dismissal. Tuckman suggested that groups pass through five
developmental sequences. These are: forming, storming, norming, performing and
adjourning.
● Forming Stage: When group members first meet, a great deal of uncertainty about
the group, goal, and the way it will be achieved is characterized by apprehension as
well as enthusiasm.
● Storming: Storming is the second stage of group formation in which intragroup
conflict happens regarding the accomplishment of goals, group structure,
 distribution, and utilization of resources.. When this stage is complete, some sort of
hierarchy of leadership in the group develops and a clear vision as to how to
achieve the group goal.
● Norming: Norms related to group behavior are established and that results in
harmony instead of chaos. Positive group identity is developed.
● Performing: Group structure takes up a proper shape and the main focus of the
group in this stage is moving ahead to execute the goal of the group.For some
groups, this may be the last stage of group development.
● Adjourning: It is the last stage of the group formation process in which after the
main goal of the group has been achieved, the group is disbanded.

However, it must be stated that all groups do not always proceed from one stage to the
next in such a systematic manner. Sometimes several stages go on simultaneously, while
in other instances groups may go back and forth through the various stages or they may
just skip some of the stages.

During the process of group formation, groups also develop a structure.A group's
structure defines the formation, arrangement, and articulation of the members of that
group.
Elements of Group Structure
● Roles are socially defined expectations that individuals in a given situation are
expected to fulfill and it also refers to the typical behavior that depicts a person in a
given social context. As a daughter or a son, you are expected to respect elders,
listen to them, and be responsible towards your studies.
● Norms are expected standards of behavior and beliefs established, agreed upon,
and enforced upon by group members and at times they are defined as unspoken
rules of the group.
● Status refers to the relative social position given to group members by others. This
relative position can be either ascribed (given because of seniority) or achieved(
given because of hard work).For example, the captain of a cricket team has a
higher status compared to the other members, although all are equally important
for the team’s success.
 ● Cohesiveness refers to the togetherness, binding, or mutual attraction among group
members and as the group becomes more united they think always on common
ground rather than as individuals.Extreme cohesiveness however, may sometimes
suggested by not be in a group’s interest. Psychologists have identified the phenomenon of
irving janis groupthink which is a consequence of extreme cohesiveness.
refers to when a grp has alot of cohesion then there's a tendency to make
irrational/wrong decisions
TYPE OF GROUPS

Groups differ in many respects; some have a large number of members (e.g., a country),
some are small (e.g., a family),some are short-lived (e.g., a committee), some remain
together for many years (e.g., religious groups), some are highly organised (e.g., army,
police, etc.), and others are informally organised (e.g., spectators of a match).
People may belong to different types of groups.
Major types of groups are enumerated below :
• primary and secondary groups
• formal and informal groups
• ingroup and outgroup.

1. Primary and Secondary Groups

● Primary groups
- They are pre-existing formations that are usually given to the individual
- Example: Family, Caste, Religion, etc.
- In a primary group, there is a face-to-face interaction, members have close
physical proximity, and they share warm emotional bonds.
- members do not have the option to choose its membership

● Secondary groups
- These are those groups which an individual joins by choice.
- For example, a group of friends, a volunteer group, membership of a
political party, etc.
- In contrast, secondary groups are those where relationships among members
are more impersonal, indirect, and less frequent.
- members have the option to choose or leave its membership

2. Formal and Informal Groups

 ● Formal groups
- In formal groups, functions are stated explicitly and members have a definite
role and also the group structure is properly defined and organized.
- For example, office organization.
● Informal groups
(not stated) - Functions are stated explicitly and the roles of members are not properly
defined and the group structure is unorganized as well.
- For example, a group of 5 friends

3. Ingroup and Outgroup

● Ingroup (one's own grp)
- Ingroup refers to one’s group and we denote it by use of ‘We’
(generally viewed favourably)
● Outgroup
- Outgroup refers to another group and it is often denoted by the term ‘they’.
could be viewed negatively

Influence Of The Group On Individual Behavior

1. Social facilitation
- Performance on specific tasks is influenced by the mere presence of others
- For example, Kartik is about to take part in a debate competition and the presence
of other people might boost his performance and give him an adrenaline rush as the
presence of others lead to arousal.

2. 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 a free rider.
- 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 up, as 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.
- Causes behind social loafing are:
People feel their contribution would not be evaluated on an individual basis
Group members feel less responsible for the overall task being performed
There might be a lack of coordination and team spirit amongst the members.
The performance of the group is not to be compared with other groups.

- Ways to reduce social loafing

Making efforts of each member visible
Making people feel valued and significant for their contribution
Development of teamwork and coordination amongst the group.
Increasing the apparent importance or value of a task.

3. Group Polarisation
- Groups show another tendency referred to as ‘group polarization’.
- It has been found that groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than
individuals alone.
- Let us take an example whether capital punishment should be there.
Suppose you favour capital punishment for heinous crimes, what would
happen if you were interacting with and discussing this issue with
like-minded people?
- After this interaction, your views may become stronger. This firm conviction
is because of the following three reasons:
• In the company of like-minded people, you are likely to hear newer
arguments favoring your viewpoints. This will make you more favourable
towards capital punishment.
• When you find others also favouring capital punishment, you feel that this
view is validated by the public. This is a sort of bandwagon effect.
• When you find people having similar views, you are likely to perceive
them as an ingroup. You start identifying with the group, begin showing
conformity, and as a consequence your views become strengthened.