Lecture notes with Group Dynamics at the Leiden University

Lecture 1: Group membership

- Common group characteristics are interaction, common goals, interdependence, group structure and cohesion. 

- Groups are rather subjective.

- Behavior = f (person x situation). Belonging or not belonging to a group affects your behavior.

- We all filled out the questionnaire of Social Value Orientation. People who always choose for an equal split of the points are considered prosocial. People who always choose to have more points than the other, are considered individualistic. People who want to make this difference as big as possible, are considered competitive.

- However, one’s answers on this questionnaire may differ depending on what the reward is or depending on who the other person is.

- Entitativity is the extent to which a group seems to be a single unified entity; a real group. This depends on similarity, proximity and common fate.

- Collective categorization is when you categorize yourself to be part of the bigger group.

- Subgroup categorization is when people categorize themself to be more of a part of the subgroup. There is more conflict with the greater group.

- Personal categorization is when someone is individualistic.

- The level of categorization depends on how much you identify with a group; dependent upon similarity, proximity and common fate.

- Social comparison theory states that people rely on others for information about themselves.

- Upward comparison is when you compare yourself to someone who has more success. This can lead to feelings of jealousy and low self-esteem.

- Downward comparison is when you compare yourself to others who have less success. This can lead to feelings of content and high self-esteem.

- We compare ourselves to get accurate information, to get the feelings we belong somewhere and to be reassured.

- When we compare ourselves to other people in general, we often make us of self-serving attributions. We can use downward social comparison. Another option is that we use self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) for upward social comparison.

- We can also compare ourselves to members of our ingroup. People feel like there should be a balance between assimilating with the group and differentiation of the group (being an individual); this balance is called optimal distinctiveness.

- People also compare themselves with the outgroup. People make use of group serving causal attributions, social creativity, BIRGing (basking in reflected glory) and CORFing (cutting of reflected failure).

- Statement of the week 1: ‘Group membership improves people’s well-being’.

The answer is that it depends. Group membership comes with a lot of benefits. But when you get excluded from it, it has negative effects.

- In the case of social exclusion (ostracism), the following fundamental needs are threatened: the need to belong, the need for control, need for self-esteem and the need for meaningful existence.

- The brain responds in the same way to social exclusion as it does to real physical pain. Introverts show a greater brain response in the anterior cingulate and dorsal ACC than extraverts to both pain and social exclusion.

- Painkillers are actually able to remove this effect of social exclusion, just as much as they are able to reduce physical pain.

- People have the high need to be part of a group. However, they do not want to lose their uniqueness. 

- Individualists and collectivists differ on a large number of characteristics; e.g. individualists emphasize independence and personal identity whereas collectivists emphasize interdependence more and social identity.

- Thibaut & Kelley’s social exchange theory is not covered very extensively in the book. The lecture will cover it in some more depth.

- In this theory, R stands for the current group membership. CL stands for the comparison level; what can you expect from your group? CLalt stands for the comparison level of alternative; what can you expect from alternative groups?

--> If R > CL, you are happy with your group and CLalt will be low.

--> If R < CL, you are unhappy with your group and CLalt will be high; maybe you will want to switch groups and break with your current group.

--> If R > CL, but CLalt is even higher than that; you are happy with the current situation, however the alternative seems even better. You may possibly break with R. However, there are transaction costs.

--> If R < CL, but CLalt is even lower than that; you are unhappy with the current situation, however the alternative seems even worse. You will stay with R, but against your will.

Bullet-point summary

•  Common group characteristics are interaction, common goals, interdependence, group structure and cohesion. 
• Cultures and people can be individualistic or collectivistic; they differ on a lot of aspects.
• Entitativity is the extent to which a group seems to be a single unified entity; a real group
• Collective categorization is when you categorize yourself to be part of the bigger group. Subgroup categorization is when people categorize themself to be more of a part of the subgroup. Personal categorization is when someone is individualistic. 
• Social comparison theory states that people rely on others for information about themselves. People engage in upward or downward comparison. We can also distinguish comparison with the in-group and with the out-group.
• People aim to experience optimal distinctiveness.
• The brain responds in the same way to social exclusion as it does to real physical pain. 
• In the social exchange theory, R, CL and CLalt can occur in different orders; resulting in different decisions regarding group membership.

Lecture 2: Social influence

- Social influence is dynamic. Sometimes, the majority will try to convince the minority. It can also be the case that the minority will consistently try to convince the majority.

- The social comparison theory states that the validation motive is generally more important to people than the information motive. 

- There are two types of influences; normative influence (when you behave like the group wants you to, you are more likely to stay a member) and informational influence.

- Majority members can exert normative influence as well as informational influence.

Minority members often only exert informational influences. If they want to influence the majority; they’ll have to come up with good arguments.

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Public on the y-axis, private on the x-axis.

- The Asch experiment (1956) demonstrates the human bias to fall for group pressure and tendency to socially conform. Even though participants knows that the other group members are given the wrong answer, one third of the trials, they conform with the group’s judgment.

- The autokinetic effect is the phenomenon that the majority can convince the minority by exerted normative or informational influences. This effect leads to conversion in perception for test subjects; they tend to comply more and more with the group. However, after socializing, less convergence occurs.

- We can however also be influenced by minorities; otherwise examples like the green movement, Nazism and civil rights movements wouldn’t have been or be able to gain power.

- The conversion theory shows that minorities can convince the majority by exerting informational influence. The majority focuses on the opinions of the minority, since these fall out of line with their own opinion.

- Dual process theory: Via the central route, conversion happens through information processing, the needs for personal validation and availability of accurate knowledge. Majorities tend to influence minorities through this central route.

Via the peripheral route, compliance occurs trough shallow information processing and the need for social validation. Minorities influence majorities via the peripheral route.

- Anti-conformity is when you somewhat agree with the majority, you state that you publicly state that you don’t agree with that opinion. Anti-conformity occurs often in puberty. Sometimes, a group assigns a ‘devil’s advocate’, who has to come up with reasons to disagree with the group’s opinion. This can be important, since the group now really has to consider the validity of their opinions.

- Independence is when you disagree with a person or group and you also publicly hold this opinion.

- The dynamic social impact theory that social impact is a function of the strength of the sources (S), the immediacy of them (I), and the number of sources (N). So, social impact = f (SIN)

- Groups change over time, in four different patterns. 

1. Consolidation

2. Clustering

3. Correlation

4. Continuing diversity

- The lecturer explained that the difference between these patterns can be rather ambiguous; so there won’t be any questions on the exam about this.

- The social impact theory suggests that social impact is a function of personality characteristics (P) and situational factors (S), so social impact = f (P * S).

- When we consider personality characteristics, people with a social validation motive, are more likely to be influenced then people who have a more informational need. Women are more likely to be influenced than men. Collectivistic cultures show great susceptibility to social impact than individualistic cultures. Lastly, people with a lower self-esteem are more easily influenced.

- Situational factors can be the importance of the task, the size of the majority group, the ambiguity of a task, the stability of the position of the individual, the amount of group cohesion, and whether the response will be public. These factors all lead to more conformity.

- We distinguish four different causes of conformity:

1. Implicit influence: This occurs when people don’t notice that their behavior is influenced by others. Mimicry is when people unintentionally start to behave like each other. According to research, mimicry increases liking.

2. Informational influence; by providing others with good arguments

3. Normative influence: This can either by descriptive norms; fit in with what most people do, or injunctive norms; fit in with what most people should do.

4. Interpersonal influence; by forcing people to comply with your opinion.

- The more cohesion there is in a group, the more likely it is that you’ll be influenced. Different types of cohesion are social cohesion; which occurs because the members of a group like one another, and task cohesion; which occurs because group members share a common goal. There are more types of cohesion.

- Advantages of cohesion are member satisfaction, higher productivity and better coordination. Disadvantages of cohesion are lower productivity, pressure to conform and the fact that highly cohesive groups are often emotionally demanding.

- This high emotional demand in highly cohesive groups is a reason for the occurrence of the old sergeant syndrome. It occurs when members of the army experience a loss of a colleague, which often results in depressive symptoms.

- Becoming member of a group something comes with an initiation. Groups that engage in hazing, which is another term for initiation, are often more attractive to join. This is the result of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance occurs when people hold two cognitions, but choose one of those and avoid the other to avoid ambiguity in their opinion.

- Initiations can go very far and have a lot of implications for mental and physical health.

- The purpose of hazing is to have a bonding experience, create interdependence, and introduce hierarchy, commitment and to hold onto the tradition.

Bullet-point summary:

• There are two types of social influences; normative influences and informational influences.
• These influences can result in different attitudes; conversion, compliance, anti-conformity and independence.
• The Asch experiment demonstrates the human bias to go along with group pressure.
• The majority can influence the minority by normative and informational influences. The minority can usually only influence the majority by informational influences. This is called to conversion theory.
• The dual process theory considers the central route, with informational influence, and the peripheral round; primary based on the need for social validation.
• The dynamic social impact theory states that social impact is a function of the sources, their immediacy and the number of sources.
• The social impact theory suggests that social impact is a function of personality characteristics and situational factors.
• There are different causes of conformity; the influence is implicit, informational, normative or interpersonal.
• We distinguish different types of cohesion. Cohesion has advantages and disadvantages
• Hazing goes hand in hand with cognitive dissonance of the parttakers. 

Lecture 3: Norms, roles and power

- We distinguish different types of norms. Descriptive norms refer to what most people do or not do. Injunctive norms refer to what people should and should not do.

- Descriptive norms can either lead to desirable effects or undesirable boomerang effects.

- Pluralistic ignorance is the phenomenon that members privately disagree with the group’s norm, but they think few or no others will agree with them so they don’t share their opinion.

- Social and communication network have the most impact on the roles in a group. Role and status distributions are apparently less important.

- Networks can be either centralized or decentralized. Centralization is not always beneficial, since efficiency of these kind of groups depends on the task difficulty. Satisfaction in less central positions is also often lower.

- Role distribution: Roles have a very important function in a group. A role belongs to a certain function or position, and it offers the possibility to break and change the group norm.

- Role stress can occur when there is role ambiguity, interrole or intrarole conflict, or when there is person-role conflict.

- Status distribution: In task-focused groups status differences is connected to more task focus. 

- The Expectation States Theory is about the status organizing process in cooperative task groups. 

- Diffuse characteristics have a more indirect influence on expectations. 

- In an early phase, evaluations of P’s contribution are more based on quantity than on quality.

- Idiosyncratic credit gives the opportunity to act independently in a group. As long as the group is focused, consistent, confident, and takes the lead during ambiguity, this can work.

- The statement of the week was: ‘In a task group, status differentiation on the basis of physical height reflects undesirable prejudice’.

- Power bases: there is more impact of person B on person A when A is attracted to B (R > CL) and in cases when A has less alternatives (CLalt).

- Power bases can be legitimate, as in the case of Milgram’s experiment, they can be referent, reward, expert, informational (positive or negative) and coercive. 

- Reward power, expert power and informational power all relate to the ability to provide something positive or take something negative away. Three conditions for the effectiveness of this power is the positive value of the good, the credibility of person B and the dependency of person A.

- Informational power and coercive power relate to the ability to provide something negative or take away something positive. The three conditions are the same.

- Reward power refers to the influence on another’s behavior by offering a positive prospect, which has positive value, high credibility and which makes people dependent on you.

- Coercive power is the influence on another’s behavior by threatening with a negative prospect, which has negative value, which has high credibility and which makes people dependent on you, because they cannot avoid it.

- A shift in power occurs when there is a shift in what people value, when the credibility of the reward or punishment changes or when the location of dependency changes.

- Power increases approach tendencies, and reductions in power trigger inhibition.

Bullet-point summary:

• We distinguish different types of norms. Descriptive norms refer to what most people do or not do. Injunctive norms refer to what people should and should not do.
• Pluralistic ignorance is the phenomenon that members privately disagree with the group’s norm, but they think few or no others will agree with them so they don’t share their opinion.
• Social and communication network have the most impact on the roles in a group. Role and status distributions are apparently less important.
• The Expectation States Theory is about the status organizing process in cooperative task groups. 
• Power bases can be legitimate, referent, reward, expert, informational (positive or negative) and coercive. 

Lecture 4: Task execution alone vs. in a group

- The performance on certain tasks is enhanced when there is another individual nearby. This is called social facilitation.

- In other cases, we perform less efficiently due to the presence of another person. This is called social inhibition.

- In the case of dominant behavior or task take do not require that much effort, social facilitation will occur. In the case of non-dominant behavior or tasks that require more effort, social inhibition will occur.

- Zajonc found that in the presence of others, our level of arousal goes op. We prepare ourselves for the fight-or-flight response. This facilitates a dominant response and inhibits a non-dominant response. According to Zajonc’s drive theory, you don’t need that much arousal to perform well on difficult tasks. There is however high arousal in the case of easy tasks.

- Cottrel’s evaluation apprehension theory states that in the presence of others, we anticipate for positive or negative evaluation, which leads to arousal (preparation for the fight-or-flight response). This can facilitate dominant responses and inhibit non-dominant responses.

- Sanders and colleagues stated in the distraction conflict theory that in the presence of others, we may experience conflict in where to direct our attention to, which leads to arousal. This again leads to facilitation of dominant responses and inhibition of non-dominant responses.

- An example of an attention conflict is the Stroop task. The presence of others improves performance on the Stroop task.

- The social orientation theory by Uziel states that in the presence of others, we experience arousal that leads to either positive or negative social orientation. In the case of positive social orientation, we become more self-confident, so facilitation occurs. In the case of negative social orientation, we feel threatened, so inhibition occurs.

- The meta-analysis by Bond and Titus (1983) found that during simple tasks, which ask for dominant responses, facilitation leads to quantitative production gain. During more complex tasks, which ask for non-dominant responses, inhibition leads to quantitative and qualitative production loss. 

- The Ringelmann Effect is the phenomenon that the more people work on a task, the less productive the individuals are.

- Causes of this production loss are problems with coordination or with motivation.

Problems with coordination occur when there is unclear task distribution, when it is unsure who has to take the initiative, and when there are timing issues. Problems with motivation occur when people hide within a group, or when only the total contribution of the group matters and not the individual contribution.

- The actual performance in groups is often way lower than the potential performance. In groups that are located in the same room, more performance loss occurs than when the members of the group are separated from each other when working on the task. This is because groups that are in the same location suffer from coordination problems as well as motivational problems, whereas groups of which the members are separated only deal with motivational problems.

- Hearing each other’s ideas can lead to production blocking; members may forget their own ideas, decide not to share them with the group, or they may be distracted.

- Steiner’s theory of group productivity state that task demands are vary depending on 1) the divisibility of the task, 2) the type of output that is desired; either quantitative or qualitative, and the 3) combination rules to complete the task.

- Combination rules are either...

> Additive. An example of such a task is when a group moves branches from one side of the street to the other side. Everyone’s contribution adds up to the final performance.

> Disjunctive: The strongest person in the group determines the outcome. This can for example be the case in tasks that rely on who finds the best answer. Disjunctive tasks are either Eureka tasks; tasks during which at some point you know what is the correct answer. In non-Eureka tasks, you never know whether you have the correct answer for sure.

> Conjunctive: The weakest person in the group determines the outcome; such as when you have to wait for all the members of the group to complete their task. Conjunctive tasks are sometimes unitary. This is when we cannot say for sure who the weakest person in the group is; as in the case of pulling a rope. Conjunctive tasks can also be divisible. This is when we know for sure who was the weakest person.

> Compensatory; during which under-estimation of the one is compensated by over-estimation by the other. Wisdom of the crowd refers to the average performance of the members of the group.

- Tasks are often based on a mixture of these combination rules.

- Coordination losses in disjunctive tasks occur because weaker members rely on the strongest members. Coordination losses in conjunctive tasks occur when stronger members support the weaker ones.

- Teams can counter motivation loss by making individual contribution of group members more identifiable and evaluable, for example by setting individual goals or comparing individual performance to the performance of other team members. Emphasizing the relevance for the group and the person is also a good method.

- When others in a group do more or are more competent, individuals may feel that they are needed less. This may lead to free-riding.

- When others in a group do less or are less competent, individuals may feel that they are needed more. People do not want to be the sucker (sucker effect).

- In disjunctive task, the weakest members to lose motivation. In conjunctive tasks, the strongest members may lose motivation. The weakest members do not want to be the sucker; which can lead to the Kohler effect. In additive tasks, the strongest and weakest group members may lose motivation.

- When individual performance is not identifiable or evaluable, this gives rise to free riding and the sucker effect, which leads to motivation loss and eventually also to production loss.

- Teams are rather subjective. Teams are characterized by recurrent interaction, interdependence, a common goal, good structure and cohesion. 

- Virtual teams interact via computer-based communication technologies. Virtual teams come with some pros; namely that communication is fast, these teams can be accessed form all over the world and they are flexible. These teams also come with some cons; since difficulties in planning or miscommunication may occur. Miscommunication is often the result of the loss of non-verbal communication that virtual teams deal with.

- The use of negative emoticons has appeared to have a negative effect on the process of easy as well as complex communication. The use of positive emoticons only appears to have a positive effect in the case of complex communication.

- For first impressions in work-related online communication, it has been found that smileys do not necessarily increase perceptions of warmth, yet they decrease perceptions of competence. People are less motivated to share information with people who use a lot of happy emoticons.

- The statement of the week is: ‘Cultural diversity in teams is good for the team’s performance’. The answer, again, is that it depends. Diversity brings variety to the team, since there is a broader range of expertise. Diverse teams are also more innovative. Diversity in teams can also not be a good thing, since faultlines may occur when members feel separate from another. This leads to a lack of cohesion. Also, conflict may occur in diverse groups.

- Diverse teams need time to get past surface-level differences. Also, the organization’s culture should encourage collectivistic cultures more.

Bullet-point summary:

• Social facilitation is when performance on a task is enhanced by the presence of others, social inhibition is when performance is inhibited due to this.
• In the case of dominant behavior (a task that does not require that much effort) social facilitation will occur. In the case of non-dominant behavior (a task that requires more effort) social inhibition will occur.
• In case of the presence of others, our arousal level goes up.
• According to Zajonc’s drive theory, you don’t need that much arousal to perform well on difficult tasks. There is however high arousal in the case of easy tasks.
• Cottrel’s evaluation apprehension theory states that in the presence of others, we anticipate for positive or negative evaluation, which leads to arousal (preparation for the fight-or-flight response). This can facilitate dominant responses and inhibit non-dominant responses.
• Sanders and colleagues stated in the distraction conflict theory that in the presence of others, we may experience conflict in where to direct our attention to, which leads to arousal. This again leads to facilitation of dominant responses and inhibition of non-dominant responses.
• The social orientation theory by Uziel states that in the presence of others, we experience arousal that leads to either positive or negative social orientation. In the case of positive social orientation, we become more self-confident, so facilitation occurs. In the case of negative social orientation, we feel threatened, so inhibition occurs.
• During simple tasks, which ask for dominant responses, facilitation leads to quantitative production gain. During more complex tasks, which ask for non-dominant responses, inhibition leads to quantitative and qualitative production loss.
• The Ringelmann Effect is the phenomenon that the more people work on a task, the less productive the individuals are. This is caused by problems in motivation or coordination.
• The actual performance in groups is often way lower than the potential performance. In groups that are located in the same room, more performance loss occurs than when the members of the group are separated.
• Steiner’s theory of group productivity state that task demands are vary depending on 1) the divisibility of the task, 2) the type of output that is desired; either quantitative or qualitative, and the 3) combination rules to complete the task.
• Combination rules are either additive, conjunctive, disjunctive or compensatory.
• Free-riding and the sucker effect result from motivation losses.
• Virtual teams come with pros and cons.
• The use of negative emoticons has appeared to have a negative effect on the process of easy as well as complex communication. The use of positive emoticons only appears to have a positive effect in the case of complex communication.
• Diversity in a team is beneficial since the team is more varied in skills and it is more innovative. It is on the other hand also a negative aspect, since it can lead to a lack of cohesion and conflict.

Lecture 5: Decision-making and leadership

- Coordination losses can be caused by production blocking or timing issues (simultaneously or sequentially).

- Motivation losses can be caused by hiding in the group, when only the overall group performance is important, or the freeriding or sucker effect.

- A remedy for these production losses in brain storming can for example be to introduce to introduce periods of reflection during the brainstorming task. 

- Another remedy is to apply the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) is a technique in which all members of the group think individually about ideas first, then they share them with the group, then the group discusses all the ideas. Finally, the members rank the ideas on an index card.

- Another solution is to introduce electronic brainstorming. The advantage is that everyone’s ideas are anonymous. This is especially advantageous for members who experience a lower status than other members of the group.

- As a member of a group, you may want to consult with other members of the group about a decision. 

- If one makes the decision himself, he must meet the following criteria:

> Be sure that you have enough information

> The problem is well structured

> It does not matter whether the group agrees with you or not

> The subordinates or others accept that you make the decision

> The subordinates are all on the same page

- Group members tend to discuss shared knowledge instead of the expertise of each individual member. This leads to the shared information bias or in other words, the common knowledge effect.

- The remedies for this bias are 1) to take more time to discuss the problem, 2) to emphasize the differences in expertise among the members, 3) to involve diverse constituencies, 4) to emphasize the importance of disagreement, 5) to use Group Decision Support System, and to 6) emphasize the best solution instead of the fastest.

- Group polarization is the process by which group members will start to talk and think more extremely about an issue. Members who view the issue positively, start to view it even more positively. Members that perceive the issue negatively, come to perceive it even more negatively.

- Group decisions that are made are because of this bias in general riskier than individually-made decisions. The risky shift effect is the phenomenon that individuals who are in a group tend to show riskier behavior than they would in individual situations.

- Traditional explanations for the risky shirt effect state that it may be caused by 1) a diffusion of responsibility, 2) the fact that tough guys stand out more, or the fact that 3) Western cultures in general value risky behavior.

- Current explanations state that the phenomenon of social comparison occurs. Informational influence is based on the quality of argument. Normative influence is about the degree to which a member is part of the group. When members feel like the group agrees with a certain decision, they are more likely to pursue with it.

- Another current explanation refers to social identity. Members move in direction of the prototypical position in the group, and away from their position in the out-group.

- The planning fallacy is an underestimation of the necessary information, time or effort that is needed to complete a task. Groups tend to formulate contingency plans; a plan B.

- Groupthink can be resolved by increasing diversity in a group. Advantages of diversity are 1) a broader range of expertise, 2) members become more innovative, 3) and they have a larger transactive memory. Diversity can also be maladaptive, because 1) it leads to faultlines, 2) there is less cohesion, 3) and possibly more intragroup conflict.

- We distinguish two types of groupthink. In the one, there is collective over-optimism in promising projects. In the other type, there is collective avoidance in risky projects.

- Descriptive approaches to leadership are related to how leaders arise in a group. 

- The Babble effect is the idea the quantity of participation of members is more important in being chosen as a leader than the quality of their contributions.

- The Implicit Leadership Theory states that implicit expectations of a person influence appraisal. For example, males are more often considered as leader. The Warren Harding Effect is the phenomenon that more attractive people are more often considered to be good leaders. So in conclusion, the perceptions of a leader are more important than the actual facts.

- The Leader-Member Exchange theory (LMX) states that leaders develop a certain exchange relationship with each of their subordinates. This leads to the development of subgroups; as some members have positive linkages with their leader, and some members have negative linkages with their leader. Those members that have negative linkages with their leader, and are in the outgroup, contribute less to the group’s task.

- The leadership substitutes theory states that there is less need for task-focused leadership when there are a lot of independent experts on the matter, and when the task is a routine task. There is less need for relationship-focused leadership in cohesive task groups.

- Prescriptive approaches to leadership are related to what a leader should look like. We distinguish non-contingent approaches (the Leadership Grid) and contingent approaches (participative leadership, situational leadership, and Fiedler’s Contingency Model).

- In the Leadership Grid, leaders are assessed on a grid based on their concern for people (y-axis) and there concern for production (x-axis). People with a high concern for both production and people are considered the best leaders.

- Leadership can also be categorized based on the degree of participative leadership: Laissez-faire groups have been found to be the least productive groups.

- The statement of the week was: ‘In the recruitment of a leader one should select a candidate who always pays equal attention to the task as to the inter-member relationships’. The answer is again that it depends. This statement relates to the situational leadership theory:

- The situational leadership theory states that in the beginning of leadership, leaders need to be high in direction, and low in supportive behavior. As the group matures, leaders should focus more on supportive behaviors and on directive behaviors as well (this is called the coaching stage). In the last stage, there is little directive behavior needed anymore.

- Fiedler’s Least Preferred Coworker scale states that the behavior of a leader is a function of the person and the situation. The personal style of the leader can be measured on the least preferred coworker scale. Leaders with low LPC prioritize the task first, and than the interpersonal relationships. Leaders with high LPC prioritize the relationships first, and then the task.

- According to Fiedler, when a task comes with low control and consequently much stress; leaders tend to focus on their first priority. When there is high control in a task, and there is consequently only little stress, leaders are able to focus on their second priority as well.

- So, in unfavorable situations, we prefer task-focused leadership (which is the primary motivation of a low LPC leader). In favorable situations, we prefer relationship-focused leadership (which is the secondary motivation of a low LPC leader). In moderately favorable situations, a mixture is needed: High LPC leaders are better at this.

- Transactional leadership styles are more concerned with maintaining the normal flow of operations. There is exchange or resources; rewards and punishments.

- Transformational leadership styles are more concerned with the goal to reach a higher level. Team building is important, just as opportunities for personal growth.

Bullet-point summary:

• Remedies for production losses during brain storming are introducing periods of reflection during the task, applying the Nominal Group Technique, or to introduce electronic brainstorming.
• An individual is likely to make a decision him-/herself when he is sure that he has enough information, the problem is well-structured,it does not matter whether the group agrees or not, subordinates accept that he makes the decision, and subordinates are on the same page.
• The shared information bias occurs when group members only discuss common knowledge with each other instead of each individual's expertise.
• Group polarization is the process by which group members start to think more extremely about an issue than was their initial position.
• The risky shift effect defines how groups tend to make riskier decisions than individuals would.
• The planning fallacy is the underestimation of the necessary information, time and effort that is needed to complete a task.
• There are advantages and disadvantages of increasing diversity in a group.
• Descriptive approaches are related to how leaders arise in a group. The Babble effect, Implicit Leadership theory, Leader-Member exchange theory and the leadership substitutes theory are examples of this.
• Prescriptive approaches are related to how a leader should look like. The Leadership grid, participative leadership, situational leadership theory, and Fiedler's Least Preferred Coworker scale are examples of this.
• Transactional leadership styles are more concerned with maintaining the flow of operations. Transformational leadership styles are more concerned with the goal to reach a higher level and team building.

Lecture 6: Intragroup conflict and intergroup conflict

- Positive interdependence occurs when the individual shows positive behavior and the group does as well. It also occurs when the individual shows negative behavior and the group does this as well. Negative interdependence occurs when either the individual or the group shows positive behavior, and the other exhibits negative behavior. However, often there is a matter of a mixture of positive and negative interdependence.

- The Prisoner’s Dilemma is an example of a case of mixed interdependence. In this dilemma, two suspects must decide independently of one another whether to defect or to cooperate. When suspect A defects, and suspect B does this as well; they will both serve 8 years. When suspect A cooperates, but suspect B doesn’t, A will serve 20 years and suspect B will be a free man. When suspect A defects, and B cooperates, the same thing happens but then the other way around: Suspect B will serve 20 years and suspect A will be free. When both suspect A and B cooperate, they will both only serve 6 months in prison.

- In the Prisoner’s Dilemma, there is a joint perspective when either both suspects decide to cooperate or both decide not to: this leads to the fairest outcomes. When suspects take an individual perspective, there won’t be a fair outcome.

- The sucker is the person who decides to cooperate while the other person doesn’t; which doesn’t lead to a good outcome for this individual. The free rider is the person who decides not to cooperate while the other doesn’t; which leads to a good outcome for this individual. 

- In the case of a deficient equilibrium, both individuals decide not to cooperate. There is no better CLalt for neither of these individuals.

- To opt for mutual cooperation is a fragile thing; there is the risk that someone might be tempted to benefit from the other(s), which is called free riding. There is also the risk that someone becomes exploited; he or she becomes the sucker. Mutual cooperation does lead to friendship, a good chance on future interaction, discussion and justice.

- Procedural justice occurs when the methods are fair. Distributive justice occurs when rewards and costs are shared and divided fairly.

- There are four distributive norms that we distinguish: The norm of equity is based on the member’s contributions. The norm of equality is based on the idea that every member puts in and receives the same. The norm of power refers to the idea that powerful members tend to receive more. The norm of need states that those who need more, receive more.

- The common resource dilemma occurs when there are limited resources of which everyone wants to receive some. The public good dilemma occurs when there is a minimum input needed and everyone should put something in.

- Conflict occurs when a situation escalates: This can happen because people take in a certain position, when people fall for attribution errors, when there is a win-or-lose situation, when there is contagious anger, blocking or a negative spiral. 

- Conflict is resolved through de-escalation: when people engage in integrative negotiation, when trust is established, when there is a win-win situation, when a third party is involved in the discussion, when a time-out is introduced, and when a positive spiral occurs.

- The statement of the week was: ‘Forsyth is correct in that reciprocity always leads to conflict escalation’. The answer is, of course again, that it depends.

- The Tit-For-Tat strategy makes one’s response predictable, which increases trust. When person A cooperates, B will cooperate, and when A or B suddenly does not cooperate, the other person won’t either.

- In the case of overmatching, person B decides not to cooperate in an extreme way as a reaction on person A not cooperating anymore. In the case of undermatching, person A and B keep on deciding to not cooperate because the other person does this as well: no one breaks the negative spiral.

- The Social Value Orientation (SVO) questionnaire contains 9 items for which the participant should choose between an equal distribution of points between him/her and another anonymous person, or an unequal distribution in which the participants receives more than the other person. Based on this questionnaire, people can be labeled as prosocial, individualistic, or competitive.

- Prosocial people tend to perceive the other person as more equal than individualistic and competitive people do. Prosocial people also tend to believe that the other anonymous person belongs to the ingroup more often than competitive or individualistic people: They more often believe that the other person belongs to the outgroup.

- Intergroup conflict can occur based on different disputes. In the case of a realistic conflict, there is a struggle over scare resources. In the case of perceptual conflicts, a sub-group categorization occurs and there is extreme social identification.

- In perceptual conflicts, people strive for a positive self-image, and derive this from their group. Ingroup favoritism and/or outgroup derogation occurs.

- The discontinuity effect is the idea that there is more conflict between groups than between individuals. This occurs because of polarization, greed, negative stereotypes about the outgroup, diffusion of responsibility, local norms, competition with the outgroup, fear, et cetera.

- Moral exclusion places the outgroup outside of the moral realm. Dehumanization moves the outgroup even outside the human realm.

Bullet-point summary:

• Positive interdependence occurs when the individual shows positive behavior and the group does as well Negative interdependence occurs when either the individual or the group shows positive behavior, and the other exhibits negative behavior. The Prisoner's Dilemma is a case of mixed interdependence.
• Mutual cooperation comes with risks, but it also has several advantages.
• Procedural justice is about the fairness of methods. Distributive justice is about the fairness of distributions or rewards and costs.
• Conflict occurs through escalation and is resolved through de-escalation.
• The Tit-for-Tat strategy is about the predictability of actions. When person A cooperates, person B is likely to do this as well. For non-cooperation, this works the same.
• In the case of overmatching, person B decides not to cooperate in an extreme way as a reaction on person A not cooperating anymore. In the case of undermatching, person A and B keep on deciding to not cooperate because the other person does this as well: no one breaks the negative spiral.
• The Social Value Orientation (SVO) questionnaire contains 9 items for which the participant should choose between an equal distribution of points between him/her and another anonymous person, or an unequal distribution in which the participants receives more than the other person. Based on this questionnaire, people can be labeled as prosocial, individualistic, or competitive.
• In the case of a realistic conflict, there is a struggle over scare resources. In the case of perceptual conflicts, a sub-group categorization occurs and there is extreme social identification.
• The discontinuity effect is the idea that there is more conflict between groups than between individuals. Moral exclusion and dehumanization may occur. 

Lecture 7: The physical and social environment & Crowds and collectives

- Animals as well as humans show territorial behaviors. 

- The primary territory is characterized by a high degree of control, a long-term claim and active defence against intrusion. This is for example someone’s house. The secondary territory is characterized by a moderate degree of control, a temporary but recurrent claim of the territory, and a mild reaction to intrusion. This can for example be someone’s school. The public territory is characterized by a low degree of control, no one makes a claim, intrusion is prevented while present, and there is no expectation of future use.

- Online groups are a new type of territory.

- Territories have positive effects, because they organize and regulate intergroup contact. They also come with negative effects, as conflict can arise.

- Individuals and groups have their own space. Territories differ from personal and group spaces; we carry our spaces with us.

- That are different types of personal spaces that differ in the distance between the parties and what factor dominates.

--> Intimate; touching to 18 inches, the stimulus person dominates the field, examples are sex, hugging and slow dancing.

--> Personal; 18 inches to 4 feet, the other person can be touched if desired, examples are conversations.

--> Social; 4 feet to 12 feet apart, visual inputs dominate, examples are dining and meetings with colleagues.

--> Public; 12 feet or more, sensory inputs become less effective, examples are lectures and dance recitals.

--> Remote; different locations, primarily verbal inputs, examples are electronic discussions, conference calls, emails, et cetera.

- The density-intensity hypothesis states that high density makes pleasant things more pleasant and unpleasant things more unpleasant.

- The quality of fit between situations and its occupants is dependent on the fit between the physical and social contact to properly execute the task. This can be as simple as the positioning of tables in educational settings.

- Sociopetal spaces promote interaction, while sociofugal spaces discourage interaction.

- The Steinzor effect occurs in groups without leaders: Their is a tendency of people to comment immediately to something that has been said by the person sitting directly opposite of them.

There are different types of collectives:

- Gatherings are well-organized collectives that do not last long; examples are audiences of queues.

- Crowds are present in the same general vicinity and share a common focus; examples are mobs and panics.

- Collective movements spread out over time and space and there are similarities in activity; you can think of rumors and trends.

- Social movements are deliberate, organized attempts to change the social system. You can think of the KKK or protests.

- There are different reasons why collectives are formed. In the case of contagion, a spread of behaviors occurs. In the case of convergence, personal characteristics determine collective tendencies. Deindividuation (Zimbardo) is the loss of an individual identity. Emergent norms (Turner) is when members conform to normative standards and people have self-control. Social identity is the last reason; which is when one’s identity is on a group-level and this is strengthened by the group.

- Deindividuation originates with input --> subjective changes --> output behaviors.

- The bystander effect during an incident can occur because of coordination problems; who does what, when, with whom? or because of motivation problems; you do not do anything, because others will probably do it.

- The statement of the week was: The larger the group of unfamiliar bystanders, the smaller the chance that the person in need will be offered help by the bystander.

- When the safety of others is affected, people tend to help most when they are alone, in the presence of 1 naive friend, or otherwise with the fewest naive strangers nearby. When the safety of oneself is affected, people tend to leave most when they are alone.

Bullet-point summary:

• The primary territory is characterized by a high degree of control, a long-term claim and active defence against intrusion. The secondary territory is characterized by a moderate degree of control, a temporary but recurrent claim of the territory, and a mild reaction to intrusion. The public territory is characterized by a low degree of control, no one makes a claim, intrusion is prevented while present, and there is no expectation of future use.
• Territories have positive effects, because they organize and regulate intergroup contact. They also come with negative effects, as conflict can arise.
• That are different types of personal spaces that differ in the distance between the parties and what factor dominates; intimate, personal, social, public, and remote.
• The density-intensity hypothesis states that high density makes pleasant things more pleasant and unpleasant things more unpleasant.
• The bystander effect during an incident can occur because of coordination problems; who does what, when, with whom? or because of motivation problems; you do not do anything, because others will probably do it.

Lecture 8: Studying groups

- Social influence is evident in for example consumer behavior: service with a smile is important just as commercials that are surprising. Commercials can be informing or persuading.

- Intragroup conflict occurs when there is indecidedness about distribution norms. Problem-solving in these cases can be done through mediation. Intragroup conflict is characterized by social exclusion and bullying. 

- Intergroup conflict can occur during fusions. Stereotypes, discrimination and dehumanization are common characteristics of intergroup conflict.

- Power in negotiations can lead to positive outcomes. The Queen Bee Syndrome occurs when high-ranking women in positions of authority treat the women who work below them more critically than their male counterparts.

- In task execution, the free rider and sucker effects can occur; which have been described before. Volunteer work leads to pro-environmental behavior.

- Environmental psychology looks at crowding, the influence of seating arrangements, and restorative environments.

- Experimental research can for example be done towards the interpersonal effects of emotions in negotiations. Disappointment communicates weakness and evokes guilt in the other party and higher offers. When it does not evoke guilt however, it leads to low offers from the other party. You are more likely to feel guilty when you belong to the ingroup.

- Anger communicates power and causes opponents to give in and make high offers to avoid an impasse.

- Another example of an experimental research that draws upon this research was done towards individual negotiation and negotiation in groups. When one negotiates as a member of a group, he or she will likely not feel guilty when disappointment is communicated: Lower offers are made. When one negotiates individually however, he or she is more likely to feel guilty in this situation and make higher offers. However, when anger is communicated, one is always likely to feel guilty and make high offers; regardless of negotiating individually or as a member of a group.

- These studies provide support for the discontinuity effect and the ingroup/outgroup bias.

- Pros to this type of research are that they draw cause-and-effect conclusions, and control was held over the variables. However, cons are that we may not be able to generalize the results to real-life situations. There are also practical and ethical considerations.

- In cases of ostracism, there is more activation in brain regions related to pain.

- Applied research is another form of doing research; for example by observing kids at schools or use behavioral ratings of parents, children or teachers. 

- Pros to this type of research are that results are generalizable to real-life situations. There are no or few practical and ethical considerations. Cons to this type of research are that it does not draw cause-and-effect conclusions and it has no control over the variables.

- Sometimes, a mean is not very informative: For example in a case where the distribution of answers of group members within teams is smaller than the distribution between teams. Multi-level analysis takes into account the differences between individuals as well as the groups to which they belong. It takes into account the differences within subgroups as well as between subgroups.

- The Institutes of Psychology at US universities have an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Institutes of Psychologie at Dutch universities have an ethics committee.

- Before conducting a research, a research proposal is evaluated. In this proposal, the researcher reports at with senior researcher the final responsibility lies, the risk for participants, physiological measurements, deception, and unobtrusive measures. It is also reported whether the participants are paid for their participation, the informed consent, debriefing, and scientific integrity.

Bullet-point summary:

• Social influence is evident in for example consumer behavior.
• Intragroup conflict is characterized by social exclusion and bullying. Stereotypes, discrimination and dehumanization are common characteristics of intergroup conflict.
• The Queen Bee Syndrome occurs when high-ranking women in positions of authority treat the women who work below them more critically than their male counterparts.
• Environmental psychology looks at crowding, the influence of seating arrangements, and restorative environments.
• Experimental research can for example be done towards the interpersonal effects of emotions in negotiations. Disappointment communicates weakness and evokes guilt in the other party and higher offers. When it does not evoke guilt however, it leads to low offers from the other party. You are more likely to feel guilty when you belong to the ingroup. Pros to this type of research are that they draw cause-and-effect conclusions, and control was held over the variables. However, cons are that we may not be able to generalize the results to real-life situations. There are also practical and ethical considerations.
• Applied research is another form of doing research; for example by observing kids at schools or use behavioral ratings of parents, children or teachers. Pros to this type of research are that results are generalizable to real-life situations. There are no or few practical and ethical considerations. Cons to this type of research are that it does not draw cause-and-effect conclusions and it has no control over the variables.
• Before conducting a research, a research proposal is evaluated. The Institutes of Psychology at US universities have an Institutional Review Board (IRB).