SOCIAL INFLUENCE & GROUP PROCESSES

In our day to day life we interact with our family, friends, teachers & classmates. These groups provide
us the needed support, comfort and facilitates our growth & development as an individual.

What is a Group-
A group is an organised system of two or more individuals, who are interacting & interdependent, who
have common motives, have a set of role relationships among its members, and have norms that
regulate the behaviour of its members

Characteristics of Group –
Individuals who perceive themselves as belonging to the group. –

 Have common motives & goals

 Individuals are interdependent on each other
 Satisfies a need through their joint association & also influence each other –
 Individuals interact with each other
 The interactions of individuals are structured by a set of roles & norms.

CROWD –
 Collection of people present at a place/situation by chance.
 There is neither any structure nor feeling of belongingness.
 Behaviour of people in a crowd is irrational & there is no interdependence among members.

TEAMS –
 special kinds of groups -have complementary skills –
 committed to a common goal or purpose
 members are mutually accountable for their activities
 have positive synergy attained through the coordinated efforts of the members

AUDIENCE-
 Collection of people assembled for a special purpose
 Generally passive

MOBS –

 When audiences go into a frenzy they become mobs

 definite sense of purpose
 polarization in attention
 actions of people are in a common direction
 There is homogeneity of thought & behaviour as well as impulsivity

WHY DO PEOPLE JOIN GROUPS?

1 SECURITY -Provides a sense of comfort and satisfaction -People feel stronger and -Less vulnerable to

Threats
2. STATUS - When we are members of a group that is perceived to be important by others, we feel
recognized & experience a sense of power.

3. SELF ESTEEM Groups provide feelings of self worth & establish a positive social identity. Being a
member of a prestigious group enhances one’s self-concept.

4. SATISFACTION OF ONE’S PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL NEEDS –

 Provides sense of belongingness –
 Giving and receiving attention
 Love
 Power

5. GOAL ACHIEVEMENT - Groups help in achieving goals which cannot be attained individually. There is
power in majority.

6. PROVIDE KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION - Group members provide knowledge & information
and thus broadens our view.

GROUP FORMATION –
1. PROXIMITY - Repeated interactions with the same set of individuals give us a chance to know
them, their interests & attitudes.

2. SIMILARITY - People prefer consistency & like relationships that are consistent. When we meet
similar people, they reinforce & validate our opinions & values which we feel are right & thus we start
liking them.

3. COMMON MOTIVES AND GOALS - When people have common motives and goals they get
together & form a group which facilitate .their goal attainment.

STAGES OF GROUP FORMATION

1. FORMING STAGE - group members first meet -uncertainty about the group, the goal & how it
is to be achieved -try to know each other & assess whether they will fit in there is excitement as
well as apprehensions.
2. STORMING - is the intra group conflict about -how the target is to be achieved -who is to
control -who is to perform what task
3. AFTER THE STAGE IS COMPLETE -hierarchy of leadership develops -clear vision about how to
achieve the group goal.
4. NORMING Develop norms related to group behaviour. This leads to the formation of positive
group identity.
5. PERFORMING - The group moves towards achieving the group goal. For some groups, this may
be the last stage of group development.
6. ADJOURNING STAGE - Once the function is over the group may be disbanded.
GROUP STRUCTURE
During the process of group formation groups also develop a structure. The group structure develops as
group members interact. Over time this interaction shows regularities in distribution of task to be
performed, responsibilities assigned to members and the prestige or relative status of members.

 ROLES - Socially defined expectations that individuals in a given situation are expected to fulfill.
 ROLE EXPECTATIONS - Behaviour expected of someone in a particular role.
 NORMS - Expected standard of behaviour & beliefs established, agreed upon & enforced by
group members. They may be considered as a group’s ‘unspoken rules’.
 STATUS - Relative social position given to group members by others. ASCRIBED:-given because
of one’s seniority ACHIEVED:-achieved because of expertise or hard work
 COHESIVENESS - Togetherness, binding & mutual attraction among group members . Group
members start to think, feel & act like a social unit and less like isolated individuals. It is the
team spirit or ‘we’ feeling or a sense of belonging.

GROUP THINK
It is a consequence of extreme cohesiveness. No one expresses dissenting opinion because each person
believes it would undermine the cohesion of the group and s/he would be unpopular. Such groups have
an exaggerated sense of its own power to control things & tend to ignore or minimise cues from the real
world that suggest danger to its plan.

WAYS TO COUNTERACT OR PREVENT GROUPTHINK –

-Encouraging & rewarding critical thinking and disagreement among group members - Encouraging
group members to present alternative courses of action -Inviting outside experts to evaluate group’s
decisions -Encourage members to seek feedback from trusted others.

TYPES OF GROUPS
1 PRIMARY
 Pre-existing formations are given to the individual
 eg. family, caste, religion
 face-to-face interaction
 close physical proximity
 share warm emotional bonds
 central to individual’s functioning
 boundaries are less permeable.

2. SECONDARY
individual joins by chance

eg. Political party

relationships are more impersonal, indirect & less frequent

It is easy to leave & join another group.

3. INGROUP
• -one’s own group

• -refer using ‘WE’

• -supposed to be similar

• -viewed favourably • -have desirable traits

4.OUTGROUP
 another group
 refer using ‘THEY’
 viewed differently
 perceived negatively

5. FORMAL –
functions are explicitly stated.

Eg. Office, university –

roles of group members are stated

-formation is based on specific rules or laws

-have set of norms

6. INFORMAL
-not based on rules or laws

-there is close relationship among members

INFLUENCE OF GROUP ON INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

SOCIAL FACILITATION - Performance on specific tasks is influenced by the mere presence of others.
Norman Triplett observed that individuals show better performance in the presence of others, than
when they are performing the same task alone.

SOCIAL LOAFING

Individuals perform less hard in a group than they do when performing alone. It is reduction in individual
effort when working on a collective task i.e., one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group
members.

WHY DOES SOCIAL LOAFING OCCUR –

 members feel less responsible
 decreases as their contributions will not be evaluated on individual basis
 improper coordination
 performance of group is not compared with other group
 belonging to the same group is not important for the members.

HOW CAN SOCIAL LOAFING BE REDUCED –

  Identify efforts of each person -increase pressure to work hard
 make group members committed
 increase importance or value of a task
 strengthen group cohesiveness.

GROUP POLARISATION-
Groups are more likely to take extreme decisions than individuals alone.

This strengthening of the group’s initial position as a result of group interaction and discussion is
referred to as group polarisation.

This may sometimes have dangerous repercussions as groups may take extreme positions, i.e. from very
weak to very strong decisions.

BANDWAGON EFFECT.
While interacting with like-minded people, in a group sometimes we get to know different arguments
favouring our viewpoints. When we feel that our viewpoint is validated by the others is called
bandwagon effect.

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