Group Behaviour Part 4

Group Behaviour
Part 4

Status

​Meaning

• Status is a perceived social position or rank others give to a group or its members.

• Even the smallest group shows differences in member status over time.

• Status is a significant motivator and has major behavioural consequences when individuals perceive a disparity between their status and what others perceive it to be.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following people are likely to have low status in a group?

• Those who are often the outstanding performers

• people who can allocate resources

• people whose contributions are critical to the group's success

• a group's formal leader

• people who have little control over the group's outcomes

Multiple Select

Select the sources of Status in the group.

• The Positional power a person wields over others

• A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals

• An individual’s personal characteristics

​The power a person wields over others
E.g. Because they're likely control the

group’s resources, people who control group outcomes tend to be perceived as high status.

Power a person wields over others

People who contribute to the group’s success tend to have high status.
E.g., star performer or Senior in the organisation.

Group Contribution

Individuals with certain desirable traits such as intelligence, wealth, or a friendly personality tend to hold higher status within a group.

Personal Characteristics

​Sources of Status

Multiple Choice

People who control the outcomes of a group through their power tend to be perceived as ________.

• high conformists

• deviants

• low status

• high status

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements about status is not true?

• Status is an important motivator.

• Possession of personal characteristics that are positively valued by the group will give a

  member higher status.

• Low-status members are given more freedom to deviate from norms than are other members.

• High-status members are better able to resist conformity pressures than lower status members

Multiple Choice

Low-status people ________.

• speak out more often

• criticize more often

• are not likely to be fully utilized

• interrupt others more

High-status individuals may be more likely to deviate from

norms when they have low identification (social identity) with the group

​​Norms

People tend to become more assertive when

they seek to attain higher status in a group

​​Group Interaction

Perceived inequity can lead to resentment and corrective behaviours.

Status Inequity

Assigning roles to each member of a group.

​Status has an effect on

High-status group members are often given high-status roles like group leader or expert, while low-status members are given lower-status roles.

Multiple Choice

People with lower status are more capable of resisting pressure to conform than their peers with higher status.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

If lower-status members tend to participate less actively in group discussions when they possess expertise and insights that could aid the group, failure to fully utilize these members reduces the group’s overall performance.

• True

• False

Open Ended

How can you encourage Lower-status members to participate actively?

Managers should be mindful of status differences in their work groups.

They should establish checks and balances so leaders do not justify unethical behaviour or unethically try to maintain their status.
They should actively encourage lower-status members to contribute and provide a psychologically safe environment to voice their ideas, thoughts, and concerns.

​

Multiple Choice

People of lower status tend to speak out more frequently, criticize more often, give more commands, use jargon to sound proficient, perform more favours for others, and interrupt others more regularly.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

High-status group members tend to ________.

• be more assertive

• assist more

• be more reflective

• don't care about being well liked

Multiple Choice

Significant status differences within groups are linked to lower individual performance, poorer health, and stronger intentions for lower-status members, which may lead to them ...

• Rejoicing

• Stick around

• leave the group

• be full of gratitude.

Multiple Choice

Inequity in power and status tends to have more negative effects - It tends to drive interpersonal conflict.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Regardless of one’s status, however, having accurate knowledge of the status hierarchy (i.e., “who is who in my group”) leads to better performance and results in effective within-group networking

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

If your group is engaged in problem solving, which of the following is likely to be the most effective group size?

• 5-7 members
• 2-3 members
• 10-12 members
• 15-20 members

Group Size

• Does the size of a group affect the group’s overall behaviour?

• Yes, but the effect depends on the outcome of interest (e.g., performance, creativity).

• Groups with a dozen or more members are good for gaining diverse input(fact-finding or idea-generating)

• Smaller groups of about seven members are better if the goal is

  performance and productivity.

Multiple Choice

What term is used for the tendency for individuals to spend less effort when working collectively than when working individually?

• Groupthink
• Social loafing
• Teamwork bias
• Collaborative slacking

Individuals tend to expend less effort when working collectively than when working alone.
How to Reduce it?
• Set group goals.

• Increase intergroup competition.

• Engage in peer evaluation.

• Select highly motivated people who prefer working in groups.

• Base group rewards on each member’s unique contribution.

​

​Social loafing

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an effective means of countering social loafing?

• Increase the rewards the group is given if it succeeds.

• Increase the size of the group.

• Increase the group's workload.

• Provide means by which individual efforts can be identified in the group.

Multiple Choice

Social loafing may be attributed to ________.

• the rise of Internet usage

• the fact that efficiency declines when individuals think that their contributions cannot be measured.

• synergy

• accountability is obvious

• the more members, the greater the total productivity

Multiple Choice

All of the following are ways to prevent social loafing EXCEPT

• Set group goals so the group has a common purpose to strive toward.

• Increase intergroup competition.

• Engage in peer evaluation to evaluate each member's contribution to the group.

• Ensure the group results cannot be attributed to any single person

Multiple Choice

If the goal is problem solving, smaller groups are more effective than larger ones.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What term is used for the degree to which group members are attracted to one another and are motivated to stay in the group?

• cohesion
• solidarity
• unity
• attraction

Cohesiveness defines the degree of closeness that the members feel with the group.

It identifies the members' desire to remain in the group and their commitment to the group.
Studies consistently show that the relationship between cohesion and productivity depends on the group's performance-related norms (expectations for quality, output, etc.).

​

​Group Cohesiveness

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is not likely to increase group cohesiveness?

• increasing the group size

• members spending a lot of time together

• competition with other groups is increased

• the group is physically isolated

• providing group rewards

Multiple Choice

Increasing the exclusivity of a group and making it harder to join can enhance its cohesiveness.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on which norms established by the group?

• status-related

• decision-making

• performance-related

• conformity-related

Poll

Which video would you like to watch on group cohesiveness?

• How to create a cohesive team by The Predictive Index

• How to build teams that Win - Ted Talk by Prakash Iyer