4.5 Social Facilitation, Social Contagion, Deindividuation, Group Behavior

Social facilitation

Social facilitation is the tendency to perform better on simple/well-learned tasks but worse on complex/new tasks when others are present. This happens because the presence of others increases arousal, which strengthens the dominant response — helpful for easy tasks, harmful for difficult ones.

Social contagion and deindividuation

Social contagion is the spread of behaviors, emotions, or attitudes through a group, like waves of laughter or panic. Deindividuation occurs when people lose their sense of individual identity in a group (often aided by anonymity), leading to impulsive or uncharacteristic behavior they might avoid alone, such as looting during a riot.

Group behavior effects

Social loafing is reduced individual effort in a group task, especially when contributions can't be evaluated individually. Group polarization strengthens a group's prevailing attitudes through discussion. Groupthink occurs when the desire for harmony overrides realistic evaluation, suppressing dissent and leading to poor decisions.

Key terms

Social facilitation

Improved performance on simple/well-learned tasks but impaired performance on complex/new tasks when others are present.

Social loafing

Tendency to exert less effort on a group task, especially when individual contributions aren't evaluated.

Deindividuation

Loss of personal identity and self-restraint in a group, often due to anonymity, leading to atypical behavior.

Group polarization

Enhancement of a group's prevailing attitudes or opinions through discussion with like-minded members.

Groupthink

Prioritizing group harmony and consensus over critical, realistic evaluation of alternatives, often leading to bad decisions.

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What explains this?

1. Social facilitation
2. Groupthink
3. Social loafing
4. Deindividuation