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Group Processes

Do you remember being in a school or work group where you ended up doing most of the work? That has probably happened a few times. Now, have you ever been in a group where the other people did most of the work? That might have happened too. Regardless of who did the work, these two groups have one important thing in common: whoever did the work, or did not do the work, did not get credit for their effort or their lack of it. In the social psychological study of group processes, this is known as social loafing. Social loafing is defined as a person’s lack of participation in a group that occurs as a result of that person not receiving credit for any work that is done in that group. The larger the group size, the more likely that social loafing will occur (Kassin et al., 2021).

Groupthink

Groupthink theory was pioneered by Irving Janis who used case studies to demonstrate how defective group dynamics could lead to disastrous decision making in crises such as the Bay of Pigs, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the intensification of hostility with North Korea, and the escalation of conflict in Vietnam (Kassin et al., 2021). When members of a group strive for unanimity during the decision-making procedure, they tend to blindly prioritize their own group over others, which can result in biased thinking and decision making (Kassin et al., 2021).

Groupthink can occur in many life settings. Have you ever been on a jury where all of the evidence pointed to a guilty verdict, but the majority of jurors were all voting to acquit the defendant? That is an example of groupthink. When you have a high-powered, closely knit group that has a strong leader and whose members are insulated from any contradictory information, groupthink can occur. In these situations, the group can decide to do whatever they want because nobody else can require them to decide differently.

The good news is that group processes do not always bring out the worst in the group (Spoelma and Chauhan, 2023). You might have been a part of a group project where you had a wonderful outcome that could not have been created just by one or two members of the group. In fact, most major decisions are made by groups because groups can make very good decisions. In short, group decisions can be better than individual decisions if the group relies on the person with the most expertise, and considers every other group member’s comments. It is also the job of the most talented group member to convince the other members to accept his or her beliefs. So, if you are a manager and you are creating a new group, just remember a few key ideas to help make this group effective. It is your responsibility to know how to do every task that every group member has been assigned. You should also know each group member’s area of expertise. Finally, you should make sure the group is between two and six members, because if it gets any larger than that, social loafing will more likely occur (Kassin et al., 2021).

References

Kassin, S., Fein, S., & Markus, H. R. (2021). Social psychology (11th ed.). Cengage.

Spoelma, T., & Chauhan, T. (2023). Expanding the dimensionality of team deviance: An organizing framework and review. Small Group Research, 54(1), 77–117. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1177/10464964221127982