Group Dynamics Ch. 3

Need to belong

The tendency to seek out and join with other humans

Ostracism

Excluding a person or group of people from a group, usually by ignoring, shunning, or explicitly banishing them

Fight or flight response

A physiological response to stressful events characterized by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system

Ten and befriend response

An interpersonal response to stressful events characterized by increased nurturing, protective, and supportive behaviors (tending) and by seeking out connections to other people (befriending)

Cyberostracism

The exclusion of one or more individuals from a technologically mediated group interaction, such as computer based discussion group

Individualism

A tradition, ideology, or personal outlook that emphasizes the primacy of the individual and his or her rights, independence, and relationships with other individuals

Collectivism

A tradition, ideology, or personal orientation that emphasizes the primacy of the group or community rather than each individual person

Exchange relationship

An interpersonal association between individuals based on each person's desire to increase the rewards they receive from others in the relationship

Communal relationship

An interpersonal association between individuals who are more concerned with what others get rather than what they themselves receive

Norm of reciprocity

A social standard that enjoins individuals to pay back in kind what they received from others

Equity norm

A social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources to members in proportion to their inputs

Equality norm

A social standard that encourages distributing rewards and resources equally among all members

Social contract (Rosseau)

An agreement, often only implicitly recognized, that obligates the individual to support the "general will" of society as an "indivisible part of the whole

Self-serving

Emphasizing one's own needs, perspective, and importance, particularly in contrast to those of other individuals or the group (egocentric)

Group-serving

Emphasizing the group's needs, perspectives, and importance, particularly in contrast to those of individual members or oneself (sociocentric)

Personal identity

The "me" component of the self concept that derives from individualistic qualities such as traits, beliefs and skills

Social identity (Collective self)

The "we" component of the self concept that includes all those qualities attendant to relationships with other people, groups, and society

Self-stereotyping

Accepting socially share generalization about the prototypical characteristics attributed to members of one's group as accurate descriptions of oneself

Social Identification

Accepting the group as an extension of the self, and therefore basing one's self definition on the group's qualities and characteristics

Collective self-esteem

A person's overall assessment of that portion of their self concept that is based on their relationships with others and membership in social groups

Basking in reflected glory

Seeking direct or indirect association with prestigious or successful groups or individuals

Cutting off reflected failure

Distancing oneself from a group that performs poorly

Ingroup-outgrop bias

The tendency to view the ingroup, its members and its products more positively than other groups, their members and their products; ingroup favoritism is more common than outgroup rejection

Social creavity

Restricting comparisons between the ingroup and other groups to tasks and outcomes where the ingroup is more successful than other groups and avoiding areas in which other groups surpass the ingroup