Discussion 1: Social Facilitation, Social Inhibition, and Social Loafing
As you may recall in the work of Triplett (1898), the presence of others in a bicycle race was found to enhance individual performance. This is called social facilitation (Williams, Harkins, & Karau, 2007). At times, however, the presence of others can detract from individual performance, which is termed social inhibition (Crisp & Turner, 2007). Similarly, social loafing can occur when an individual’s performance within a group decreases due to his or her reliance on others in the group (Crisp & Turner, 2007).
For this Discussion, review the media program, Week 5: The Virtual Office. Focus on the characters in the media and determine which characters displayed social facilitation, social inhibition, and social loafing.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 3 a description of the characters in the media program demonstrating social loafing, social inhibition, and social facilitation. Explain how you identified them. Then, select one of the characters and, using the current literature, explain two ways you might mitigate their behavior.
Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.
Reference:
Triplett, N. (1898). The dynoamogenic factors in pace-making and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507–533.
Discussion 2: Impact of Group Behavior
Group polarization can be defined as the process that can occur after group interaction, when an initial group attitude (e.g., “Our company is the best at providing Service B in this community”) becomes more extreme (e.g., “Our company is the best at providing Service B in this entire region”). Group polarization may be particularly likely when the issue at hand is deemed particularly “important” (Crisp & Turner, 2007, p. 169).
Groupthink is considered a more extreme version of group polarization and refers to decreased flexibility in group processing and can, in turn, lead to decreases in group productivity. This has never been more evident than in the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, when Challenger exploded in mid-flight. In this case, evidence suggests that groupthink played a major role in this event.
For this Discussion, review this week’s Learning Resources. Pay particular attention to the impact of groupthink and group polarization. In addition, using the Walden Library, research alternatives to groupthink and group polarization and select an article that discusses an alternative.
With these thoughts in mind:
Post by Day 4 a description of a situation in which you experienced or observed negative consequences resulting from groupthink or group polarization. Then describe two consequences as a result of groupthink or group polarization in your example. Finally, using an article from the current literature, explain how one alternative to groupthink or group polarization could have been used in that situation.
Be sure to support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources.