Groups and Teamwork - Pearson Canada

Chapter 5 Groups and Teamwork 187
• Primacy. The first behaviour pattern that emerges in a group frequently sets
team expectations. Groups of students who are friends often stake out seats
near each other on the first day of class and become upset if an outsider takes
“their” seats in a later class.
• Carry-over behaviours from past situations. Group members bring expectations
with them from other groups to which they have belonged. Thus work groups
typically prefer to add new members who are similar to current ones in background
and experience. This is likely to increase the probability that the expectations
they bring are consistent with those already held by the group.
Groups don’t establish or enforce norms for every conceivable situation, however. The
norms that the groups will enforce tend to be those that are important to them. 35 What
makes a norm important?
• It facilitates the group’s survival. Groups don’t like to fail, so they seek to enforce
any norm that increases their chances for success. This means that they’ll try to
protect themselves from interference from other groups or individuals.
• It increases the predictability of group members’ behaviours. Norms that increase
predictability enable group members to anticipate each other’s actions and to
prepare appropriate responses.
• It reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems for group members. Norms are
important if they ensure the satisfaction of their members and prevent as
much interpersonal discomfort as possible.
• It allows members to express the central values of the group and clarify what is distinctive
about the group’s identity. Norms that encourage expression of the group’s
values and distinctive identity help to solidify and maintain the group.
Conformity
As a group member, you desire acceptance by the group. Because of your desire for
acceptance, you are susceptible to conforming to the group’s norms. Considerable evidence
shows that the group can place strong pressures on individual members to change
their attitudes and behaviours to conform to the group’s standard. 36
Do individuals conform to the pressures of all the groups to which they belong?
Obviously not, because people belong to many groups and their norms vary. In some
cases, groups may even have contradictory norms.
So what do people do? They identify the important groups and teams to which they
belong or hope to belong, and conform to them. The important groups have been
referred to as reference groups. Reference groups are those in which the person:
• is aware of the others in the group;
• defines himself or herself as a member, or would like to be a member; and
• feels that the group members are significant to him or her. 37
Looking at the impact of reference groups shows us, then, that all groups do not
impose equal conformity pressures on their members.
The impact that group pressures for conformity can have on an individual member’s
judgment and attitudes was demonstrated in the now classic studies of noted
social psychologist Solomon Asch. 38 Asch found that subjects gave answers that they
knew were wrong, but that were consistent with the replies of other group members,
about 35 percent of the time. The results suggest that certain group norms pressure us
toward conformity. We desire to be one of the group and avoid being visibly different.
reference groups
Important groups to which individuals
belong or hope to belong and
with whose norms individuals are
likely to conform.
conformity
Adjusting your behaviour to align
with the norms of the group.