Deck 6: Group Development and Structure

Question 1

The fact that individuals change over time to be better members of groups, and that groups change over time to help individuals be better group members is focused on by the _____ approach to group development.

A) group polarization
B) interactionist
C) group structure
D) social norm

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following represents the sequence that most groups are likely to follow as they develop?

A) Forming, storming, norming, adjournment.
B) Forming, attraction, discomfort, adjournment.
C) Forming, storming, discomfort, adjournment.
D) Attraction, norming, storming, adjournment.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following did Richard Moreland and his colleagues find concerning the behavior of new group members?

A) People who thought they were new members of a group talked less and agreed less with others.
B) People who thought they were new members of a group talked more, and agreed more with others.
C) People who thought they were new members of a group expressed less anxiety and conformed less to the group norms.
D) People who thought they were new members of a group made better decisions and worked harder at group goals.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

When strangers are first forming into a group, the group members are likely to base their impressions of each other on

A) their salient social categories.
B) a detailed examination of each person's personal characteristics and abilities.
C) information obtained from outside sources.
D) their specific needs.

Question 5

One advantage of having an initiation procedure for admittance into a group is that it can

A) decrease the role of group norms.
B) increase group loyalty.
C) reduce the negative effects of group structure.
D) reduce the negative effects of role conflict.

Question 6

In the study by Aronson and Mills in which some women read sexually oriented passages in public before joining a group, the women who read the passages

A) conformed more to group norms.
B) conformed less to group norms.
C) reported more liking for the group.
D) reported more anxiety about joining the group.

Question 7

Which of the following can be said about the "storming" or conflict phase of group development?

A) Storming should be avoided at all costs, because it only produces negative outcomes.
B) Effective work groups do not engage in storming.
C) It may be important for effective work groups to engage in storming.
D) In most cases storming does not occur in real working groups.

Question 8

Satisfaction, identification, and effective task performance are characteristics of which stage of group formation?

A) Storming.
B) Norming.
C) Forming.
D) Adjourning.

Question 9

Connie Gersick observed the strategies used by a variety of working groups as they performed their tasks. These groups almost always changed their strategy at which of the following times?

A) After the norming phase.
B) After the storming phase.
C) About half-way through the time that they had been allotted to perform their task.
D) About three-fourths of the way through the time that they had been allotted to perform their task.

Question 10

A number of research projects have found that social groups frequently include group members who perform two major social roles. These roles are the _____ role and the _____ role.

A) initiating; responding
B) normative; informational
C) norming; performing
D) task-oriented; socioemotional

Question 11

In most working groups it will be found that

A) the same person takes on both the task-oriented role and the socioemotional role.
B) different people take on the task-oriented role and the socioemotional role.
C) groups contain either task-oriented or socioemotional role members, but not both.
D) group members are more aware of the task-oriented role than they are of the socioemotional role.

Question 12

Norman has just begun a new job. He is having trouble adjusting to its demands, however, because he has not yet learned exactly how he is going to fit into the new company, or exactly what the people in the company expect him to do. Norman is experiencing

A) role ambiguity.
B) role conflict.
C) diffuse status.
D) specific status.

Question 13

Rebecca is trying do determine what she should do. She would very much like to go home at the end of the day to attend a birthday party for her brother, but the members of her chemistry study group expect her to come to a study meeting. Rebecca is experiencing

A) diffuse conflict.
B) specific conflict.
C) role ambiguity.
D) role conflict.

Question 14

"Women make good secretaries and men make good presidents." Someone who believes this is espousing traditional

A) gender roles.
B) gender discrimination.
C) gender structure.
D) group gender norms.

Question 15

A new working group has just been formed, and the group members are meeting each other for the first time. The first task of the group is to elect a leader. Which of the following people is most likely to be elected leader?

A) Elena, a 20-year-old white female.
B) Rashid, a 30-year-old black male.
C) Alain, a 35-year-old Asian male.
D) Morton, a 50-year-old white male.

Question 16

There is a tendency in working groups that are first forming to assign people to social roles according to their social category memberships. The status that individuals are given on the basis of this assignment is known as

A) social role analysis.
B) initial role impressions.
C) diffuse status.
D) specific status.

Question 17

At a societal level, diffuse status is referred to as

A) cultural status.
B) arranged status.
C) socio-economic status (SES).
D) societal-specific status (SSS).

Question 18

Which of the following was found in a meta-analysis conducted by Driskell and Mullen?

A) The specific status of a group member influenced the group member's actual performance, which then influenced group expectations about the group member.
B) The diffuse status of a group member influenced group expectations about his or her likely performance, which then influenced the group member's actual performance.
C) Group members with higher diffuse status were later given lower specific status.
D) There was no relationship between diffuse status and specific status in most working groups.

Question 19

In working groups, women tend to speak less often and be interrupted more frequently than are men. This is probably because women have

A) greater gender role conflict.
B) less gender role conflict.
C) lower specific status.
D) lower diffuse status.

Question 20

Leonard and Jerry are both running for student council president. According to your textbook, which of the following characteristics might you want to know in order to predict which one is going to win?

A) Their last names.
B) Their hair color.
C) Their eye color.
D) Their height.

Question 21

Rosa, a Hispanic-American student, is also a math major. The members of Rosa's chemistry study group rely on her to explain the chemical equations that they have to learn. Which of the following likely describes Rosa's status in the group?

A) High diffuse status.
B) High specific status.
C) High socio-economic status.
D) High task-oriented status.

Question 22

In the research reported by Hollander in which confederates either followed or did not follow group norms, which of the following was found?

A) The confederate's opinions were adopted more often when he had followed group norms on the previous trial.
B) The confederate's opinions were adopted more often when he had violated group norms on the previous trial.
C) The confederate's opinions were adopted more often when he not given any opinion on the previous trial.
D) The confederate's opinions were adopted more often when he had challenged the opinions of others on the previous trial.

Question 23

Research by Wiggins and his colleagues found that high-status group members

A) were blamed more when they made small mistakes but were blamed less when they made big mistakes.
B) were blamed less when they made small mistakes but were blamed more when they made big mistakes.
C) were blamed less for both big and small mistakes.
D) were blamed more for both big and small mistakes.

Question 24

According to research concerning the relationship between the physical environment and social networks, if we were to ask Rhoda about her best friends, we would probably find that those friends

A) lived in Rhoda's home town.
B) had the same major as Rhoda.
C) lived on Rhoda's dorm floor.
D) had few friends in common with Rhoda.

Question 25

The person sitting at the head of the table in a group meeting is likely to

A) play the socioemotional role.
B) play the task-oriented role.
C) have high status.
D) experience role conflict.

Question 26

A centralized group network will be most useful when

A) the task is simple and it is important to relay orders quickly.
B) the task is complex and many decisions have to be made at once.
C) the task is ambiguous and there is no clear solution.
D) the task is well-defined and there is more than one leader.

Question 27

Which of the following individuals is likely to have the most status in the ABC biscuit company?

A) Bill, who keeps track of stock information on his computer.
B) Frank, who works at home most days.
C) Leana, who knows virtually everybody in the office on a first-name basis.
D) Charles, who paints the names on the doors of new employees.

Question 28

Consider and compare the group-level and the interactionist approaches to understanding group development. Which do you feel best captures group development, and why?

Question 29

What are the normal stages of group development? What are the characteristics that are likely to occur in each stage? Do all groups go through similar stages?

Question 30

Consider research that has addressed how new groups form, or how new members are assimilated into existing groups. Consider also the process of initiation in groups. Why might groups have an initiation procedure?

Question 31

Define group structure, and indicate what characteristics create it. How do we know when a group has structure?

Question 32

What kinds of social roles are played in social groups? What are role ambiguity and role conflict, and what are their negative implications for social groups? How can leaders prevent such difficulties from occurring?

Question 33

Define diffuse status and specific status. How do people get each one? What are the consequences of status for groups and group members?

Question 34

Consider the different types of social networks that might form in different groups. How do the physical environment and group goals relate to social networks?