12 - Group Decisions and Influences

Group dynamics refers to interpersonal relationships that develop between individuals within the group. The ways in which small groups form is significant. Social power held by the individual or the group has the potential to precipitate changes. Social influence describes the actual formation and change of attitudes, opinions, and behaviours through group contact and interaction. If group cohesion and group loyalty are fairly well established, the group will have considerable influence on its membership.

college students walking

How is it possible for a group to influence the behaviour of individual members? Each member’s individual input into the group decision may be small, but it will be present nonetheless. People with an external locus of control feel that sources outside of themselves control their fate. People with an internal locus of control feel that their own inner resources and self-determination are responsible for shaping their destiny. The locus of control hypothesis suggests that the individual most susceptible to persuasion is the one with the external locus of control. The individual with an internal locus of control is less awed by authority figures and may react quite critically to any conspicuous attempts at persuasion.

In what other ways does the group exert an influence? Shared participation means that each member is an active part of the change process rather than a passive recipient. A public commitment to a course of action that is witnessed by others will solidify group influence. For example, at a meeting of the social club, the president says, “Raise your hand if you agree with this decision and are willing to help with the project”. That public commitment reinforces group solidarity.

The collective behaviour of the group can be quite distinctive from that of each participating member. The main notion of the risky-shift hypothesis is that the group will be more brave and daring in its course of action and final decisions than the individuals acting alone. For example, some students are unhappy with the way a social event is being organized in the school. Ten people who are discontent decide to go to the principal’s office as a group and complain. A lone complainer might be more reluctant to do that.

A somewhat different perspective is taken in the cautious-shift hypothesis that maintains that, in decisions involving a diversity of values, the group tends to be more conservative than individual members. A conservative strategy is pursued by the group in decisions involving family responsibility or outright danger. For example, a social club made money through fund-raising, and the members believe it should be invested for greater profits. Some of the members have invested their own money in some highrisk stocks. But the group members persuade each other that the club funds must be invested in ways that are more secure. A group of campers is stranded in the mountains. Some of the campers propose that they negotiate a risky passage through the mountains to reach safety, but the group as a whole decides to stay together and send up flares until they are rescued, which is the safer solution.