PSY-257: Social Psychology

Week 5 Discussion: Group Dynamics and Influence

This discussion focuses on how group behaviors shape individual actions and decisions. It aligns with course outcomes related to understanding social influence and group processes.

Discussion Instructions

Post a 500- to 750-word response addressing the following prompts. Support your ideas with at least two scholarly sources.

1. Describe a real-life example of groupthink or conformity from your experience or current events.
2. Explain how social norms contribute to group behavior in that example.
3. Discuss strategies to reduce negative group influences like deindividuation.
4. Respond to at least two classmates’ posts with thoughtful feedback.

Initial post due by Thursday; responses due by Sunday. Use APA format for citations.

Grading Criteria

• Content Depth (40 points): Accurate application of concepts (20 points), relevance of example (20 points).
• Engagement (30 points): Quality of responses to peers (15 points each).
• Writing and Format (20 points): Clarity, grammar, APA adherence (10 points each).
• Timeliness (10 points): Meeting deadlines.

Total: 100 points

Groupthink often appears in corporate settings where teams avoid dissent to maintain harmony. Social norms enforce this by rewarding agreement over critical thinking. Effective strategies include assigning a devil’s advocate role to encourage diverse viewpoints.

Fiske, S. T., 2018. Social beings: Core motives in social psychology. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Available at: https://books.google.com/books?id=examplelink.

Hogg, M. A. and Vaughan, G. M., 2021. Social psychology. 9th ed. Harlow: Pearson. DOI: 10.12345/socialpsych.

Forsyth, D. R., 2019. Group dynamics. 7th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning. Available at: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=groupdynamics.

Brown, R., 2020. Group processes: Dynamics within and between groups. 3rd ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118719244.