Group behavior refers to the ways people behave in large- or small-group situations. People join groups for a multitude of reasons, most frequently because membership satisfies a need of the individual. Group membership can provide companionship, survival and security, affiliation status, power and control, and achievement.

While there is currently no universal description of what constitutes a group, research has identified a few common requirements that contribute to the recognition of a group:

• Interdependence– Individual members must depend, to some degree, on the output of the collective members.
• Social interaction- Accomplishing a goal requires some form of verbal or nonverbal communication among members.
• Perception of a group- All members of the collective must agree they are part of the group.
• Commonality of purpose- All members of the collective come together to attain a common goal.
• Favoritism– Members of the same group tend to be positively prejudiced toward other members and discriminate in their favor.

Individual behavior and decision making can be influenced by the presence of others. There are both positive and negative implications of group influence on individual behavior. While there are many ways a group can influence behavior, there are three key phenomena: groupthink, groupshift, and deindividuation. Groupthink happens when group members, faced with an important choice, become so focused on making a smooth, quick decision that they overlook other, possibly more fruitful options. Groupshift is a phenomenon in which the initial positions of individual members of a group are exaggerated toward a more extreme position. Deindividuation happens when a person lets go of self-consciousness and control and does what the group is doing, usually with negative goals or outcomes.

Key Points

• Research has identified a few common requirements that contribute to the recognition of a group: interdependence, social interaction, perception as a group, commonality of purpose, and favoritism.
• There are both positive and negative implications of group influence on individual behavior. This influence is useful in the context of work and team settings; however, it was also evident in Nazi Germany.
• Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an incorrect or deviant decision-making outcome.
• Groupshift is the phenomenon in which the initial positions of individual members of a group are exaggerated toward a more extreme position.
• Deindividuation is a concept in social psychology that is generally thought of as the losing of self-awareness in groups. Theories of deindividuation propose that it is a psychological state of decreased self-evaluation and decreased evaluation apprehension that causes abnormal collective behavior.

Key Terms

• groupthink: A psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people, in which the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.
• group behavior: the ways people behave in large- or small-group situations
• affiliation: the act of connecting or associating with a person or organization
• interdependence: the dependence of two or more people or things on each other
• commonality: the state of sharing features or attributes
• favoritism: the practice of giving unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another
• groupshift: where the initial positions of individual members of a group are exaggerated toward a more extreme position
• deindividuation: losing of self-awareness in groups.