What is group polarization? Make sure to describe the cognitive and motivational factors that contribute to group polarization
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: Group polarization is the tendency of groups to arrive at more extreme positions (either risky or conservative) than the initial inclinations of individual group members. According to the persuasive arguments interpretation (a cognitive interpretation), polarization may occur because during discussions, individual members will provide arguments or information that other members may not have considered; when these arguments support individuals' initial inclinations, they will become more extreme in their attitudes or recommendations. According to the social comparison alternative (a motivational interpretation), individual group members will work to get a sense of how other group members are feeling, and in order to be liked, they will take a position similar to others'—only a little more extreme.
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A study by Perrone and colleagues (2010) asked high school students who were identified as being academically talented to predict their career outcomes. What was the finding when those same students were examined between 10 and 20 years later? a. Students' predictions had very poor accuracy
b. Students tended to underpredict their level of occupational success. c. Students tended to overpredict their level of occupational success. d. Students' predictions were surprisingly accurate.
The tendency for the presence of other people to increase performance on easy tasks and impair performance on difficult tasks is known as
a. social loafing. b. social facilitation. c. group polarization. d. groupthink.