Notes

A) Social loafing refers to the tendency for people to exert themselves less when they are in a group compared to when they are alone. The first way that I would reduce social loafing in my group is to assign specific assignments to each of my group members. This not only ensures that every aspect of the project gets completed, but also will make every group member feel personally accountable for their part in the completion of the project. Holding people personally accountable is a way to prevent group members relying on other people to do the work. Another way that I would prevent social loafing is to establish ground rules from the beginning. Meaning, I would establish when we would check in with each other to ensure that the assignments are getting done, and also schedule in person meeting times to actually see that things are getting completed in a timely manner. Setting up rules/deadlines from the beginning decreases social loafing because it establishes basic rules for people to follow regarding how we will work together. The last way that I would reduce social loafing in my group is to hold people accountable and call them out if they are slacking or not completing their work on time according to the deadlines we already established at the beginning of the group project. Calling people out like this works to decrease social loafing as it shows that other members of the group are paying attention to the progress of the overall project, and want each person to do their part that they are responsible for. This helps to decrease social loafing as it brings awareness to the potential social loafer and lets them know that their behavior is unacceptable and that they are individually responsible as well.

A. Normative influence refers to the tendency that people have to conform in order to gain the favor of others or to avoid rejection. Essentially, it's the idea that people tend to follow the crowd. This can be seen in the way that some of the population is reacting to the current pandemic. For example, there have been an influx of people who have started to exercise in light of the stay at home order. While many of these people want to be healthy and are exercising for personal reasons, many of my friends have started working out simply because they see that everyone else is doing it, and not because they actually want to. Because they want to seem healthy and as a member of the popular majority, they adapt the same hobbies (like working out) as the majority group. This is in part because they want to fit in and gain the approval of others. Their thought process is along the lines of "Well, everyone else is doing it so I should to."
Informational influence refers to the tendency that people have to accept evidence about reality provided by other people. I feel that this form of influence is more common during the pandemic than normative influence. Because so much of our knowledge about the situation comes from media and word of mouth, we all look to others to see what is the correct response given the situation and the knowledge at hand. An example of informational influence seen today would be the presence of face masks. Because everyone is confused regarding the best precautions to take during this time, we look for experts to show us what to do. An example of this would be social distancing and staying 6 feet apart, even when running essential errands. While many believe that if you are healthy, then you don't need to social distance, that belief is suspended because government officials and medical professionals are urging people to stay 6 feet apart. The reality that is being given by the medical professionals is that maintaining 6 feet of distance between others will lessen the spread of the disease. By following the rules, you are in the right, and therefore are correct because you are following the words of an expert.

B) Stereotype threat refers to the potential to perform poorly as a result of a stereotype. Additionally, when faced with a stereotype that someone could fit in to, they fear fitting into that category and becoming/embodying that stereotype. Self fulfilling prophesy refers to a belief that leads to the fulfillment of said belief. An example of stereotype threat that can be seen in the True Colors video is regard to Glen's experience. He mentioned in the video that because he was treated a certain way by the white people he interacted with, he felt upset and sad by it. His feelings prevented him from wanting to interact with the community. He also felt angry, which feeds into the stereotype that African American people have anger management issues and are lazy. This example goes along with the idea of the self fulfilling prophesy as well. Because of his knowledge of the mistreatment of his race by members of the majority, he had some thoughts regarding how the experiment was going to turn out. Those thoughts contributed to the self fulfilling prophesy of how he would be treated during the experiment. Similar things can be seen in the more modern bike stealing video in which a white male, an african american male, and a white, conventionally pretty female all steal, or attempt to steal, a bike in broad daylight. How the passersby treat each thief varies drastically. Because a pretty woman does not fall into the stereotype of a typical bike thief, people do not call the police or attempt to prevent her from stealing the bike. In actuality, many people offer to help her steal it. She is not involved in a stereotype threat because she does not fit the stereotype. On the other hand, the african american male does. His age, race, and way of dress all fit the stereotype of a typical thief. Because of this, and the fact that he is fulfilling the stereotype, passersby react almost immediatly. He even has people that called the police and stole his equipment. Self fulfilling prophesy in the bike film can be seen in the young woman's story. She knew that because of her looks, body type, gender, and overall appearance that she would be able to get away with stealing the bike with minimal to no negative response from the public. Because this was her belief, it became true.