Group Dynamics & Leadership Styles: Class 12 Chapter 7 Simplified

Group dynamics is about how individuals behave differently in groups compared to alone.

Key Group Concepts:

1. Social Loafing People put in less effort when working in a group than when alone (Latané). Example: Group assignment where everyone expects others to do the work.

2. Social Facilitation The presence of others improves performance on well-learned tasks but impairs performance on new/complex tasks (Zajonc).

3. Deindividuation Loss of self-awareness and personal responsibility in a crowd. Can lead to crowd violence.

4. Groupthink (Janis) A group values harmony over critical thinking → poor decision-making. Signs: illusion of invulnerability, collective rationalisation, pressure on dissenters.

Leadership Styles (for boards): 1. Authoritarian: Leader decides alone, gives orders 2. Democratic: Involves group in decision-making 3. Laissez-faire: Hands-off; group has full freedom

Research finding: Democratic leadership generally produces the highest group satisfaction; authoritarian can produce high output but low morale.

Exam Tip: "Define groupthink and describe its characteristics" is a 4-mark question. List 4–5 characteristics from NCERT.