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Do you love speaking in groups? (If you don’t like to speak, then you are a good friend of the editor...)
We will also see that some friends are "divers" in some groups, but in other groups they are " atmosphere group Group leader" and "funny group leader"; there are also some friends who are keen on watching group dynamics and grabbing group red envelopes, but do not like to talk in them. This is also called "peeping on the screen".
What psychological activities are hidden behind "diving" and "peeping at the screen"? Why does group speaking always give everyone a headache? Today we will give you an overview from the perspective of social psychology ~
Reason 1: Worry about negative feedback from others
Group chat is a way of group communication. The difficulty of group speaking can sometimes be compared to public speaking. The process of group speaking is also a process of individual impression management.
The so-called impression management (Impression management) refers to the process by which people try to manage and control the impressions formed by others on themselves. Generally, people always tend to present themselves in an image that is consistent with the current social situation or interpersonal background to ensure that others make a pleasant evaluation of themselves. In social interactions, understanding others' perceptions and cognitions of themselves, and using this as a basis to create a positive image that is beneficial to us, helps us to have better interactions with others; but at the same time, excessive attention to impression management may also Let your behavior be too dependent on other people's opinions and too passive.
In this situation, the attention of others caused by the speech may bring about two types of worries for the speaker. One is the embarrassment of not getting response and attention from others, which makes the place cool down; the other is the embarrassment caused by one's own public expression. By speaking inappropriately brings yourself potential negative feedback or negative reviews.
The occurrence of the above two situations is not conducive to the speaker's impression management in the group, especially when the familiarity between group members is low. In order to avoid this kind of worry, many friends will not choose to speak easily and control possible problems from the source.
Picture source: veer gallery
At the same time, these worries will also bring certain negative emotions to the speaker. The most typical ones are anxiety before speaking and fear of speaking in public situations.
There are three possible reasons:
(1) The speaker is introverted and shy, and has difficulty expressing himself. is common in people with social phobia. Typical symptoms include wandering eyes, blushing, shrugging, and restlessness in social interactions.
(2) The speaker has insufficient self-confidence and low self-esteem. In other words, these friends do not want to believe in their own self-worth, tend to think the worst about things, and are not willing to work hard for change. These friends are more likely to be overly sensitive to interpersonal relationships and society.
(3) Past negative feedback. From a behaviorist point of view, previous feedback will shape an individual's subsequent behavior. Previous unpleasant experiences in similar situations, or failure to receive positive feedback and support from others, will intensify the individual's fear and fear of subsequent actions. For example, "Everyone was having a very high chat in the group before. I finally worked up the courage to share a few personal opinions. But after I finished speaking, the place immediately cooled down and the group became silent." This speaker may be more It will be difficult to speak next time.
The behaviorism school in psychology believes that behavior is a combination of various physical responses used by organisms to adapt to environmental changes, and the core lies in S-R (ie, stimulus-response). That is, our behavior is shaped by previous stimuli, and behavioral responses depend on the content and intensity of the stimulus. Positive feedback (reward) can help encourage the behavior to occur again, while negative feedback (no positive feedback or punishment) can reduce the probability that the behavior will occur later.
In response to the above situation, speakers can improve their self-confidence and self-esteem through deliberate practice, seek support for opinions, and positively motivate themselves through good feedback, while can reduce the stress response and Negative emotions, so that you can better express yourself in public.
Reason two: Bystander effect and "free-riding" behavior
Online group chat, as a way of group communication, has the characteristics of dispersed responsibilities, weak immediacy, unclear direction, and loose relationship between transmitters and receivers. At this time, it is is prone to the bystander effect.
The so-called "bystander effect" of is also called the diffusion of responsibility effect. It means that for a certain thing, if a single individual is asked to complete the task alone, he will have a strong sense of responsibility and will respond positively. But if a group is required to complete a task together, each individual in the group will have a weak sense of responsibility and will tend to shrink when faced with difficulties or responsibilities.
When a task falls on one person, we often have to take responsibility; and when the task becomes a group of people, we often expect others to accomplish more.
For example, the leader sent a notification in the group, but no one responded. Everyone may be thinking: No one else will reply, let alone me. (Don’t guess, am I talking about you?)
Image source: veer gallery
On the other hand, group friends may also behave like "free riding" . The so-called free riding refers to the behavior of speculators trying their luck in collective activities with the belief that "even if I don't do it, someone else will do it." Going back to the above case, the leader posted a task in the group, but no one responded. You may also be thinking: Someone will always reply, so I don’t have to reply.
From another perspective, in fact, we also have a default consensus in online communication - if others are really in an emergency, they may send a private message or @the relevant person. If you just send a group message, the group will default to not seeing the message, even if it is not It doesn’t hurt to reply.
Reason three: Do not agree with the content in the group
This kind of situation is most likely to happen in the family group of "loving family" or "happy family" that each of us has. With the attitude of not believing or spreading rumors, we often neither pay attention to nor agree with the contents forwarded by our elders such as lottery, health care, and cutting a knife. However, considering the harmony of the family, we often do not directly resist.
When we lack recognition of the content or even the group in the group chat, we are more likely to feel repelled and find it difficult to integrate. Especially when parents are defeated again and again after educating parents, their own desire for expression will be strongly suppressed over time. Slowly, the elders in the group were still sharing with each other enthusiastically, but we were exhausted and unable to correct ourselves, and even gave up complaining and surrendered.
The so-called group identity (Group identity) means that group members regard the goals, norms, and behaviors of the group as their own goals and behavioral standards. The degree of this determines the cohesion and morale of a group and other characteristics. Such groups can be formed naturally by blood and geography, such as families and clans; they can also be formed naturally by ideas and opinions, such as feminists, environmentalists, etc.
Among them, whether the group goals are clear and appropriate, whether there are "core" figures in the group, the degree to which the needs of group members are satisfied, and whether the methods of resolving conflicts within the group are appropriate will all affect group identity. If the above factors are not met, group members may lack a sense of identification with their own group; when they neither identify with nor are able to break away from the group, they may also show attitudes or behaviors such as "out-group preference" and "in-group derogation."
Picture source: veer gallery
Reason four: There is no expressed demand for group content
This kind of situation is relatively simple and common in some functional groups.For example, community groups are mostly used by neighborhood committees to inform information. Group chats between group members can easily bury important information from neighborhood committees. In line with the principle of maximizing information transmission , to a large extent we instinctively choose not to say irrelevant words and not to interfere with the reception and transmission of information by others. Compared with the above situation, the "silence" of is positive feedback, ensuring the maximum message transmission effect.
Picture source: veer gallery
Reason 5: Information explosion
In theory, each member can be embedded in countless groups at the same time. We have different identities in different group chats, maybe leaders, students, friends, children, etc. Therefore, you also need to constantly change your identity, tone, and ideas when responding to group chats.
This unlimited embeddedness greatly increases the user's information flow, and too much information will increase the user's cognitive resource loss . When the user's resource loss is too large and is not replenished in time—— For example, when you come home from work one day and see a bunch of group messages - you will be less willing to reply, and more willing to give a "read, no reply" response.
Ego depletion theory believes that resources are indispensable for the executive functions of the self (including self-control, prudent choices, and proactive behaviors). Humans have limited cognitive resources and can only perform a limited number of self-controls in the short term. When resources are insufficient, there will be a temporary decline in the ability or willingness to perform volitional activities, including a decline in the ability or willingness to control the environment, control the self, make decisions, and initiate actions.
Picture source: veer gallery
Conclusion
Finally, I wish everyone can save cognitive resources in online communication, achieve effective communication, and not be delayed in meaningless chats; at the same time, "take action when it is time to take action" and have the courage to take responsibility. Responsibility, do not lose the opportunity to actively communicate and express yourself because of timidity or worry.
By the way: What is the reason why you don’t want to leave a comment under the tweet?
Author affiliation: Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
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Source: Science Academy
Editor: Lezi Superman
