Deck 11: Power in Groups: A Central Dynamic

Question 1

Strategic stupidity is a type of _______ strategy.

A) defiance
B) compliance
C) coalition
D) resistance

Answer 1

D

Question 2

The Milgram studies on "obedience" demonstrate that

A) a shocking number of individuals are sadistic.
B) most individuals will defy authority and refuse to obey objectionable orders.
C) individuals are inclined to obey legitimate authority.
D) obedience is a strong power resource.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Resistance is

A) "futile."
B) a covert strategy to prevent dominance from others.
C) an empowerment strategy.
D) an overt strategy of open defiance.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following is a general indicator of power?

A) The less powerful define the more powerful.
B) Those whose decisions are opposed show power.
C) Those who claim to have authority are powerful.
D) The more powerful define the less powerful.

Question 5

Conformity and obedience differs in which of the following ways?

A) Conformity is peer pressure and obedience is pressure to comply from a group.
B) Conformity is the group pressuring the individual to comply and obedience is an individual pressuring other individuals or groups to comply.
C) Conformity is an individual pressuring group compliance and obedience is one or more individuals pressuring a single individual's compliance.
D) Conformity is a compliance-gaining effort, but obedience is not.

Question 6

An effective way to address passive aggressive resistance strategies is

A) criticizing the strategy.
B) enabling passive aggressors to continue the resistance until they "get it out of their system."
C) refusing to address the strategies at all; indifference will make it diminish.
D) confronting the strategy directly.

Question 7

One of the members of your project group doesn't know how to navigate certain Internet sites to do research for the group project. When group members offer to teach her some simple ways to do this, she appears to be interested, but never pays much attention to instructions given by other members and she consistently makes simple errors whenever trying to use the Internet with guidance from others. She actually hopes that eventually she'll be given other duties because teaching her is just too labor intensive and time consuming for other group members. She doesn't feel comfortable telling the group directly that she won't learn to use the Internet because that might get her ostracized by the group. Instead, she pretends to try to learn but never seems to grasp how to use it. This is an example of

A) a defiance strategy.
B) a resistance strategy.
C) a strategic stupidity strategy.
D) Both b and c

Question 8

Dominance is

A) a competitive form of power.
B) a form of passive aggression.
C) a form of empowerment.
D) an attempt to prevent the exercise of power from more powerful group members.

Question 9

"Our discussion of this issue will begin in half an hour, okay?" This is an example of a relatively powerless form of verbal communication called a(n)

A) hesitation.
B) tag question.
C) disclaimer.
D) excessively polite question.

Question 10

The forms of power include

A) prevention.
B) empowerment.
C) dominance.
D) All of the above

Question 11

Passive aggression is a form of

A) defiance.
B) resistance.
C) empowerment.
D) None of the above

Question 12

Which of the following is a way to combat resistance strategies in groups?

A) Confront the strategy directly.
B) Refuse to enable the resistance by providing consequences when resistance is used.
C) Give clear directions for specific tasks.
D) All of the above

Question 13

"What you're telling me to do is simply unethical, and you're despicable for even suggesting such behavior, so don't hold your breath waiting for me to follow your orders" is an example of

A) assertiveness.
B) resistance.
C) defiance.
D) passive aggression.

Question 14

Expertise is a power resource when

A) the person is viewed as a real expert.
B) the person demonstrates trustworthiness.
C) the person knows how to use the information to accomplish a goal.
D) All of the above

Question 15

When comparing women and men as leaders, research supports which of the following conclusions?

A) Men score much higher than women on key leadership competencies.
B) Women score much higher than men on key leadership competencies.
C) Men still hold the vast majority of all managerial positions in the U.S.
D) Women hold almost half of the CEO positions among the 500 largest corporations in the U.S.

Question 16

You want to determine by observation who has the most power in a group. The first place to begin is with general indicators of power, such as

A) the more powerful define the less powerful.
B) who opposes significant change.
C) whose decisions are followed.
D) who claims to have authority.

Question 17

"Our meeting, uhm, ah, will be at 8:30 tomorrow evening, okay? That isn't a problem, is it?" This is an example of

A) hedging.
B) tag questions.
C) hesitating.
D) disclaimer.

Question 18

You defy the group on an important issue. The group reaction to your defiance will likely be influenced by which of the following?

A) Significance of the norm that is defied
B) Degree of deviation from the norm
C) Degree of certainty that the defiance is not simply unintended noncompliance
D) How passive the defiant member is

Question 19

Power is

A) group centered.
B) resides in the individual.
C) transactional between group members.
D) avoidable in most human transactions.

Question 20

Women hold slightly fewer than 2% of Fortune 1000 CEO positions. This is primarily because

A) fewer women seek executive positions than men.
B) gender stereotyping brands men as better problem solvers than women.
C) sexual harassment diminishes women's desire to remain in the corporate workplace.
D) there is a parental penalty that disadvantages women.

Question 21

Whenever a group member puts off completing a task necessary for the group to function effectively it is a clear instance of the purposeful procrastination resistance strategy.

Question 22

Punishment can be a powerful means of influencing behavior of group members if used often and together with rewards.

Question 23

Cultures vary in their attitudes concerning the appropriateness of power imbalances. This variation is called the conformity-obedience dimension.

Question 24

The most fundamental lesson of the Milgram studies is that when the destructive effects of people's behavior become clear and when individuals are ordered by authority figures to carry out actions that are viewed as objectionable, most individuals will defy legitimate authority figures.

Question 25

Whenever a group member arrives late to a meeting it is an example of the tactical tardiness resistance strategy.

Question 26

Despite wishing otherwise, some group members can be totally powerless and unable to affect a group in any way.

Question 27

Assertiveness is primarily a strategy of resistance.

Question 28

Powerful forms of verbal communication are not always appropriate.

Question 29

Space is a strong indicator of power.

Question 30

Women typically use tag questions, disclaimers, and hedges more often than men in mixed-sex groups.

Question 31

Men typically are more verbally aggressive, direct, opinionated, judgmental, and argumentative than women in mixed-sex groups.

Question 32

A power resource is anything that enables individuals to move toward their own goals or interfere with another's actions.

Question 33

There is no difference between information and expertise as power resources.

Question 34

An extrinsic reward is enjoying what one does for its own sake and an intrinsic reward is an inducement such as money, grades, or recognition.

Question 35

No recent research suggests that subjects would blindly obey legitimate authorities as Milgram found in his studies decades ago.

Question 36

Significant power disparities (imbalances) often foster violent or aggressive transactions.

Question 37

High power-distance cultures generally accept the fact that the more powerful are entitled to greater power than less powerful individuals.

Question 38

Resistance is often duplicitous and manipulative, and generally should be discouraged as incompetent communication.

Question 39

Assertiveness is a useful skill for the competent communicator because it is appropriate in any situation.

Question 40

In general, group members who use more powerful language patterns are perceived to be more credible, attractive, and persuasive than those using less powerful language.

Question 41

An extrinsic reward can diminish intrinsic motivation to behave in certain ways.

Question 42

Workplace bullying is typically the result of power imbalances.

Question 43

The power-distance dimension means that some cultures are more stratified-power disparities are greater-than in other cultures.

Question 44

Passive aggression is a form of defiance against more powerful group members.

Question 45

Research shows that ethnicity is often a bigger barrier to advancement into top leadership positions than being a woman.

Question 46

Hepeating refers to men's tendency to derogate women's contributions in meetings, but later to repeat the exact same ideas as their own high-quality idea.

Question 47

Workplace bullying is fundamentally a dominance-prevention power struggle.

Question 48

Preventing workplace bullying is the most effective strategy for reducing it.