ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on some basic influence processes that may occur when people are part of, or are interacting with, a group. It also focuses on some dual process models of group influence, which attempt to address the relationships between majority and minority influence. The book discusses issues such as brainstorming in groups, conflict within groups, group discussion, groupthink, and many other issues critical to group decisionmaking. It examines specific performance issues. The "social facilitation effect," represents an important group phenomenon, as it tests the effects of perhaps the most minimal of social conditions. The book describes social motivation losses. Many investigators had noticed that group members do not always seem to perform up to their individual potential. The book also describes many variables that influence peoples' decisions in social dilemmas, a primary interactive context for studying group behaviors.
