Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 12e (Robbins/Judge)
Chapter 9 Foundations of Group Behavior
1) Which one of the following characteristics is not necessarily true about groups?
A) Group members are interdependent.
B) Groups have two or more members.
C) Groups are determined by the organization chart.
D) Groups interact.
E) Groups have particular objectives.
2) Which of the following statements is true regarding informal groups?
A) Informal groups are defined by the organization’s structure.
B) In informal groups, the behaviors team members should engage in are stipulated by and
directed toward organizational goals.
C) A group of people who come together to protest against a new law is an informal group.
D) The six members of an airline flight crew are an informal group.
E) Command groups and task groups are examples of informal groups.
3) Which of the following statements is true about groups?
A) All task groups are also command groups.
B) All command groups are also task groups.
C) All task groups are also friendship groups.
D) All command groups are also informal groups.
E) All interest groups are also command groups.
4) Which of the following groups is most likely to be determined by the organizational chart?
A) informal
B) task
C) friendship
D) interest
E) formal
5) Julia, Bree, and David work in different departments but often eat lunch together. They are an
example of a(n) ________ group.
A) formal
B) informal
C) command
D) task
E) interest
6) Employees who band together to seek improved working conditions form a(n) ________
group.
A) union
B) friendship
C) interest
D) work
E) command
7) John is a college student and he is accused of a campus crime. To deal with this problem a
team is formed that consists of the dean of academic affairs, the dean of students, the registrar,
the director of security, and the student’s advisor. This team is an example of a(n) ________
group.
A) interest
B) command
C) task
D) informal
E) friendship
8) Which of the following best represents a friendship group?
A) employees who band together to have their vacation schedules altered
B) a group of people who have interest in the same rock band
C) an elementary school principal and her 18 teachers
D) the six members of an airline flight crew
E) employees who come together to seek improved working conditions
9) A(n) ________ group is determined by the organization chart and it is composed of the
individuals who report directly to a given manager.
A) command
B) friendship
C) interest
D) informal
E) intimate
10) Which of the following statements is true regarding a task group?
A) It is an informal group.
B) A task group’s boundaries are limited to its immediate hierarchical superior.
C) All task groups are command groups.
D) A task group can cross command relationships.
E) All interest groups are task groups.
11) Which of the following best represents a command group?
A) a group of people who have similar political views
B) employees who come together to protest against certain company policies
C) a group of people who like a particular film star
D) workers who come together to complain against a supervisor
E) a director of postal audits and his five inspectors
12) What are the five stages of group development?
A) generation, implementation, construction, production, and termination
B) introduction, development, production, deterioration, and adjournment
C) initiation, evolution, maturation, degeneration, and termination
D) forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning
E) introducing, developing, performing, controlling, and terminating
13) Which of the following stages of a five-stage group-development model is characterized by a
great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership?
A) introduction
B) storming
C) forming
D) evolution
E) norming
14) During the second stage of group development, ________.
A) close relationships are developed
B) the group demonstrates cohesiveness
C) intragroup conflicts occur
D) the job task is performed
E) groups disband
15) During the ________ stage of group development, members accept the existence of the
group but resist the constraints it imposes on individuality.
A) norming
B) storming
C) performing
D) evolution
E) forming
16) Which stage of group development is characterized by the development of close
relationships and cohesiveness?
A) bonding
B) norming
C) performing
D) initiating
E) forming
17) Which of the following statements is most likely true regarding the norming stage of group
development?
A) According to the five-stage group-development model, this is the second stage in the group
development model.
B) This stage is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure,
and leadership.
C) During this stage, members accept the existence of the group but resist the constraints it
imposes on individuality.
D) During this stage, the group develops a common set of expectations of what defines correct
member behavior.
E) During this stage, the group performs the task at hand.
18) When the group energy is focused on the task at hand, the group has moved to the ________
stage.
A) storming
B) norming
C) production
D) maturation
E) performing
19) Which of the following statements is most likely to be true regarding the performing stage?
A) The performing stage is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s
purpose, structure, and leadership.
B) During the performing stage, there is conflict over who will control the group.
C) The performing stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of
a group.
D) For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in development.
E) During the performing stage, members accept the existence of the group but resist the
constraints it imposes on individuality.
20) Role perception indicates ________.
A) others’ belief regarding how you should act in a given situation
B) the skills required for performing the job
C) the social norms that are to be followed while performing the role
D) our view of how we’re supposed to act in a given situation
E) acceptable standards of behavior shared by nongroup members
21) Role ________ indicates the way others believe you should act in a given context.
A) perception
B) identity
C) expectation
D) criterion
E) style
22) Zach is devout and very active in his church. He is also a very dedicated employee. His
manager offers him a promotion but the new role will require him to work Sundays. Zach would
like the promotion, but realizes that it would force him to miss some church activities. In such a
situation, Zach is most likely to experience ________.
A) role conflict
B) emotional contagion
C) cognitive dissonance
D) emotional labor
E) self-concordance
23) When ________, the result is role conflict.
A) we lack the skills required for performing the role
B) we do not approve of the behavioral requirements of a role
C) our view of the role is different from others’ expectations of that role
D) compliance with one role requirement may make it difficult to comply with another
E) different groups of people associate different norms with a role
24) Which of the following terms best describes the acceptable standards of behavior that are
shared by a group’s members?
A) norms
B) rules
C) status
D) traditions
E) role perception
25) Which of the following types of norms are likely to be the most common and the most
important norms?
A) appearance norms
B) social arrangement norms
C) resource allocation norms
D) performance norms
E) behavioral norms
26) Which of the following is not an example of a performance norm?
A) when an employee needs to look busy
B) how hard an employee should work
C) the appropriate levels of tardiness
D) the acceptable level of output
E) how to get the job done
27) The ________ norms dictate behavior such as with whom group members eat lunch and
friendships on and off the job.
A) appearance
B) social arrangement
C) performance
D) leisure
E) confluence
28) A local government work crew cleans up parks and other public spaces. In this crew the
dirtiest jobs are generally given to the newest members, while the more senior members of the
crew tend to do little except draw their pay. Which of the following classes of norms
encompasses arrangements like this?
A) performance norms
B) appearance norms
C) resource allocation norms
D) leisure norms
E) confluence norms
29) Which of the following terms refers to the process by which an individual’s desire for
acceptance by the group and the pressure by the group on individual members to match its
standards results in a change in individual attitudes and behaviors?
A) conformity
B) coercion
C) commitment
D) convergence
E) confluence
30) The important groups to which an individual belongs or hopes to belong are known as the
________ groups.
A) conformation
B) reference
C) status
D) power
E) appearance
31) Which of the following statements is true regarding behavior in a group?
A) Group norms do not press us toward conformity.
B) A recent study suggests those working in a group were less likely to lie, cheat, and steal than
individuals working alone.
C) Conformity to social norms is higher in individualistic cultures as compared to that in
collectivist cultures.
D) Deviant workplace behavior is likely to flourish where it’s supported by group norms.
E) The low-status people in the group speak more often as compared to the high-status people.
32) Which of the following terms best represents voluntary actions that violate significant
organizational norms and, in doing so, threatens the well-being of the organization or its
members?
A) negativity offset
B) deviant workplace behavior
C) self-concordance
D) emotional contagion
E) positivity offset
33) Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect of status on conformity
pressure?
A) High-status individuals are often given less freedom to deviate from norms than are other
group members.
B) People in high-status jobs have especially negative reactions to social pressure exerted by
people in low-status jobs.
C) Lower-status people are better able to resist conformity pressures than their high-status peers.
D) Groups exert equal conformity pressure on all individuals regardless of their status.
E) As compared to high-status members, low-status members are given a wider range of
discretion as long as their activities aren’t severely detrimental to group goal achievement.
34) Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect of status on group interaction?
A) Lower-status members state fewer commands than high status members.
B) Lower-status members tend to be more assertive group members as compared to high-status
members.
C) Lower-status members speak more often as compared to high-status members.
D) Lower-status members interrupt others more often compared to high-status members.
E) As compared to high-status members, lower-status members tend to participate in group
discussions more actively.
35) According to status characteristics theory, which of the following factors does not determine
status?
A) control over the resources needed by the group
B) contribution to goals
C) ability to conform to group norms
D) personality
E) talent
36) Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect of size of the group on the
performance of the group?
A) The size of the group does not affect the group’s overall behavior.
B) Evidence indicates that larger groups are faster at completing tasks than smaller ones.
C) As compared to smaller groups, larger groups are better in problem solving.
D) If the goal of the group is fact-finding then smaller groups are more effective than larger
groups.
E) Evidence indicates that individuals perform better in larger groups than in smaller ones.
37) Groups of approximately ________ members tend to be more effective for taking action.
A) two
B) seven
C) eleven
D) sixteen
E) twenty-one
38) Which of the following terms indicates the tendency of individuals to spend less effort when
working collectively?
A) groupthink
B) collective efficacy
C) social loafing
D) groupshift
E) clustering
39) Which of the following is an effective means of countering social loafing?
A) increase the rewards the group is given if it succeeds
B) increase the amount by which the group’s progress is monitored
C) ensure that individual contributions to the group’s outcome are identified
D) increase the size of the group
E) increase the group’s work load
40) Since group results cannot be attributed to any single person, the relationship between an
individual’s input and the group’s output is clouded and this increases the possibility of
________.
A) self-concordance
B) emotional contagion
C) negative offset
D) social loafing
E) emotional labor
41) Which of the following terms indicates the degree to which group members are attracted to
one another and are motivated to stay in the group?
A) cohesiveness
B) integration
C) sociability
D) reliability
E) interdependence
42) Which of the following statements is true regarding the effect of group cohesiveness and
performance norms on group productivity?
A) When cohesiveness is low and performance norms are also low, productivity will be high.
B) The productivity of the group is affected by the performance norms but not by the
cohesiveness of the group.
C) If cohesiveness is high and performance norms are low, productivity will be high.
D) If cohesiveness is low and performance norms are high, productivity will be low.
E) When both cohesiveness and performance norms are high, productivity will be high.
43) Which of the following is not likely to encourage group cohesiveness?
A) stimulating competition with other groups
B) increasing the size of the group
C) obtaining agreement upon the established goals
D) increasing the group’s status and the perceived difficulty of attaining membership
E) physically isolating the group
44) Alberto is working with a group of fifteen people to coordinate the merger of two
corporations. Everyone in the group is highly qualified, offers relevant information, and has high
norms. Still, the group seems to be slow at outlining a definitive plan for the merger. With the
information provided, what would be the fastest and best way for Alberto to increase
cohesiveness and productivity?
A) hold long meetings at a restaurant or in a social setting
B) stimulate competition within the group
C) decrease the time members spend together
D) decrease the size of the group
E) invite more members into the group
45) When ________ is of importance in decision making, group decisions are preferred to
individual decisions.
A) acceptance of solution
B) speed
C) efficiency
D) clear responsibility
E) accuracy
46) Which is not a weakness of group decision making?
A) Group decision making is time consuming.
B) Group decisions tend to be less creative than individual decisions.
C) Group decisions suffer from ambiguous responsibility.
D) Group decisions can be dominated by one or a few members.
E) In a group decision, the responsibility of any single member is diluted.
47) Which of the following statements is true regarding group decision making?
A) If creativity is important then individuals tend to be more effective than groups.
B) Group decision making tends to decrease the acceptance of the solution.
C) Group decisions are typically less time consuming than individual decisions.
D) Group decisions are generally less accurate than the decisions of the average individual in a
group.
E) Groups generate more complete information and knowledge than individuals.