Social Psychology
Responsibility, motivation, peer pressure, culture, teamwork, management, supervision and leadership.
Social psychology, summary notes
- Individual responsibility means every technician owns the quality of their own work; group responsibility (e.g. a shift sign-off) must not be allowed to dilute that into "someone else will check it."
- Motivation and morale affect error rates, a demotivated technician is more likely to take shortcuts or skip documentation, even if fully competent.
- Peer pressure can push a technician to skip a step to avoid holding up a shift or looking slow, a healthy safety culture makes it acceptable to stop and query, not just to keep pace.
- Organisational ("just") culture distinguishes honest error, at-risk behaviour, and reckless behaviour, and responds to each differently, this is what makes people willing to report their own mistakes.
- Effective supervision and leadership set the tone: a supervisor who visibly prioritises schedule over a technician's safety concern teaches the whole team to do the same.
- ⚠ Exam trap: "norms", the unwritten way things are really done, quietly replace the approved procedure, and a group sign-off must never dilute individual responsibility.
A technician notices a torque value looks wrong but the rest of the shift has already moved on and is waiting on them. They sign it off anyway. Which social factor is most at play?
Peer/schedule pressure overriding individual judgement, the correct response the organisation should encourage is to stop and query, and a just-culture programme protects the technician for doing so.
Social psychology concept map
Social Psychology
Social psychology quiz
Social Psychology, quiz
1. A "just culture" in a maintenance organisation is one that:
Distinguishes honest error from reckless behaviour and responds to each differentlyNever disciplines anyone for any action, on the basis that punishment always discourages reportingTreats every error as gross negligence, so that the same standard is applied consistently to everyone2. A technician skips a verification step to avoid slowing down the rest of the shift. This is an example of:
Peer/schedule pressureA knowledge deficiencyPoor eyesight3. Individual responsibility for the quality of one's own work should be:
Retained by each technician even under a group shift sign-offTransferred entirely to the shift supervisorRemoved once a second person has also worked on the task4. A supervisor who visibly prioritises schedule over a technician's safety concern is most likely to:
Teach the team to do the same in futureHave no measurable effect on team behaviourOnly affect that single technician's future decisions5. Low morale and demotivation in a maintenance team primarily increase the risk of:
Shortcuts and incomplete documentationImproved attention to detailNo measurable change in error rate6. Effective teamwork in maintenance depends most on:
Clear roles, shared goals and open communicationEveryone working in silenceThe most senior person doing all the work7. Assertiveness in a safety context means being able to:
Raise a concern and stop a task even under pressureDominate every discussionIgnore other people's opinions8. "Groupthink" describes a team that:
Suppresses doubts to preserve agreementArgues constructively about riskAlways follows the written procedure