Us and them: Group dynamics as a lens for understanding cyber security beliefs and behaviours within organisations

Group dynamics is a sub-field of social psychology that explores both intragroup and intergroup processes and how they affect attitudes and behaviours. As a psychology-based lens for understanding cyber security beliefs and behaviours, the group dynamics literature offers largely untapped insights. Its neglect is partly due to the inadequacies of many existing quantitative tools used in cyber security practice when it comes to capturing group processes. This paper explores some ways in which the group dynamics literature can be leveraged to illuminate end-user cyber security beliefs and behaviours in organisations, focusing on research about social identity, intergroup relations and group decision making. Practical implications of this body of work are discussed in relation to prominent and topical behavioural cyber security challenges such as the use of phishing simulations, red teaming, punishment regimes, communications and training, and hybrid working. This article is also included in The Business & Management Collection which can be accessed at https://hstalks.com/business/.