Group Process & Dynamics Flashcards
7 cards from real CFE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Group Process & Dynamics flashcards as text
A CFE observes that fraud perpetrators in a close-knit department developed shared rationalizations over time. This gradual normalization of misconduct is known as:
Answer: Normative drift
Normative drift describes how group standards gradually shift to accept increasingly deviant behavior as normal.
Which leadership style is most likely to enable long-term fraud schemes within an organization?
Answer: Authoritarian leadership with low transparency
Authoritarian leadership combined with low transparency reduces checks on misconduct and discourages subordinates from reporting fraud.
In group dynamics, 'social proof' can contribute to fraud when:
Answer: Individuals engage in fraud because they believe peers are doing the same
Social proof leads individuals to model the behavior of others, which can normalize fraudulent conduct when peers appear to engage in it.
When a fraud ring's leader is removed, the group collapses quickly. This suggests the group was organized around:
Answer: Charismatic authority
Charismatic authority depends on the personal influence of a leader; without that figure, the group loses cohesion and direction.
A CFE documents that fraud scheme members rarely questioned decisions, even obviously risky ones, due to excessive trust in the group's judgment. This is a symptom of:
Answer: Illusion of invulnerability
Illusion of invulnerability is a groupthink symptom where members believe the group is too clever or protected to suffer consequences.
Which group dynamic explains why fraud committed in teams is often harder to detect than fraud by individuals?
Answer: Deindividuation reduces individual visibility within the group
Deindividuation within groups makes it harder to isolate individual responsibility, obscuring accountability and complicating forensic tracing.
A suspect claims they only participated in fraud because 'everyone at the company did it.' A CFE should recognize this as:
Answer: Social comparison rationalization
Social comparison rationalization uses perceived peer behavior to justify one's own misconduct, a common neutralization technique.