Introduction to Group Dynamics

Groups, groups, groups

The Impressionists: a group of painters The 1980 Olympic Hockey team: a team The Andes Rugby Team: a group of survivors Jobs vs. Sculley: Two executives The Apollo 13 crew: 3 astronauts Questions to consider

Overview
What is a group? What are some common characteristics of groups? What assumptions guide researchers in their studies of groups and the processes within groups? What fields and what topics are included in the scientific study of group dynamics?

What is a Group?
Definition of a group: Two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships.

Two or more individuals

who are connected to one another by social relationships.

Size: dyads and triads to large collectives (this class, mobs, audiences)

Two or more individuals

who are connected to one another by social relationships.

Connected: members are linked, networked

Two or more individuals who are connected to one another by social relationships.
Social, interpersonal connection: not
categorical only

Types of groups
Billions of groups in the world, but they can be classified into basic categories, or clusters Cooley (1907) drew a distinction between primary and secondary groups

Type of Group
Primary groups

Characteristics

Examples

Small, long-term groups characterized by face-toface interaction and high levels of cohesiveness, solidarity, and member identification

Families, close friends, tight-knit peer groups, gangs, elite military squads

Secondary groups

Larger, less intimate, more Congregations, work goal-focused groups typical groups, unions, of more complex societies professional associations (Cooley, 1907)

Types of groups
Cooley (1907) primary secondary Arrow and her colleagues offer a more fine-grained analysis planned vs. emergent
Concocted Founded Circumstantial Self-organizing

Type of Group

Characteristics

Examples

Planned groups

Deliberately formed by the members themselves or by an external authority, usually for some specific purpose or purposes Production lines, military units, task forces, crews, professional sports teams Study groups, small businesses, expeditions, clubs, associations

Concocted Planned by individuals or authorities outside the group. Founded Planned by one or more individuals who remain within the group Emergent groups

Groups that form spontaneously as individuals find themselves repeatedly interacting with the same subset of individuals over time and settings Waiting lines (queues), crowds, mobs, audiences, bystanders

Circumstantial Emergent, unplanned groups that arise when external, situational forces set the stage for people to join together, often only temporarily, in a unified group Self-organizing Emerge when interacting individuals gradually align their activities in a cooperative system of interdependence.

Study groups, friendship cliques in a workplace, regular patrons at a bar

Perceiving groups: people intuitively draw distinctions between groupssome look groupier than others
Lickel, Hamilton, Sherman, and their colleagues asked people to rate many kinds of aggregations on a scale from 1 (not at all a group) to 9 (very much a group).

Type of Group Intimacy groups

Characteristics Small groups of moderate duration and permeability characterized by substantial levels of interaction among the members, who value membership in the group Work groups in employment settings and goal-focused groups in a variety of nonemployment situations

Examples Families, romantic couples, close friends, street gangs

Task groups

Teams, neighborhood associations

Weak associations

Aggregations of individuals that Crowds, audiences, form spontaneously, last only a brief clusters of bystanders period of time, and have very permeable boundaries Aggregations of individuals who are similar to one another in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. Women, Asian Americans, physicians, U.S. citizens, New Yorkers

Social categories

What are some common characteristics of groups? Interaction: task and relationship Interdependence: sequential, reciprocal, mutual

Common characteristics of groups (continued) Structure: roles, norms, relations Goals: generating, choosing, negotiating, executing
McGraths Taxonomy of Group Tasks is based on 2 key dimensions: Choosing vs. Executing (Doing) and Generating vs. Negotiating

McGraths Taxonomy of Group Tasks is based on 2 key dimensions: Choosing vs. Executing (Doing) and Generating vs. Negotiating

Common characteristics of groups (continued) Cohesion: unity and entitativity

Entitativity is perceived groupness Campbells theory of entitativity
common fate similarity proximity

What assumptions guide researchers in their studies of groups and the processes within groups?

Group dynamics describes both:

Interpersonal processes in groups The scientific study of groups and group processes (Kurt Lewin)

Level of Analysis
Individual level: focus on the individual (psychological) Group level: focus on the group and social context (sociological) Multilevel: adopts multiple perspectives on groups

The Paradigm: assumptions and orientations

Groups are real Group processes are real
groupmind, collective conscious Sherif's (1936) study of norm formation

Person A
Average distance estimates

Convergence

Person B Person C
Alone Group Session 1 Group Session 2 Group Session 3

Assumptions (continued)
Groups are more than the sum of their parts Lewin's (1951) field theory: behavior is a function of the person and the environment B = f(P, E).

Assumptions (continued)
Groups are living systems: Tuckman's (1965) theory of group development
forming storming norming performing adjourning

Performing

Task Norming

Storming

Adjourning Forming

Assumptions (continued)
Groups are influential Groups shape society

What fields and what topics are included in the scientific study of group dynamics?
Interdisciplinary: psychology, sociology, political science, anthropology, business, etc.

Discipline
Anthropology Business and Industry

Topics
Groups in cross-cultural contexts; societal change; social and collective identities Work motivation; productivity; team building; goal setting; focus groups

Clinical/Counseling Psychology
Communication Criminal Justice Education Political Science

Therapeutic change through groups; sensitivity training; training groups; self-help groups; group psychotherapy
Information transmission in groups; discussion; decision making; problems in communication; networks Organization of law enforcement agencies; gangs; jury deliberations Classroom groups; team teaching; class composition and educational outcomes Leadership; intergroup and international relations; political influence; power

Psychology
Social Work Sociology Sports and Recreation

Personality and group behavior; problem solving; perceptions of other people; motivation; conflict
Team approaches to treatment; family counseling; groups and adjustment Self and society; influence of norms on behavior; role relations; deviance Team performance; effects of victory and failure; cohesion and performance

Action research: integrates basic and applied research.

Topics: group formation, cohesion, structure, influence, performance, conflict, etc.

Introduction to Group Dynamics Cohesion and

Development

Research Methods Structure

Individual and the Group Influence

Group Formation Power

Performance

Decision Making

Leadership

Conflict

Intergroup Relations

Groups in Context

Groups and Change

Collective Behavior

Group Dynamics! the "field of inquiry dedicated to advancing knowledge about the nature of groups"
(Cartwright & Zander, 1968, p. 7).

For more information visit

http://psychology.wadsworth.com/forsyth4e