Introduction to Group Dynamics Chapter 1

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?

Do You Consider These To be a Group?

Individuals on a flight from Toronto to Montreal? Watching a Toronto Maple Leafs game at the ACC? Individuals taking the subway? 3 children playing in a sandbox? The American Idols? An executive board?

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

Size: dyads and triads to large collectives (this class, mobs, audiences) Connected: members are linked, networked Social, interpersonal connection: not categorical

Types of Groups
Perceiving groups: people intuitively draw distinctions between intimate groups, task-focused groups, loose associations, and more general social categories. Billions of groups in the world, but they can be classified into basic categories, or clusters How are groups classified?

Types of Groups

Cooley (1909) drew a distinction between primary and secondary groups

Types of groups: Primary Secondary Planned (concocted and founded) Emergent (circumstantial and self-organizing)

Types of Groups (contd)

Type of Group Primary groups Characteristics Examples

Small, long-term groups characterized by face-to-face interaction & high levels of cohesiveness, solidarity, & member identification Larger, less intimate, more goal-focused groups typical of more complex societies

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

Secondary groups

Congregations, work groups, unions, professional associations

(Cooley, 1909)

Types of Groups (contd)

Arrow and her colleagues (2000) offer a more fine-grained analysis planned vs. emergent

Concocted

Founded

Circumstantial Self-Organizing

Type of Group Planned groups Concocted

Characteristics

Examples

Deliberately formed by the members themselves or by an external authority, usually for some specific purpose or purposes Planned by individuals or authorities outside the group. Production lines, military units, task forces, crews, professional sports teams Planned by one or more individuals Study groups, small who remain within the group businesses, clubs, associations Groups that form spontaneously as individuals find themselves repeatedly interacting with the same subset of individuals over time and settings Emergent, unplanned groups arising Waiting lines (queues), when external, situational forces set crowds, mobs, audiences, the stage for people to join together, bystanders often only temporarily, in a unified group Emerge when interacting Study groups, friendship individuals gradually align their cliques in a workplace, activities in a cooperative system of regular patrons at a bar interdependence.

Founded

Emergent groups

Circumstantial

Self-organizing

Type of Group Intimacy groups

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

Examples Families, romantic couples, close friends, street gangs

Task groups

Teams, neighborhood associations

Weak associations

Aggregations of individuals that form Crowds, audiences, clusters spontaneously, last for brief periods, and of bystanders have very permeable boundaries Aggregations of individuals 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 Structure: roles, norms, relations Goals: generating, choosing, negotiating, executing

Characteristics of Groups - Interaction

Groups are systems that create, organize, and sustain interaction among members Task Interaction actions performed by individuals pertaining to groups tasks and goals

Relationship Interaction actions performed by the group relating to emotional and interpersonal bonds

Characteristics of Groups - Interdependence

Experiences are determined by other members of the group and vice versa Sequential influence of one member to the next. Reciprocal two or more members may influence each other Multilevel the outcome of larger groups are influenced by the activities of smaller groups

Interdependence Diagram

Characteristics of Groups - Structure

Groups structure are often organized in predictable patterns Roles set of behaviours expected of people who occupy certain positions Norms a consensual standard that describes what behaviours should and should not be performed in a given context

Characteristics of Groups - Goals

Groups often strive towards some common outcome

McGraths Circumplex Model of Group Tasks Generating Choosing Negotiation Executing

Cohesiveness
Group Cohesion: the strength of the bonds linking individuals to the group Attraction to specific group members and efforts to achieve goals Entitativity is perceived groupness rather than an aggregation of independent, unrelated individuals

Cohesiveness

Campbells Theory of Entitativity (1958) Common Fate do individuals experience the same outcomes? Similarity do individual perform similar behaviours or resemble one another Proximity how close together are the individuals in the group

Group Dynamics

the "field of inquiry dedicated to advancing knowledge about the nature of groups" (Cartwright & Zander, 1968)

What Assumptions Can Be Made?

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

Groups are influential

Groups shape society

Assumptions (contd)
The paradigm: Assumptions and Orientations Groups are real Group processes are real Groupmind hypothetical mental force linking group members together Sherif's (1936) study of norm formation

Groups are influential Groups shape society

Person A
Average distance estimates

Convergence

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

Assumptions (contd)

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).

Group Development

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

Performing

Norming

Task

Storming

Adjourning Forming

What Fields Study Group Dynamics?

Interdisciplinary: psychology sociology political science anthropology business

Discipline Anthropology

Topics

Groups in cross-cultural contexts; societal change; social and collective identities Business / Industry Work motivation; productivity; team building; goal setting Clinical/Counseling Therapeutic change through groups; sensitivity training; training Psychology groups; self-help groups; group psychotherapy Communication Information transmission in groups; discussion; decision making; problems in communication; networks Criminal Justice Organization of law enforcement; gangs; jury deliberations Education Classroom groups; team teaching; class composition and educational outcomes Political Science Leadership; intergroup and international relations; political influence; power Psychology Personality and group behavior; problem solving; perceptions of other people; motivation; conflict Social Work Team approaches to treatment; counseling; groups & adjustment Sociology Self & society; influence of norms on behavior; deviance Sports & Team performance; effects of victory and failure; cohesion and Recreation performance

Fields and Topics (contd)

Action research: integrates basic and applied research.

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