8. Categories
• a perceptual grouping of people who are
assumed to be similar to one another in some ways
but different in one more ways.
• Downside: tend to create divisions between people and those divisions can
result in a sense of "we" and "us" versus "they" and "them"
9. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
1. Composition : Who Belongs to the group?
2. Boundaries : Who does not belong?
a. Open group
b. Close group
3. Size: How large is the group?
- maximum number if ties w/in a group formula :
n(n-1)/2
- they more easily break up into smaller groups
10. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
4. Interaction : What do members do?
A. Task interaction
B. Relationship interaction (socioemotional interaction)
5. Interdependence : Do the members depend on each other?
A. Symmetric interdependence
B. Hierarchical interdependence without reciprocity
C. Hierarchical interdependence with (unequal) reciprocity
D. Sequential interdependence with reciprocity
12. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
6. Structure : How is the group organized?
Group structure - the complex roles, norms and intermember relations that organizes group.
7. Goals: What is the groups purpose?
- Laughlin, 1980 suggests that a broad distinction can be made between intellectual and judgemental tasks
- Hackman & Morris, 1975 emphasizes on 3 different categories :
a. Production
b. Discussion
c. Problem solving goals
13. Social Psychologist Joseph E. McGrath
(1984) distinguish 4 basic group goals
A. Generating
Type 1: Planning task
Type 2: creativity task
B. Choosing
Type 3: intellective task
Type 4: decision-making task
C. Negotiating
Type 5: cognitive conflict task
Type 6: mixed motive tasks
D. Executing
Type 7: contests /battles/competitive tasks
Type 8: performances /psychomotor tasks
14. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
8. Origin: Founded or Formed?
Planned groups - organized, task-focused and formal.
A. Concocted group
B. Founded groups
Emergent groups - explicitly not organized, Unclear boundaries, no written rules.
C. Circumstantial groups
D. Self-organizing groups
Holly Arrow, Joseph E. McGrath and Jennifer L. Berdahl (2000)
Is the group created by forces within the group (internal origins) or forces outside external origins) of the group?
15. CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
9. Unity :How cohesive is the group?
A groups cohesiveness is often based on commitment to the groups purposes rather than on social bonds between
members.
Group cohesion is the solidarity or unity of group resulting from the development of strong mutual interpersonal bonds
among members and group-level forces that unify the group, such as shared commitment to group goals and espirit de
corps.
10. Entitativity: does the group look like a group?
- entitativity is the "groupiness" of a group, perceived rather than actual group unity or cohesion.
- Entitativity, according to Campbell, is substantially influenced by similarity, proximity, and common fate, as well as
such perceptual cues as pragnanz (goodform) and permeability.
16. WHAT ARE GROUP
DYNAMICS?
Dynamic Group Processes
• The word dynamic comes from the Greek “dynamikós”, which means to be strong, powerful, and energetic.
• Group dynamics, then, are the influential interpersonal processes that occur in and between groups over time
17. Larger groups often break down into smaller subgroups. In most groups, one person is
allowed to exert more influence over the other members. Even in the most temperate of group
climates, disagreements can lead to prolonged conflicts. Why?
18. Because these processes occur with predictable regularity in
groups.
1. Formative Processes
2. Conflict Processes
3. Influence Processes
4. Performance Processes
5. Contextual Processes
19. Why study groups and their dynamics?
1. Lewin (1951) first used the phrase group dynamics to
describe the powerful processes that take place in groups, but
group dynamics also refers to the scientific study of groups
(Cartwright & Zander, 1968).
2. Individuals are commonly members of groups rather than
isolated from them, so to understand people one must
understand groups.
• Due to the fundamental attribution error, the influence of groups on
individuals is often underestimated, particularly by individuals
raised in more individualistic, Western cultures.
20. Why study groups and their dynamics?
• Groups alter their members’ attitudes, values, and perceptions. Triplett’s (1898)
study of group performance demonstrated the impact of one person on another, but
some groups (primary groups, cults, etc.) influence members in substantial and
enduring ways
3. Groups influence society
• Groups mediate the connection between individuals and society at large (Fine,
2012).
• Hofstede’s theory of national cultures identifies the key dimensions of variation that
influence groups and their members, including power distance, individualism,
masculinity, and uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede et al., 2010).
4. Applied studies of groups and their dynamics yield solutions to a number of practical
problems making the study of groups relevant to many professional and scientific fields
of study (Hare et al., 1955).
