Psychology Psychology research assignment 2
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IntroductiontoGroupDynamics.ppt
Introduction to Group Dynamics
Chapter 1
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Overview
- What is a group?
- Types of groups
- What are some common characteristics & descriptors of groups?
- Group Dynamics: 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?
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- Definition:
- Two or more individuals who are connected to one another by and within social relationships.
- Definitions of groups vary, but they do have common characteristics (page 4)
- Size: dyads and triads to large collectives (this class, mobs, audiences)
- Connected: members are linked, networked (e.g., a task at work) - social, interpersonal connection with someone (e.g., family)
- Influential & purposeful
What is a Group?
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- Billions of groups in the world – most groups tend to be relatively small (ranging from 2 to 7 members)
- Sociologist John James recorded the size of groups in Portland, Oregon (n = over 9000 from different settings – walking, shopping, playgrounds, etc.) and found that groups tend to gravitate to its smallest # = 2
- No two groups are the same (they are unique in the characteristics – but groups do possess common characteristics
- Groups are beneficial, but are also flawed
- Not all group experiences are positive
What Is A Group
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- Categories – a collection of people or things that share a common attribute or are related in some way
- Aggregate – a collection of individuals who are present in the same time and place but who do not form a unit
- Collective – any aggregate of 2 or more people (larger, spontaneous, and loose association)
- Groups and Aggregates can be psychologically fulfilling/satisfying
- Moving from a category/aggregate to a group
Types of Groups
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Types of Groups
- Cooley (1909) drew a distinction between primary and secondary groups
- Types of groups:
- Primary (intimate associates that fuses individuals in a common whole)
- Secondary (social groups)
- Planned (concocted and founded)
- Emergent (circumstantial and self-organizing)
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(Cooley, 1909)
Types of Groups (cont’d)
Social groups such as congregations, work groups, unions, professional associations
Larger, less intimate, less commitment, more goal-focused groups typical of more complex societies
Secondary groups
Families, close friends, tight-knit peer groups, gangs, elite military squads
Small, long-term groups characterized by face-to-face interaction & high levels of cohesiveness, solidarity, & member identification
Primary groups
Examples
Characteristics
Type of Group
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- Cartwright and Zander (1960) were reluctant to classify groups as Cooley did – underestimated the complexity of groups
- Planned Group – a group that is deliberately formed by its members or an external authority.
- Emergent Group – a group can result from basically nothing
- a group that is created gradually as individuals interact with the same subset of individuals.
Types of Groups (cont’d)
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- Arrow and her colleagues (2000) offer a more fine-grained analysis
- planned vs. emergent
Types of Groups (cont’d)
Concocted
Founded
Circumstantial
Self-Organizing
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Study groups, friendship cliques in a workplace, regular patrons at a bar – Example Prof. Tony Nield
Emerge when interacting individuals gradually align their activities in a cooperative system of interdependence.
Self-organizing
Waiting lines (queues), crowds, mobs, audiences, bystanders
Emergent, unplanned groups arising when external, situational forces set the stage for people to join together, often only temporarily, in a unified group
Circumstantial
Groups that form spontaneously as individuals find themselves repeatedly interacting with the same subset of individuals over time and settings
Emergent groups
Study groups, small businesses, clubs, associations
Planned by one or more individuals who remain within the group
Founded
Production lines, military units, task forces, crews, professional sports teams
Planned by individuals or authorities outside the group.
Concocted
Deliberately formed by the members themselves or by an external authority, usually for some specific purpose or purposes
Planned groups
Examples
Characteristics
Type of Group
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- Brian Lickel and colleagues presented 40 aggregates to U.S. & Polish undergraduate students
- Wanted to examine how participants perceived group entities and compare them with one another (known as entiativity)
- Used a 1 (not at all) to 9 likert scale (very much a group) on areas such as size, duration, intensity, etc.
- Clustered the answers
Types of Groups (cont’d)
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Types of Groups (cont’d)
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Women, Asian Americans, physicians, U.S. citizens, New Yorkers
Aggregations of individuals similar to one another in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, or nationality.
Categories
Crowds, audiences, clusters of bystanders
Aggregations of individuals that form spontaneously, last for brief periods, and have very permeable boundaries. Usual or unusual ways
Weak associations/
Collectives
Teams, neighborhood associations
Work groups in employment settings and goal-focused groups in a variety of non-employment situations
Social/Task groups
Families, romantic couples, close friends, street gangs
Small groups of moderate duration & permeability characterized by large levels of interaction amongst members, who value membership in the group
Intimacy/Primary groups
Examples
Characteristics
Type of Group
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- Influence of Size
- Interaction: task and relationship
- Interdependence: sequential, reciprocal, mutual
- Structure: roles, norms, relations
- Goals: generating, choosing, negotiating, executing
- Perception of Membership
What are some common characteristics of groups?
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- Group size influences the structure and features of groups
- Larger groups are connected to one another indirectly rather than directly (e.g., social media groups – LinkedIn) and are more permeable
- At times with larger groups people are connected to the group as a whole (e.g., York University) or subgroups (3430) and not directly linked to all members of the group
- While smaller groups have more direct ties (partners, parents, families)
- Connection Equation n(n-1)/2
Characteristics of Groups - Size
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- Groups are systems that create, organize, and sustain interaction among members
- What do people do in groups? – words, actions, instruction, support, emotions
- Task Interaction – actions performed by individuals pertaining to group’s tasks and goals (long term & short term)
- Different types of goals – process goals (e.g., discussion), performance (task), intellectual (decision making)
- Relationship Interaction – actions performed by the group relating to emotional and interpersonal bonds
- As groups increase in size the more task and relationship interaction is needed
Characteristics of Groups - Interaction
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Characteristics of Groups - Goals
- Groups often strive towards common tasks/outcomes
- McGrath’s Circumplex Model of Group Tasks (2 dimensions – conflict/cooperation & conceptual/behavioural)
- 4 Quadrants specifying task performance
- Generating – something is created/produced
- Choosing – selecting (from alternatives)
- Negotiation – group resolves conflict
- Executing – requires action
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- Groups are systems that create, organize, and sustain interaction among members
- What do people do in groups? – words, actions, instruction, support, emotions
- Task Interaction – actions performed by individuals pertaining to group’s tasks and goals (long term & short term)
- Different types of goals – process goals (e.g., discussion), performance (task), intellectual (decision making)
- Relationship Interaction – actions performed by the group relating to emotional and interpersonal bonds
- As groups increase in size the more task and relationship interaction is needed
Characteristics of Groups - Interaction
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- Experiences (emotions, actions, communication, etc.) are determined by other members of the group and vice versa
- Unilateral – one person influencing another
- Sequential – influence of one member to the next (flat/symmetrical or hierarchical).
- Reciprocal – two or more members may influence each other – relationship might be unequal
- Multilevel – the outcome of larger groups are influenced by the activities of smaller groups (subgroups)
- As groups increase in size and complexity they become more formal, subgroups form
Characteristics of Groups - Interdependence
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Interdependence Diagram
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- 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 - Structure
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- Group Cohesion: the strength of the bonds linking individuals to the group
- Carron, Brawley, and Widmeyer (1998) defined cohesion as “a dynamic process that is reflected in the tendency of a group to stick together and remain united in the pursuit of its instrumental objectives and/or for the satisfaction of member needs
- Attraction to specific group members and efforts to achieve goals
Cohesiveness
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Donald Campbell’s Theory of Entitativity (1958)
- Entitativity is perceived groupness rather than an aggregation of independent, unrelated individuals
- Gestalt principles = groups are more than the some of its parts
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
More Grouplike?
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Perception of Membership
- Membership – the amount someone perceives themselves to be part, or included within a group
- People are not part of a group unless they perceive themselves to be part of the group
- Thomas Theorem – if people define a group as real, then it has real consequences (W.I. Thomas, 1928)
- Minimal groups paradigm (Tajfel et al., 1971) – split into meaningless groups (Overestimaters vs. Underestimater of jellybeans, # of dots, etc.) – clear favouritism for their group, emotional attachment to the group
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… the "field of inquiry dedicated to advancing knowledge about the nature of groups" (Cartwright & Zander, 1968)
The influential action, processes, and changes that occur within & between groups (Forsyth, p. 2)
- people subjectively have talked/written about the nature of man’s place in society for centuries
- A formal field of student emerged in the late 1800s
- was slow to emerge – too complex, too simplistic, too private, lack of agreement by theorists/researchers, which level of analysis? lack of assessment?
- Industrial revolution, democracy, technology (led by developed countries = U.S.A.)
Group Dynamics
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- Group dynamics is a relatively young field –
talk about for many years, yet emerged in the 1930s-1940's
- Rooted in many fields – psychology, sociology, anthropology, business, sport
- Norman Triplett (1898) – social facilitation
Creating the Field
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Introduction to Group Dynamics
… a "field of inquiry dedicated to advancing knowledge about the nature of groups"
(Cartwright & Zander, 1968, p. 7).
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Exchange of background personal
information, uncertainty, tentative communication
Dissatisfaction, disagreement, challenges to leader and procedures, cliques form
Cohesiveness, agreement on procedures , standards, and roles, improved communication
Focus on the work of the group, task
completion, decision making, cooperation
Departures, withdrawal,
decreased dependence, regret
Tuckman’s theory of group development
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Larger view
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