What is a Group? History of GroupsOutline Class Exercise What is a group?

Members of groups interact Groups have structure Groups have goals Members identify themselves as a group Groups have two or more members

History of group dynamics Late 19th Century & LeBon Psychological Perspective Sociological Perspective Today’s Group Dynamics

Dracula Exercise

Class Exercise

1) List everything you do in a typical day from the moment you wake up to the moment you fall asleep.

2) Write at least ten different answers to the following question: Who am I?

3) Count on your list all of the activities you perform with groups and those you perform alone. Calculate a percentage of group activities.

4) Count on your list descriptions that include information about the groups we belong to (and those that don’t). Calculate a percentage.

Members of Groups Interact Groupness

Size Interdependence Temporal pattern

Groups are ‘groupier’ when they are small, able to interact on a variety of issues, and have a past and envision a future

Groups Have Structure Group structure

Norms Roles Status Systems Communication structure

Structure

Groups Have Goals Goals

Generating Choosing Negotiating Executing

Tension between 2 goals: Task accomplishment Socioemotional needs

Members Identify Themselves as a Group

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is a duck.

“a group exists when two or more people define themselves as members of it and when its existence is recognized by at least one other” (Brown, 1988)

Groups Have Two or More Members

Dyad 2 person group

Group Two or more interacting, interdependent

people

History of Group Dynamics: Late 19th Century & LeBon

Study of groups began in late 1800s

Roots in psychology and sociology

Collective mind (LeBon) Contagion

Psychological Perspective Social facilitation

Triplett (1898) Noticed bicyclists performed better when riding

with others

Study with children performing simple task either alone or with others.

Results: Children performed better when in the presence of others compared to when alone

But groups aren’t real…

Kurt Lewin “There is no more magic behind

the fact that groups have properties of their own, which are different than the properties of their subgroups or their individual members, than behind the fact that molecules have properties which are different from the properties of the atoms or ions of which they are composed.” -Lewin

Groups could be studied scientifically

Field theory B = f (P, E) Lifespace

Research Center for Group Dynamics Adapted

experimentation to the problems of group life

Lewin, Lippit & White Groups of 10- and 11-year- old boys to meet after

school to work on various hobbies.

Each group included a man who adopted one of three leadership styles

Autocratic, democratic, or laissez-faire

Results: Autocratic: worked more only when leader watched;

more hostile Democratic: worked even when leader left Laissez-faire: Worked the least

‘There is nothing so practical as a good theory’ Lewin: Theoretical and applied research

should go hand in hand

Theory Practice

Rodney Dangerfield Era Experimental model- trying to gain respect

Study of small groups, in the lab, with undergraduates, manipulating one factor Cause-effect

Research in the 60s and 70s Conformity Group polarization Helping Social facilitation Group aggression

Research Example Bystander Effect (Latane & Darley,1970)

Study in Beverage Center Staged robberies in stores When clerk went to back, 2 robbers stole merchandise

Conditions: Stole with only one other shopper Stole with a few other shoppers

Results: Alone shoppers more likely to report theft!

Limitations of Lab Experiments Cannot mimic the complex environment

Cannot mimic ebb and flow of groups over time

Sociological Perspective In 1950s sociologists

looked at groups as miniature social systems

Forefathers of sociological thought: Durkheim Cooley Mead

New Measurement techniques: Sociometry Interaction Process

Analysis

Today’s Group Dynamics Today, research is conducted by a variety

of disciplines Psychologists, communication researchers,

social workers, sociologists…

Today group dynamics researchers use a variety of research methods Much research focuses on real world groups

Dracula Exercise This problem solving exercise will

be a good introduction to group dynamics.

TASKS:1) Read situation sheet2) Individually create a plan3) Individually rank items from most

important to least important4) As a group, rank items again5) Score your own and your groups

ranking1) Use answer sheet and compute

absolute values2) The lower the score the better!

Dracula Exercise

Answer the following questions. What is the group’s goal What were the patterns of communication? How did leadership emerge in the group? What determined how influential each member was? What method of decision making was used and how

effective was it? Why/why didn’t members challenge each other? What conflict arose and how were they managed? What actions by the group members helped/hurt the

team?