What does it mean to work in groups?

GROUP DYNAMICS
Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills
11th
Edition
David W. Johnson
Frank P. Johnson

Johnson. Joining Together: Group Theory and Group Skills, 11e.
© 2013, 2009, 2006, 2003, 2000 by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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“Although the scientific investigations of group work are but a few years old, I
don’t hesitate to predict that group work – that is, the handling of human beings
not as isolated individuals, but in the social setting of groups – will soon be one of
the most important theoretical and practical fields … there is no hope for creating
a better world without a deeper scientific insight into the … essentials of group
life.”
Kurt Lewin (1943)

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Overview
What is a group?
Why groups are important
Nature and types of groups
What does it take to have a productive group?
Stages of group development
The field of group dynamics
Kurt Lewin
Summary questions

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Can you Imagine your Life without Belonging to Other People?
Membership in groups is inevitable and ubiquitous.
We are not able to survive without belonging to groups – we are born into one, and interact in
groups for most of our lives
Our personal identity is derived from the way in which we are perceived and treated by other
members of groups we belong to.
Understanding group dynamics is essential to
• Maintaining a viable family
• Effective business and industries
• Education
• Long term maintenance of psychological health
Knowledge of group dynamics can and will change your life

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Group Dynamics
Group dynamics is the scientific study of
• The nature of groups
• Behavior in groups
• Group development
• Interrelations between groups and individuals
• Interrelations between groups and other groups

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A Group is a Number of Individuals who …
Join together to achieve a goal
Are all affected by the same event – they are interdependent
Interact with one another
Perceive themselves as belonging to a group
Whose interactions are structured by a set of rules and norms
Influence each other
Are trying to satisfy some personal need through their joint association
Which definition(s) do you agree with?

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The Group Definition We are Going to Work with
Two or more individuals
In face-to-face interaction
Each member is aware of
• Positive interdependence as they strive to achieve mutual goals
• His/her membership in the group
• The others who belong to the same group

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Group Structure: Roles and Norms
Roles
• differentiate the responsibilities of group members
• Set of expectations defining the appropriate behavior of an occupant of a position
toward other related positions
Norms
• integrate members’ efforts into a unified whole
• Common beliefs regarding group members’ appropriate behavior, attitudes and
perceptions; (implicit and explicit) rules that regulate the behavior of group members

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Roles and Status
Role conflict, Milgram’s study of obedience (1974)
Status:
• Function of the degree to which an individual’s contribution is crucial
• How much power (control over outcomes) an individual has
• The extent to which the person embodies some idealized/admired characteristic.
• Status and power usually go hand in hand, but not always

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Norms
Group’s common beliefs about appropriate behavior, attitudes, perceptions;
help maintain behavioral consistency, and predict other members’ behavior
Not imposed, develop out of the interaction among members  Social
products
Muzafer Sherif’s (1936) study
Newcomb’s (1943) study of group norms at Bennington College

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The Group Performance Curve

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Pseudo group Members assigned to work together, but  perception of competitive structure.
Performance below individual level.
Traditional work group Members assigned to work together, but are held accountable individually
 perception of individual work structure. Members seek information from each other, but are not
motivated to share information. Conscientious members feel exploited  do less.
Effective group positive interdependence, clear operational goals, constructive conflict resolution,
distributed leadership, individual accountability
High performance group: effective groups + high level of commitment members have for each other
and for the success of the group

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An Effective Group …
Achieves its goal
Maintains good working relationships among members
Adapts to changing conditions in the world
How can we establish an effective
group? What do we need to do?

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If you Want an Effective Group
Establish clear, operational and relevant group goals that create positive
interdependence and evoke a high level of commitment from every member
Establish effective two-way communication
Make sure that leadership and participation are distributed among all group members.
Make sure power is distributed among group members corresponding to the needs of
group members

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Match method of decision making with the needs of the situation  with the
1. Availability of time and resources
2. Size and seriousness of the decision
3. Amount of member commitment needed to implement the decision.
Consensus rules!
Encourage structured controversies.
Ensure that members face their conflicts of interests, use integrative negotiations and
mediation to resolve their conflicts.
If you Want an Effective Group, cont’d

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Development of Groups over Time
Recurring phase theories
Sequential stage theories
• Tuckman’s (1965) five stages (forming, storming, norming, performing, and
adjourning), involving nondirective, passive leaders.
• What happens
if the group leader
intervenes to ensure
that the group
functions
productively?

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Stages of Group Development
Defining and structuring procedures
Conforming to procedures and getting acquainted
Recognizing mutuality and building trust
Rebelling and differentiating
Committing to and taking ownership of the goals, procedures, and other members
Functioning maturely and productively
Terminating

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Stages of Group Development

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The Field of Group Dynamics
Relationship among
theory, research, and
practice

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History of the Field of Group Dynamics
Gained prominence in the early 1940s – goal: maintain a democratic form of government and solve
current problems
2 interrelated movements in psychology
• Scientific study of group dynamics
• Application of group dynamics theory  how to train leaders and group members in the social skills
necessary for democratic groups
Triplett (1898) -> social facilitation-impairment studies, social interdependence, social loafing
1920s-30s: are individuals or groups more productive? -> research on social interdependence,
conformity, group polarization,
Late 1930s and 40s -Lewin, Newcomb (1943), Whyte (1943); Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939) study of
the effect of leadership styles on group dynamics
Starting with the 1950s social psychology focused on the individual as the unit of analysis (Festinger’s
studies on social communication, social comparison, cognitive dissonance, Heider’s attribution theory
(1958)
1980s and 1990s – resurgence of group dynamics (Deutsch, Johnson & Johnson, Tajfel, Moscovici)

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Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)
"If you want truly to understand something, try to change it"
"Nothing is as practical as a good theory."
A theorist and a doer
Main goal: construct an empirically based theory of human behavior
Action research – social science theory should not just advance knowledge, but also solve
questions that have significant social value
Field theory analysis – the "proposition that human behavior is the function of both the
person and the environment: expressed in symbolic terms, B = f (P, E)."
He pioneered the use of theory, using experimentation to test hypothesis – manipulating
complex variables in natural settings.
He and his associates developed a wide variety of theories and research programs that
defined the field of group dynamics

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Online Groups
Online Groups are real groups. The future of groups may be online.
Benefits of online groups:
•Electronic media make joining groups easy
•Personal Geography is less of a hindrance with online groups
•Online groups allow for simultaneous, speedy interaction
Drawback to online groups:
•Online groups sacrifice the benefits of face-to-face interaction
•Group members know only what information each individual chooses to disclose
•Any shared material can spread rapidly and widely

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Summary
Why study group dynamics?
What is a group?
Why are roles and norms essential for groups?
What characteristics distinguish effective groups from traditional groups?
What stages do groups go through?
What is the relationship among research, theory and practice?
"If you want truly to understand something, try to change it“ – What does this quote tell you about
Kurt Lewin as a researcher?
What is the future of online groups?

What does it mean to work in groups?

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What does it mean to work in groups?