Groups:

Their Nature, Development

and Significance
Donelson R. Forsyth
“ No man is an Island”
• The Need to Belong
• Affiliation in Groups
• Identity and Membership
 The Need to Belong

Inclusion over exclusion

Humans have a need to belong: “a pervasive drive to form

and maintain at least a minimum quantity of lasting,
positive, and impactful interpersonal relationships”
(Baumeister and Leary, 1995)
 Affiliation in Groups
Membership over isolation
The theory of social comparison suggested that in many
cases people join with others to evaluate the accuracy of
their personal beliefs and attitudes. (Leon Festinger’s
1950, 1954)
Downward Social Comparison - To maintain a sense of self-
worth, people seek out and compare themselves to the less
fortunate.
 Affiliation in Groups
Acceptance over rejection.
Groups also provide a variety of means for maintaining and
enhancing a sense of self-worth, as our assessment of
the quality of groups we belong to influences our collective
self-esteem (Crocker & Luhtanen, 1990).
Mark Leary’s sociometer model goes so far as to suggest
that “self-esteem is part of a sociometer that monitors
peoples’ relational value in other people’s eyes” (2007, p. 328).
 People form groups because:

Proximity and attraction

• Proximity involves the physical walking distance between
people performing a job.
• Attraction prompts group formation because of
perceptual, attitudinal, performance, or motivational
similarities.
 People form groups because:

• Group goals—individuals join groups because they're

attracted to the group's goals, although group goals are
not always identifiable.
• Economic reasons—individuals join groups because they
believe membership will result in economic betterment
(e.g., a labor union with a record of securing members
higher wages).
Stages of Group Development
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
Composition: the pattern of relationships among member positions that evolves
over time.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
Status hierarchy: a hierarchy comprised of different status levels assumed by
group member positions. Status can be assigned or ascribed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
Size: Odd number groups do better than even. Groups of 5 to 7 perform better
overall than larger or smaller groups.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
Roles: a set of expected behaviours assumed by each position in the group.
1. Expected role
2. Perceived role
3. Enacted role
Conflict and frustration may result when any of the three roles differ from each
other.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
Norms are standards of behaviour shared by the group members.Only pertain
to behaviours considered important by the group.
Are accepted in differing degrees by different members.
Don't necessarily apply to all members.
NORM CONFORMITY
The individual's personal characteristics
Situation factors
Intragroup relationships
Cultural factors
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS
The leader:
Can reward or punish members for not obeying group norms, especially in a
formal group.
Some groups, even formal ones, have no single leader, e.g., SMT's.
In informal groups, the one who becomes leader is viewed as respected and has
a high‐status.